Developing intercultural communicative competence in foreign language classrooms – A study of EFL learners in Taiwan

Internationalisation has accentuated the importance of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among language learners in higher education in the 21st century. As in the case of Taiwan, universities worldwide have begun to emphasise intercultural ‘literacy’ in language classrooms. Following Byram’ (1997) ICC model, this study adopts an intercultural approach to language classroom in order to investigate the effectiveness of explicit instruction in developing ICC among EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners in Taiwan, and to discover how this development is related to the background factors of overseas experience and English proficiency. The accompanying research therefore has two purposes: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of explicit instruction on EFL learners’ development of ICC by employing both self-assessment and other assessment tools and (2) to investigate the relationship between the development of ICC and two background factors. The results show that (1) explicit instruction is effective in raising students’ development of ICC, especially the knowledge and skills dimensions, and (2) English proficiency and overseas experience are significantly related to better acquisition of ICC.     

An investigation of ELT students’ intercultural communicative competence in relation to linguistic proficiency, overseas experience and formal instruction

This study aims at exploring how linguistic proficiency, target culture experience, and formal education are related to the learning of intercultural communicative competence (ICC). It presents the theoretical underpinnings of ICC in the light of recent literature. Then, it continues with the methodology section that includes a quantitative research study in which 35 students at the Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) at European University of Lefke (EUL) participated. The participants of the study had different linguistic proficiencies ranging from waystage or elementary level (A2) to vantage or upper intermediate level (B2). The paper concludes by stating the findings of the research and also by making some recommendations for language teachers to better develop the learners’ ICC in teaching English as a second language (TESL)/teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) contexts.     

The Impact of an Erasmus Placement in Students’ Perception of their Intercultural Communicative Competence

Pre- and post-questionnaires answered by UK Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and Spain’s University of Salamanca (USAL) students on their placement abroad support a comparative analysis of its impact on their intercultural communicative competence, comprising the awareness, attitude, skills and knowledge dimensions. NTU students started their placements with better results in them all. Yet, while both groups completed their stay with a similarly increased awareness, the knowledge and skills of the USAL group matched the results of NTU students and, whereas the scores of the attitude dimension towards the host country of NTU students did not increase significantly, those of USAL students decreased.     

Academics’ perceptions of intercultural competence and professional development after international mobility

This study examines academics’ perceptions of their intercultural competence after an international exchange period and the influence of academic international mobility on their professional development. The data was collected via an online survey (N = 59) and in-depth interviews (N = 15) from academic university staff in the field of engineering who had recently participated in an international mobility period. The findings produced a positive picture of academics’ international work periods. The data from the self-evaluation indicated that international mobility augments professional proficiency in many ways, including the development of core subject-related competence (e.g., methodological skills) and problem-solving skills, professional self-awareness, as well as the capacity to apply external funding, produce shared publications, and create an international network. Furthermore, in relation to the model of Cultural Intelligence and its four dimensions, Metacognitive, Cognitive, Motivational, and Behavioral, the findings indicated that all the knowledge and skills developed during the exchange period were closely related with the generic working life skills suggested in the competence literature.     

Communicating love: Comparisons between American and East Asian university students

This study examined cultural differences in communicating love among 143 young adults from the US and East Asian countries of China, Japan, and South Korea. Through inductive analyses we examined similarities and differences in the activities and beliefs Americans and East Asians have about love in friendship and marriage, as well as the activities and ways in which love is expressed. Americans and East Asians reported that caring, trust, respect, and honesty were all important beliefs about love in friendship, and trust was an important belief about love in marriage. Love in marriage was seen as important and unconditional for Americans, while East Asians were more likely to report caring as an important belief. Sports, preparing food, and shopping were activities associated with expressing love for Americans, while talking and preparing food constituted activities for expressing love for East Asians. Finally, both US and East Asian students expressed love to a friend through acts of support, open discussion, and the sharing of common experiences, while they expressed love to a spouse through physical intimacy, acts of support, and expressions of love such as “I love you” and “I miss you.”