Four Shades of Culture - A study of four teachers' perception of culture

This study focuses on four English teachers’ perception of the concept of culture linked to teaching language. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in order to investigate how they perceive culture in relation to both their personal views and the steering documents for the educational system. To gain a more in–depth understanding of their perception we asked them about their own perception of their teaching methods and how they in turn perceive the students’ development with regards to intercultural understanding. We applied Eva Gagnestam’s four descriptions of culture to be able to explore the different ways in which the teachers worked with the concept of culture in the English classroom.