"We Talk, Therefore We Understand": A Case Study of Speaking as a Medium for Enhancing Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) Among Indonesian Pre-Service English Teachers

Abstract

The paradigm of English language teaching has shifted from communicative competence toward intercultural communicative competence (ICC), yet Indonesian pre-service English teachers face limited access to authentic intercultural experiences. This qualitative case study investigates how structured speaking activities, integrated with role-play and simulation, facilitate ICC development among 17 second-semester English Language Education students at a private Islamic university in Lampung, Indonesia. Over nine sessions on culture-themed topics, data were collected through classroom observations and documentation in the form of recordings of teaching and learning. The findings reveal that speaking instruction systematically enhances four dimensions of ICC: linguistic competence through contextualized grammar practice; discourse competence through production of extended spoken genres including personal narratives, procedural explanations, and reported speech sequences; sociolinguistic competence through sensitivity to power relations, social distance, and degree of imposition in situated roleplays; and intercultural competence through development of all five of Byram's (2021) savoirs. The sequenced progression from self and daily life to abstract cultural systems mirrors the developmental trajectory of intercultural sensitivity from ethnocentric to ethnorelative stages. Roleplay and simulation function as pedagogical mediators between cultural knowledge and intercultural action, providing a psychologically safe space that lowers the affective filter and reduces foreign language classroom anxiety. This study concludes that an ICC-oriented speaking course integrating culture-themed topics with experiential activities offers a theoretically grounded and practically effective model for preparing pre-service English teachers to become intercultural speakers and mediators in increasingly globalized classrooms.