International Teachers’ Perceptions of Classroom Intersections of Culture and Language: Impacts on Language Education in South America

Abstract

This qualitative study investigated teachers’ understandings of the interplay between culture and language at two, English
language medium, international type schools in South America. A total of 33 teachers participated in the study by responding to two
questions via an online, threaded, discussion board. Results indicate that teachers in these international schools see the environments
in which they teach as culturally rich and as such and either empower or disempower students. Results also illustrate teachers’ belief
that the study of language cannot exist separate from an understanding of the sociohistorical context in which language occurs.