An Evaluation of Communication Failure due to Intercultural Factors in “Mind Your Language”- EFL sitcoms

Abstract

Intercultural communication research has long been considered an important capacity to develop English foreign language learners. However, barriers from intercultural factors have become the cause of failure in communication for learners. The current study investigates insight into how intercultural communication obstacles hinder international students in an English foreign language class during seasons 1 and 2 of the sitcom "Mind Your Language". The design of the study was descriptive and the subjects of the study were students representing characters appearing in the sitcoms. By qualitatively interpreting scenarios from that episode in terms of similarity to the group of cultural elements, the analysis applies the observation approach into practice. It was shown that a variety of intercultural factors have an impact to recognize learners' cognitive abilities as well as offering solutions to overcome them.