Intercultural education for multicultural societies: Critical issues

This article presents evidence for the need for intercultural education in multicultural societies. Pupils who are culturally different from the majority need it to learn to function effectively in their own culture as well as in the majority culture. Since an important objective of education is to prepare individuals to function effectively in their environment, all children in multicultural societies could profit from exposure to effective intercultural education. Our research with American teachers and their Latin American or Hispanic pupils suggests that teachers also need to learn about the patterns of perceptions, values, and behaviors of culturally different pupils. Objections to intercultural education are listed and refuted. Advantages and disadvantages of three new approaches to intercultural education are discussed. Special attention is given to the attributional approach, an informational approach which is particularly well suited for use in educational settings. Research bearing on the effectiveness of this approach is presented.     

Japanese intercultural communication competence and cross-cultural adjustment

This study explores the relationship between language and communication skills and patterns of success and failure in the cross-cultural adjustment of Japanese university students. Seven interpersonal communication skills which were selected by Ruben and Kealey as important to cross-cultural adjustment were examined: empathy, respect, role behavior flexibility, orientation to knowledge, interaction posture, interaction management, and tolerance for ambiguity. Besides these skills, language was taken into consideration as a major component influencing Japanese intercultural communication. The behavioral assessment method developed by Ruben was utilized to measure communicative performance and behaviors of Japanese university students who visited the United States for 4 weeks for their English training. In order to assess the language skills of these individuals, listening, speaking, structure and written expression, and vocabolary and reading comprehension skills were measured. At the end of their stay in the United States, the dimensions of culture shock, psychological adjustment, and interactional effectiveness were examined. Comparisons of pre- and post-test measures indicated that six out of the seven communication behaviors observed in the Japanese students did not predict success or failure in adjustment to the United States. Only ambiguity tolerance yielded correlation with culture shock. However, speaking and listening skills were closely correlated with interactional effectiveness.     

A Comparative Perspective of Intercultural Sensitivity Between College Students and Multinational Employees in China

Using the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale formulated by G. M. Chen and Starosta, the intercultural sensitivity of English major students, non-English major students, and multinational employees in China were investigated. In this study, intercultural sensitivity was defined as consisting of interaction engagement, interaction confidence, respect for cultural differences, interaction enjoyment, and interaction attentiveness. The focus of this research was to explore how intercultural sensitivity was structured among subjects of different English learning and intercultural communication experience. A series of results generated by multiple regressions showed different weightings of the 5 elements of intercultural sensitivity of the 3 subsamples. For example, respect for cultural differences for English major students was affected by interaction engagement and enjoyment, whereas for multinational employees it was only affected by interaction enjoyment. The study also found that English major students felt interaction enjoyment more easily than non-English major students and multinational employees.     

Toward a typology of stranger-host relationships

The purpose of this paper is to review the concept of the stranger as it has been used in sociology, anthropology, and intercultural relations. Based upon this literature and two recent critiques, a typology of stranger-host relationships is developed. The implications of the typology for integrating research in the sociology of tourism, intercultural adjustment, and acculturation/assimilation are discussed.     

Text and metatext in Hersey's A Single Pebble from the perspective of intercultural communication

An interdisciplinary study of a literary text from the perspectives of both literary scholarship and communication studies is possible under the conditions of expanding applicability of communication models to other fields and the broadening of literary studies to include approaches formerly excluded. This study was undertaken to show the relevance of issues of intercultural communication and models of communication in general to the analysis of issues of concern to the student of literary texts, and to demonstrate the blending of two methodological standpoints. The novel A Single Pebble by John Hersey presents textual structures which complement its ostensible content of interaction by a member of one culture with the members of another. This complementarity may be examined through a model of the interplay of text and metatext in narrative fiction applied to the analysis of an incident in the plot centering upon the disappearance of the protagonist's watch. Because the watch is referred to in a peculiar metaphor at one point, a series of observations on its relationship to the characters, the narrator, and the author are generated in the process of reading out its significance. This is related to the basic situation of the experience of an individual in penetrating an alien culture. The metaphor in which reference to the watch is couched can be taken as emblematic of an ironic authorial stance in Hersey's account of a largely unsuccessful attempt at communication across cultures.     

New media environments’ comparative effects upon intercultural sensitivity: A five-dimensional analysis

An experimental 2 (channel) × 2 (gender) × 3 (time) mixed factorial design (N = 159) was applied to test and compare how individual dimensions of intercultural sensitivity might be affected by two channels: a virtual environment (i.e., Second Life^®) versus a Web environment. Using a modified version of Chen and Starosta's Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), the study sought to identify which of the five ISS dimensions played the most influential role in intercultural sensitivity outcomes: interaction enjoyment, interaction engagement, interaction confidence, interaction attentiveness, or respect for cultural differences. Results showed that one's willingness and effort toward understanding an intercultural interaction – interaction attentiveness – played the greatest and most statistically significant role in intercultural sensitivity outcomes, and that this effect was greatest within the virtual environment channel. Gender effects were also found, in which men experienced greater enjoyment but women expressed more attentiveness.     

