O n f e r e n c e

Developing Intercultural Competence: An Analysis of CALL 
Research 
Bio data 
Esther Stockwell
is Associate Professor in the School of Humanity and Environment at 
Hosei University in Tokyo, Japan, where she teaches in communication studies including 
human communication, intercultural communication and mass media research. Her 
research interests include developing intercultural competence, mass media credibility, 
and new media effects.
Abstract 
The purpose Few would argue that teaching of a foreign language cannot be separated 
from teaching of culture in some shape or form, but the ways in which culture can be 
taught has proven to be a difficult undertaking in many respects. This problem is hardly 
new, and the problems of defining what culture is and how to teach it in language classes 
have been of concern to researchers for decades (e.g., Brooks, 1968). Developments in 
technology have opened up access to cultural resources from all over the world, and to 
this end, methods of teaching culture using technology have started to appear more 
regularly in research associated with second language teaching and learning.
A glance through the literature reveals, however, that where in the past many teachers 
would focus on the teaching a single culture within a language class, in recent years 
there has been a movement to try to broaden the focus to include general intercultural 
competence, but a systematic approach based on appropriate theories and models is 
often lacking. Furthermore, the distinction between “cultural competence” (i.e., 
competence in a particular culture) and “intercultural competence” (i.e., knowledge of 
culture in general) is often blurred, and despite the cultural resources technology make 
available, there is little reference to theories and methodologies evident in CALL 
research. 
of the current study is to analyse the CALL literature to examine the way in which 
intercultural competence has been described, taught and researched. Research in four 
major English language CALL journals over a ten-year period from 2004-2013 were 
systematically analysed to identify the theory, models, teaching methods, and research 
methods that have been used related to intercultural competence. The results are 
discussed in terms of how intercultural competence could be taught and researched with 
a more systematic and balanced focus.