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Teaching culture in the EFL classroom as informed by teachers’ approaches to student diversity

ABSTRACT This study investigated teachers’ reported practices of teaching culture in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms from the perspective of their approaches to student diversity. Specifically, it examined the relationship between teachers’ orientations towards the cultural elements integrated in curriculum materials and their approaches to teaching cultural content in the context of linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity of Israeli schools. Interview data from three teacher groups – majority, minority and immigrant – obtained through open-ended questions, critical incidents and vignettes were interpreted through the lens of DOPA (Diversity in Organisations: Perceptions and Approaches) model. Thematic analysis yielded four distinct teacher profiles as related to teachers’ approaches to student diversity, their curriculum orientations and subsequent use of the curriculum materials. The emergent profiles are discussed with regard to the ways of coping with diverse student populations developed by teachers in each group and reflected in adopted teaching practices.