Are daily intergroup interactions distressing? An end-of-day diary study of associations between daily intergroup interaction proportion and psychological distress/well-being

Laboratory-based studies show that intercultural interactions often cause people to feel stressed and anxious. However, we know fairly little about how intercultural interactions unfold outside of the laboratory. The present study examined associations between the proportion of daily intercultural interactions among 97 university students and their daily distress as well as daily well-being, using a 21-day end-of-day diary design. Overall, on days where participants had a larger proportion of intercultural interactions compared to their habitual level, they reported more psychological distress, with a small effect size. This association was similar for participants with majority status and for those with minority status. Daily proportion of intercultural interaction was unrelated to daily psychological well-being. We also observed no associations between daily intercultural interaction proportion and distress/well-being across days (using lagged analyses). This work extends laboratory-based findings that intercultural interactions are taxing to unstructured naturalistic settings.     

Re-examining intercultural research and relations in the COVID pandemic

The authors provide an urgent call for cross- and intercultural scholars to re-examine many of the related themes and classic or contemporary study areas of “intercultural communication” and “intercultural relations” in light of the impacts that the novel coronal (COVID-19) pandemic is having on human interaction both across and within our social-cultural contexts. As scholars focusing on intercultural communications/relations, education, management, psychology, and social issues, the global COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a range of intercultural problems or issues that need to be researched to better understand related aspects of human suffering, social disruption, and economic inequalities. New research projects/papers need to address how these impact key intercultural theme/topic areas like cultural attributions/expectations, values/beliefs, identities, perceptions/stereotypes/prejudice, language/speech codes, cultural systems/patterns, acculturation/adaptation, intercultural effectiveness/sensitivity/competence, and conflict (Kulich et al., 2020, Table 3.7). Some research areas and applications potentially affected by COVID are highlighted, including our sense of national/international identity and cooperation, our mediated or actual social networks, our ways of framing or carrying out intercultural or cross-cultural cooperation, new issues emerging in inter-group contact, how we apply cross-cultural taxonomies or dimensions to analyze data, and how these ultimately affect our relationships with each other across all levels of culture (from dyads, to groups, sub- or co-cultures) or express and affirm interculturality at such times. Each area is highlighted by calls for specific types of intercultural research to address these challenges and opportunities.     

Intercultural competence in tourism and hospitality: Self-efficacy beliefs and the Dunning Kruger effect

This study aims to measure intercultural competence (awareness) of tourism and hospitality employees who tend to be in continuous interaction with intercultural customers. By comparing the results of a self-report awareness test/scale with the results of a knowledge-based test, the study shows that employees not only have extremely low intercultural competence, they also exaggerate their intercultural awareness/competence. Hence, in addition to the implications for intercultural competence/awareness of tourism and hospitality employees and for the businesses for which they work, the study has also implications regarding the measurement ability of self-report scales/tests.     

Observing intercultural communication: A proposal of theory and method

Techniques for analyzing intercultural communication should minimize subjective intrusion by observers and maximize the potential benefit of analysis to communicators. Interchange between communicators is defined transactionally as events involving simultaneous change in (1) a communicator, (2) other communicators encountered by that communicator, and (3) what is known about these encounters. Interchange in dyadic communication is explained in terms of an ABX model, which is phenomenal rather than objective for an observer and in which X signifies mutual experience between communicators A and B. X is the focus of empirical investigation by the observer, who conducts parallel interviews with A and B and cross checks them. Comparison of different sets of interviews indicates which variables are persistent in intercultural communication. Research procedures are proposed for rigorous evaluation of the transactional model.     

Intercultural communication problems as perceived by Saudi Arabian and American managers

Research on Saudi Arabian communication patterns is inadequate. The present study reviews the literature on Saudi Arabian cultural and communication patterns and reports the results of data collected in Saudi Arabia on the perceived problems of Saudi Arabian businessmen when communicating with Americans. While large differences exist in the perceptions of the communication problems, both the Saudi Arabians and the Americans targeted differences in the patterns for organizing ideas as a major intercultural problem. Implications for intercultural training are provided.     

The Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory: A conceptual framework and measure of intercultural conflict resolution approaches

Grounded in the pragmatics of human communication perspective, the current study examined how disagreements and emotion function across cultural context in resolving conflict. Specifically, the research effort developed the Intercultural Conflict Style (ICS) inventory, a 36-item measure of intercultural conflict resolution style based on two core dimensions: Direct vs. indirect approaches to dealing with disagreements and emotionally expressive vs. emotionally restrained patterns for dealing with the affective dimension of conflict interaction. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) found the proposed two-factor model was a good fit to the data. Analysis of the CFA findings identified a final set of 18 direct/indirect items and 18 emotional expressiveness/restraint items. The direct/indirect scale obtained a coefficient alpha of .73 and the emotional expressiveness/restraint scale achieved .85 reliability. Validity testing of the scales found no significant effects by gender, education or previous intercultural living experience. A theoretical framework for understanding differences in conflict resolution styles grounded in the development of this inventory, a practical, four-quadrant intercultural conflict resolution style model is proposed based on high/low levels of directness and high/low levels of emotional expressiveness: (1) discussion style (direct & emotionally restrained), (2) engagement style (direct & emotionally expressive), (3) accommodation style (indirect & emotionally restrained) and (4) dynamic style (indirect and emotionally expressive).     

