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Pre-service EFL Teachers’ Intercultural Competence Development Within Service-Learning: A Chinese Perspective

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Abstract

Despite a clarion call to cultivate EFL teachers’ intercultural competence (IC) in supporting their classroom practice, there is a lack of empirical research on how pre-service EFL teachers develop their IC. To fill the gap, the study examined two pre-service EFL teachers’ IC development during a service-learning programme in China. Drawing on data from interviews, reflective journals, and researchers’ field notes, the findings revealed two IC development patterns derived from the Chinese notion of harmony, i.e., “prioritising harmony” and “seeking harmony in diversity,” shaped by the participants’ motivations, personality traits, and contextual influences. Implications are provided to facilitate pre-service teachers’ IC development in culturally diverse contexts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Foreign Languages, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1037, Luoyu Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan, Hubei, China

    Delin Kong

  2. Faculty of Education, University of Macau, E33 Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China

    Rui Yuan

  3. School of Foreign Languages, Beijing Institute of Technology, No. 5, South Street, Zhongguancun, Haidian District, Beijing, China

    Min Zou

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  1. Delin Kong
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  2. Rui Yuan
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  3. Min Zou
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Correspondence to Min Zou.

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Kong, D., Yuan, R. & Zou, M. Pre-service EFL Teachers’ Intercultural Competence Development Within Service-Learning: A Chinese Perspective. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 33, 263–272 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-023-00725-1

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