Understanding cultural conflict in EFL classrooms in the UAE

Year 2015, , 77 - 95, 17.09.2015

Bridget Maureen Walker Palmer

https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.460624

Cited By: 2

Abstract

In the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, it is common for instructors and students
to come from very different cultural backgrounds. Instructors who leave their home countries and go to
teach abroad may have trouble adjusting to the culture of their new teaching context, and cultural
misunderstandings that interfere with learning may occur in the classroom (Kramsch, 1993). This
research focused on cultural conflicts between Western, native English-speaking instructors and their
Arab students at two university-level EFL programs in the UAE. Questionnaires and interviews were
used to discover the details of specific classroom cultural conflicts and categorize them. Nine categories of
classroom cultural conflicts were identified, the major ones being inappropriate materials/discussion
topics, mixed-gender issues, and disrespect for religious customs. 

Keywords

Intercultural competence, cultural conflict, culture in EFL classrooms, UAE culture, Western culture

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