Abstract:

In a global context, many English teachers are tempted by the idea of working abroad to increase their income, discover foreign countries and gain international experience. There is no doubt that teaching abroad has a lot of benefits to teachers and students. International experience not only allows teachers to develop their cultural awareness which will cause them to be in good relation with students from diverse groups but also enables them to develop effective teaching strategies to teach. While in theory, teachers can earn/learn much when they work abroad, in reality, before that, teachers encounter a number of challenges, more importantly cultural challenges that may influence them negatively both on the personal and professional levels. English language teachers face cultural challenges. When teachers bring with them their own culture, they are also exposed to a new culture (of the host country). Additionally, they are supposed to use materials that are culturally related to the language they are teaching. Ten teachers from different cultural backgrounds and who are teaching English in foreign countries were interviewed. Findings show that, in addition to teachers training, there are other factors that make teachers efficient when they teach abroad. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the different cultural challenges that English language teachers face when they are exposed to a new cultural setting.

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