This study had the objective of investigating the potential of foreign language teaching in promoting an intercultural education. It examines different proposals for an intercultural education considering both educational thought as well as proposals originating from reflections on foreign language teaching, particularly those put forward by Kramsch, Byram and Guilherme. According to these authors, language learning should make it possible for learners to develop intercultural communicative competence and critical cultural awareness. The empirical research adopted a qualitative approach, selecting the semi-structured interview as its tool. Fourteen interviews were carried out with English language teachers working in the different educational contexts of both state and private schools as well as language institutes. The teachers were selected on the basis of their training and teaching experience. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. At a later stage, a fifteenth interview was carried out through e-mail with the pedagogic coordinator of the Centro Interescolar de Línguas in Brasília. This interview had as its especial objective to explore a successful example of teaching foreign languages in the state school context. The study revealed the teachers concern with the teaching of culture, with valuing the learners mother tongue and culture and with the need to help them develop critical reflection. However, some of the aspects of an intercultural education as defined by Guilherme (2003) such as a concern with transformative action did not become evident.