Reading Beyond Words: Cultivating Intercultural Mediation and Interaction Skills through Critical Reading Tasks among EFL Students

Abstract

This study investigates the extent to which academic reading that incorporates intercultural topics and tasks fosters the development of intercultural awareness among Moroccan EFL learners, specifically in the areas of interpreting and relating, and discovery and interaction. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods design was employed, with two data collection tools administered prior to and after the experiment, including an intercultural test and a semi-structured interview. Relying on available subjects, the study involved 98 participants assigned to an experimental and a control group. The findings associated with the quantitative analysis demonstrated that the students’ overall mean score in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group in the area of skills of interpreting and relating, as well as the skills of discovery and interaction. Similar to the quantitative findings, the qualitative analysis exhibited that the students in the experimental group developed a better understanding of the mediation and interaction skills needed in intercultural encounters, as they successfully managed to detect areas of misunderstanding and critically respond to them using a strategic approach to conflict resolution. The study concludes with several pedagogical implications for enhancing intercultural learning, highlighting the systematic incorporation of critical intercultural tasks to improve learners’ mediation and interaction skills and to ensure quality and relevance in EFL education at the university level.