Gaze and time perception as two key elements of intercultural competence. Their use and interpretation in the Italian L2 classroom

Non-verbal language is strongly influenced by the speaker’s culture of origin. In intercultural communication, when non-verbal codes are not correctly interpreted, communication breakdowns and misunderstandings might arise. In the foreign language classroom L2 teachers are exposed to their students’ non-verbal codes on a daily basis. Drawing from focus groups and interviews with Italian L2 teachers, this paper aims to investigate how migrant students’ non-verbal codes, and particularly time perception and organization and gaze, may not always be interpreted correctly by Italian L2 teachers, and this may create discomfort and misunderstanding in daily interactions. This study calls for greater attention and training on less-investigated elements of non-verbal intercultural communication, such as time and gaze, for teachers of Italian L2.