intercultural competence development

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Intercultural Competence Development duringShort Term Study Abroad

Peter Ecke

University of Arizona

Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language, and Literacy

[email protected]

Paper presented at the Third International Conference onIntercultural Competence, Tucson, AZ, January 28, 2012

US students studying abroad

SA has become an increasingly important component of thelanguage and culture curriculum at US universities.

270,604 US students studied abroad in 2009/2010.

3.9 % increase from the previous year. (cf. Open Doors2011, annual report of IIE)

Most students abroad (56.6%) participated in short-termprograms (summer, 8 weeks or less).

Number of students in programs of less than 8 weeks hastripled over the last decade.


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The study abroad program

One-month summer study abroad program in Germany

Eligible are students with 2 semesters of college Germanor equivalent

Two courses offered: GER 211 and GER 392

Four hours of language instruction, five days a week

Afternoon, day and weekend excursions

Accommodation: single room inapartment units in student dorms

Tandem partner for additionallanguage practice

Participants (Summers of 2010 and 2011)

59 program participants

2-3 eliminated from analyses (incomplete data)

Undergraduate students

Different majors and minors

30 in 2nd year German, and 29 in 3rd year + German

42 female and 17 male


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Issues

The relation between learning expectations and perceivedprogress in language learning and intercultural competence(ICC) development

The effectiveness of the study abroad programs withrespect to language learning and culture learning

Stability vs. change of participants perceptions of ownculture and the other culture

Stability vs. change of participants perceptions of their own

(preparedness for) intercultural competence (culturalintelligence)

Research Questions

1) What are students goals and motives for participation ina one-month summer study program in Germany?

2) What are their expectations with respect to (languageand) culture learning at the beginning of the program?

3) What are the perceived gains in (language and) culturelearning at the end of the program? How do these

compare with expectations at the beginning of theprogram?


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Research Questions

5) How do participants rate members of their own cultureand members of the other culture at the beginning of theprogram compared to the end of the program?

6) How do they rate personal attributes related to theirintercultural competence (cultural intelligence) at thebeginning and at the end of the program?

Instruments: Questionnaires I(pre-program)

Language and personal background questionnaireincluding goals and motives for participation in the program

Expected gains in (a) speaking, (b) listening, (c) writing, (d)reading, (e) cultural understanding, (f) grammar, and (g)vocabulary

Specific expectations for culture learning

Self-assessment of traits of cultural intelligence(based on Peterson, 2004)

Questionnaire My own and the other culture (adopted fromPicket, 1993)


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Instruments: Questionnaires II

(post-program)

Perceived gains in (a) speaking, (b) listening, (c) writing, (d)reading, (e) cultural understanding, (f) grammar, and (g)vocabulary

Specific perceived gains for culture learning

Self-assessment of attributes of cultural intelligence(based on Peterson, 2004, 96-97)

Questionnaire My own and the other culture

Data analysis

Comparison of mean scores of pre program and postprogram assessments

Results


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1. Participants goals and motives(n = 57 participants, scale from 1 = not important to 6 = very important)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Study German

Travel

Be away from home

Party

Get six credits

Be in contact with Germans

Research

Cultural enrichment

Make friends from UA

Participants goals and motives

Most important motives for study abroad

Study German

Travel

Be in contact with Germans

Cultural enrichment


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2a. Expected progress (pre) and perceived gains (post) in

various areas (on a scale from 1 = not at all to 6 = very much, n = 56 participants)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post Pre Post

Speaking Listening Writing Reading Culture Grammar Vocabulary

2b. Perceived gains: Responses to the question: How muchdid you learn? (on a scale from 1 = very little to 5 = very much)

0

1

2

3

4

5


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3. Participants ratings of expected progress (pre) and

perceived gains (post) for aspects of culture learning(on a scale from 1 = not at all to 6 = very much)


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4. Adjectives that best describe people of your own and people of the

German culture (pre- and post-program ratings)(from 1 = not at all to 4 = frequently)


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Members of the participants own culture tend to be rated

more frequently as

emotional, lazy, arrogant, loud

Members of the target culture are more frequently rated

serious, calm, logical, efficient, competent, honest, hard-working

Ratings are similar for

Friendly, confident, generous, helpful, impatient, stubborn,

honorable, good-humored, shy, patient, thrifty

Pre-program ratings are confirmed in the post-program

ratings.

There is a slight trend to valorize the own culture in the

post-program survey.

Increased ratings for friendly, generous, good-humored.


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5. Participants self-assessment regarding traits potentially related to

cultural intelligence at the beginning (pre) and at the end (post) of theprogram

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Tactfulness

Ability to adapt your behavior

Flexibility with attitudes and behavior

Empathy

Willingness to change yourself as you

learn and grow

Respect for others

Post

Pre

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Humility

Win-win attitude

Creativity

Deal with the stress of new situations

Being invigorated by differences

Willingness to have own views challenged

See the familiar from unfamiliar vantage

points

Appreciation of differences

Open-mindedness

Sense of humor

Post

Pre


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Participants rating of traits related to cultural intelligence at thebeginning (pre) and at the end (post) of the program (cont.)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Comfort with uncertainty*

Ability to trust when dealing with the

unfamiliar

Extroversion

Sensitivity to nuances of differences

Ability to make independent

decisions far from home

Post

Pre

Pre-program and post-program self-ratings of cultural

intelligence traits are very similar.

