Enhancing the intercultural effectiveness of exchange programmes: formal and non-formal educational interventions (original) (raw)

Study exchange - a journey to intercultural competence development?

This is an impact study of study abroad programme for students’ intercultural development. The study builds on research that uses Intercultural Competence Development inventory to assess and understand the extent of change in intercultural competence as a result of an international study programme, Eurocampus semester. Participants in the study consist of 20 intercultural communication students from 5 different European universities. The data consists of pre- and post-test data from IDI, qualitative contexting questions of IDI, and in-depth interviews of case student participants. Analysis of the IDI data reveals that international Eurocampus programme for intercultural communication students does not develop all participants’ intercultural competence, rather in many cases students’ intercultural competence regressed as measured by IDI. Case participants’ in-depth interviews are providing further insight in the factors that support or hold back the intercultural competence development during study abroad semester. The Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) along a validated assessment tool for assessing intercultural competence, The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), provides the core conceptual framework and research instrument in the study. The DMIS as developed by M. Bennett identifies a number of worldviews through which individuals experience cultural difference. The underlying idea of DMIS is that as one’s experience of cultural difference becomes more complex, ones’ intercultural competence is enhanced. Aims of the study were to assess intercultural competence development of international study programme and to understand the factors that improve or hold back the intercultural development of the students. Results show that international experience as such is not enough for intercultural competence development.

Self-Development of Intercultural Competence in Academic Exchange Programmes: Students' Attitude

Social Sciences, 2012

The paper analyses the role of academic exchange programmes in students' intercultural competence selfdevelopment. Research literature indicates that academic exchange helps students to improve their learning and general competences. This encouraged an enquiry into the attitude of students towards the development of intercultural competence in academic exchange programmes. The results of the interview conducted in the spring of 2011 are presented in this paper. The study involved 15 students who went abroad to study under the Erasmus programme. The analysis highlights the students' approach to the main elements of intercultural competence and educational features of participating in academic exchange programmes.

The impact of studying abroad on students’ intercultural competence

Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2019

This paper presents qualitative research examining to what extent sojourns abroad engage their participants in intercultural interactions and whether or not such experience translates into students' intercultural growth. The results of the study demonstrated that studying abroad did not provide students with ample opportunities to immerse into the local community and fully discover a new cultural environment. However, students surrounded by local and their fellow international students met foreign cultures, which motivated them to explore and interpret the encountered diversity, and thus equipped them with knowledge about foreign cultures, sensitizing them to cultural diversity. Sometimes such contacts challenged students' preconceived judgments and stereotypes of specific cultural groups, their ways of thinking, valuing and acting, and resulted, to a lesser or greater extent, in rethinking these, leading to changing attitudes and values. International experiences also stimulated students to self-analyze their own cultural identity, and thereby contributed to their growth in self-awareness in this respect. By offering opportunities for experiencing cultural differences and prompting students to develop coping strategies and to make references to the home culture, the sojourn is thus of significant importance for tertiary students, allowing for fostering their intercultural development to a certain degree.

Promoting intercultural competence in study abroad students

European Journal of Psychology of Education

Universities have been promoting study abroad programmes for a long time to improve intercultural competence. However, the mere exposure to cultural differences while studying abroad does not ensure intercultural competence, unless study abroad students’ reflective processes are explicitly targeted. The article presents the results of a short intervention grounded in the problem-based approach aimed at improving intercultural competence in study abroad students. Students were assigned to three conditions: a video-log condition (in which they have to narrate a critical incident occurred to them), a reflection-induced video-logs (in which they were prompted to reflect on the video-logs produced), and an active control condition. The reflection-induced video-log intervention improved students’ perceived proficiency in Italian and perceived opportunities for cultural reflection, but it did not contribute to improve students’ applicable and conceptual knowledge of intercultural competence.

Becoming interculturally competent through education and training

Intercultural Education, 2011

More specifically, it presents the data on student mobility at this faculty under the Erasmus and Erasmus+ programmes-both for studies and for training-since the implementation of the new degrees, compliant with the guidelines of the Bologna Process, until the present. The study is framed within the context of intercultural teacher education and mobility as a tool to promote European citizenship as theoretical tenets. Results reveal that our student teachers do profit from Erasmus mobility in different ways, especially from the programme Erasmus for Traineeship. They also yield information on the mobility flows of incoming and outgoing students, partly confirming the ties and relationships between countries that are shown in larger studies. Nevertheless, the figures of outward mobile students in relation to the university are low, and the numbers of outgoing and incoming students are unbalanced. For that reason, measures for boosting and improving mobility are put forward, for instance in relation to internationalisation at home.

Intercultural Competence in Short-Term Study Abroad

Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 2017

Assessment is growing for short-term study abroad as the majority of students (63.1%) continue to choose this option (Institute of International Education, 2016). This study examines possible gains and factors influencing such gains in students’ overall intercultural competency following participation in a short-term program. Using the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) survey distributed before, after, and three months following the study abroad experience, data was analyzed for fifty-five students across eight different short-term programs at three distinct institutions within the state of Texas. Document analysis of program syllabi also looked at connections to structured activities and assignments. The results demonstrate the potential for short-term study abroad programs ranging from two to five weeks to have significant impacts on students’ self-perceived intercultural competency that appear most affected by intentional structures. These findings support recom...

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE: A CASE STUDY ON ACADEMIC EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES

STUDIA UBB PHILOLOGIA, 2024

The paper intends to identify the challenges experienced by students during their study abroad in a post-pandemic context. In addition, emphasis is placed on respondents' self-perceived level of intercultural communicative competence. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought considerable changes in the educational field and many academic exchange programmes have been ceased. While numerous studies have identified linguistic competence and cultural awareness as outcomes of academic exchange programmes before the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a gap in research in this area in a post-pandemic context when people were reluctant to engage with each other. Students exposed to potentially stressful situations in their academic lives might experience negative outcomes in their achievement. Thus, respondents' coping mechanisms when faced with culture shock abroad are also referred to. The study included 15 participants. A survey was used as a research method. The data obtained were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively through descriptive statistics using Google Forms' built-in tools or Voyant Tools for content analysis. Findings indicate that 93.3% of the participants self-evaluate themselves as having developed intercultural communicative competence and that 40% have experienced culture shock. Nevertheless, respondents perceived the academic exchange programme as a valuable experience for engaging in reflective practice even if they faced various challenges related to weather, the school system and contact with a new society.

Fostering intercultural competence: Impacts of a multi-destination study abroad program

2015

The attainment of attitudes, knowledge, and skills that develop students’ intercultural competence so that they may navigate the globally interconnected environment of the 21 century is touted as an important learning objective for higher education (Deardorff & Jones, 2012). Colleges and universities strive to enhance this learning objective by offering a variety of international opportunities; prominent among these is a period of study abroad. However, past research indicates the results of intercultural development through study abroad are mixed. How can education abroad contribute to students’ intercultural development? This study focuses on a cohort of students who traverse through three countries (China, Russia, India) in the course of one semester as they live and learn together, alongside faculty and staff from their home institution. To better understand the features of study abroad programs that contribute to students’ intercultural development, this study examined the real...