cultural knowledge

Intercultural communication is a widespread matter in today’s world with the advent of globalization and social media. Thus, this study focused on exploring the role of cultural knowledge and linguistic knowledge in the formation of intercultural competence. The researchers selected 150 Iranian learners through a purposeful sampling procedure in a qualitative design. By using interviews, observation, and reflective journals the required data was collected. The researchers used inductive analysis and thematic analysis to analyze the collected data. The results revealed that cultural knowledge and linguistic knowledge are both equally important in the formation of intercultural competence of Iranian learners. Also, it is shown that Iranian learners make use of both linguistic knowledge and cultural knowledge to have effective communication, build trust and rapport, conflict resolution, and avoid linguistic and cultural misunderstandings. This study is important for language teachers, book writers, and curriculum developers in that they should pay more attention to both linguistic knowledge and cultural knowledge in their teaching, book writing, and curriculum development respectively.