Comfort with uncertainty is the only score that shows a

significant increase.


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Discussion: 1. Goals and motives

Motives to be in contact with Germans, to traveland for

cultural enrichmentare aspects that set study abroad apart

from study in the home country where native speaker

contacts and cultural experiences are rather limited.

Results appear to coincide with Allen & Herrons (2003)findings:

Most frequently reported reasons for participating instudy abroad are integrative in nature.

Discussion: 2. Learning expectations vs. gains

Culture learning was the only area in which perceived gains

do not fall short of expectations!

Perceived progress was rated significantly lower than

expected gains for all areas except cultural understanding: Similar discrepancy reported by Mendelson (2004) and

Badstbner & Ecke (2009)

Language myth? study abroad will ultimately and inevitably

lead to language acquisition due to the sheer number of hoursstudents spend simply exposed to the language. (Wilkinson, 1997)


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3. Discussion: Participants expected gains (pre) andperceived gains (post) for aspects of culture learning

Students have high expectations re: culture learning and

ICC development.

Some expectations are met, others are not

(also individual differences).

Affective, integrative and interactive aspects seem to be

most important to participants.

Detailed surveys on culture learning may help to evaluate

program effectiveness analyze and revise program objectives and content if necessary

4. Discussion: Participants rating of members of theirown culture and members of the other culture

Pre-program and post-program ratings are very similar.

Stereotypes are frequently reinforced/substantiated.

They mostly reflect positive views of the target culture

(idealization?)

Also, a tendency to valorize/appreciate the own culture in

the post-program survey.

No indication of less positive attitudes towards targetculture, decrease in integrative orientation, and higher

levels of anxiety (as in Coleman, 1998, Wilkinson, 2001, Wilkinson et al.,2000)


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5. Discussion: Personal attributes related to participants'

intercultural competence (cultural intelligence)

Pre-program and post-program self-ratings of traits

potentially relevant to cultural intelligence are very similar.

Comfort with uncertainty is the only score that shows a

significant increase.

Part of the attributes in the questionnaire are stable

personality traits unlikely to change.

Some increased (albeit non-significant) values suggest a

positive impact of SA on personality development (Ability totrust when dealing with the unfamiliar, ability to make independent decisions far

from home, extroversion, sensitivity to nuances of differences)

Implications:

Stress what a program can offer in terms of cultural

experiences, travel, and contact with members of the target

culture in addition to a rigorous program of study.

Discussion of potential and limitations of study abroad

programs with students

share and discuss motives and goals in orientation sessions

Help students form realistic expectations and set achievablegoals for study abroad (e.g. Kitsantas, 2004) to prevent feelings

of disappointment or failure.


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Implications (cont.)

Impact of a study abroad may not always be visible right

away.

Administrators and teachers need to have realistic

expectations too.

Stability (of overall positive attitudes and preconceptions

about the target culture and participants own) may be a

good thing.

Students that decide to study abroad probably show more

intercultural competence / cultural intelligence than others

who do not.

Selected references

Adams, R. (2006). Language learning strategies in thestudy abroad context. In Margaret A. DuFon and EtonChurchill (eds.) Language Learners in Study AbroadContexts (pp. 259-292). Clevedon (GB): MultilingualMatters.

Allen, H., & Herron, C. (2003). A mixed-methodologyinvestigation of the linguistic and affective outcomes ofsummer study abroad. Foreign Language Annals, 36(3),

370-385. Badstbner, T., & Ecke, P. (2009). Students expectations,

target language use, and perceived learning progress in asummer study abroad program in Germany. DieUnterrichtspraxis: Teaching German, 42(1), 41-49.


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Selected references (cont.)

Coleman, J. A. (1998). Evolving intercultural perceptionsamong university language learners in Europe. In M.Byram & M. Fleming (Eds.), Language learning inintercultural perspective: Approaches through drama andethnography (pp. 45-75). Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Ginsberg, R., & Miller, L. (2000). What do they do?Activities of students during study abroad. In R.Lambert. (Ed.), Language Policy and Pedagogy(pp.237-260). Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Isabelli-Garca, C. (2006). Study abroad social networks,motivation and attitudes: Implications for second

language acquisition. In M. A. DuFon & E. Churchill(Eds.) Language Learners in Study Abroad Contexts(pp. 231-258). Clevedon (GB): Multilingual Matters.


Kaplan, M. (1989). French in the community: A survey oflanguage use abroad. The French Review, 63(2), 290-301.

Kitsantas, A. (2004). Studying abroad: The role of collegestudents goals on the development of cross-cultural skillsand global understanding. College Student Journal, 48(2),441-452.

Mendelson, V. G. (2004). Hindsight is 20/20: Studentperspectives of language learning and the study abroadexperience. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study

Abroad, X, 43-63. Peterson, Brooks (2004). Cultural intelligence: A guide to

working with people from other cultures. Yarmouth, Maine:Intercultural Press.


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Pickett, L. (1993). The effect of cultural distancing onattitudes and motivation in foreign language learning. MAthesis, University of Portsmouth.

Wilkinson, S. (1997). Separating fact from myth: Aqualitative perspective on language learning duringsummer study abroad. MLA Convention, Toronto. 29.December 1997.

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