Intercultural adjustment and friendship dialectics in international students: A qualitative study

Despite the accelerating increase of international students on American campus, there is still a lack of in-depth understanding of how these individuals make sense of their adjustment journey or how they construct meaning concerning their friendship development experience. Existing adjustment research tended to focus primarily on the motivational goals of adjustment or the type of friendship network patterns (e.g., host national network, co-national network, or multi-national network) but did not probe deeper into the narratives of international students’ identity-change adjustment processes or the quality of their friendship networks. Using identity negotiation theory as a guide, this study utilized an interpretive methodology to examine the adjustment narratives and friendship stories of 20 international students. The findings revealed three themes: a variety of intercultural adjustment patterns and with a predominant upward trend or M-shaped adjustment trend, the role of cultural expectancy and personal time sense in intercultural friendship development, and identity shock issues and friendship dialectics. The findings have implications for the study of intercultural adjustment process and friendship development pattern especially concerning the intercultural friendship dialectics of feeling visible versus invisible, communication openness versus closedness, and feeling like a guest versus feeling like an alien.     

Intercultural knowledge development: Evidence from student interviews during short-term study abroad

The goal of this investigation was to examine intercultural knowledge development during a short-term study abroad program focused on language and cultural learning. Interviews with students were conducted at the beginning and end of the program, allowing for a qualitative approach to analysis, supported by quantitative measures. While previous investigations have relied on qualitative data, this is the first analysis of intercultural knowledge development based on a qualitative, pre- and post-program design. Intercultural knowledge development was identified considering the change and growth in student knowledge. Results indicated that students experienced a change in the salience of intercultural knowledge themes over the period abroad, focusing on City life and Schedule differences more at the beginning of the program than at the end. Such shift may be indicative of cultural adaptation during the program. Results also demonstrated intercultural knowledge growth over the period abroad, with the greatest growth being related to knowledge themes of Big C (e.g., culture and history), daily life, food and drink, and values and politics. These results led to a distinction between types of knowledge that traditionally have been included in definitions of intercultural knowledge, an analysis of context as it intersects with knowledge development, and a theoretical consideration of the relationship between intercultural knowledge and intercultural communicative competence. Furthermore, practical considerations for cultivating intercultural knowledge during short-term study abroad programs were discussed.     

Measuring intercultural contact and its effects on intercultural competence: A structural equation modeling approach

This study utilizes a structural equation modeling approach to construct a scale to measure Chinese college students’ intercultural contact and to explore the pathways from intercultural contact to intercultural competence and their significance. Through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, the study conducted a series of reliability and validity analyses. The results indicate that the intercultural contact scale for Chinese college students has good reliability and validity. Moreover, a path analysis with the structural equation model was performed and reveals that the pathways of intercultural contact are beneficial for improving Chinese college students’ intercultural competence. In terms of direct contact, domestic social media is the most important, whereas for indirect contact, cultural products are relatively more important than multimedia and courses. The implications for the theoretical development of intercultural contact could be significant for scholars engaged in intercultural communication as well as for planning international education training programs.     

The impact of intercultural contact on host families

This paper reports the results of programmatic research focusing upon the host family component of the Council of International Programs (CIP) exchange program that brings human service professionals to the United States each year. The study shows that four major dimensions of intercultural contact identified in intercultural literature (personal development, intimacy, international networks, and better understanding of foreign affairs) are clearly promoted through the CIP host family experience. The study supports the usefulness of a host family component as part of intercultural exchange programs.     

Dimensions of intercultural effectiveness: Culture specific or culture general?

Abe and Wiseman (1983) replicated Hammer, Gudykunst, and Wiseman's (1978) study of the dimensions of intercultural effectiveness. Subjects for the Hammer et al. study were Americans living in another culture for at least 3 months, whereas Abe and Wiseman's subjects were Japanese tourists in the United States. Three dimensions emerged in the original study and five in the replication. Abe and Wiseman interpret these differences as evidence for a culture-specific interpretation of intercultural effectiveness. The argument presented in this paper is that Abe and Wiseman's data do not support a culture-specific interpretation. Rather, it presents relatively unequivocal evidence for a culture-general interpretation. Differences in the two factor structures are explained in terms of sample size and length of stay.     

Can ability emotional intelligence help explain intercultural effectiveness? Incremental validity and mediation effects of emotional vocabulary in predicting intercultural judgment

A review of the literature reveals that previous studies on the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in predicting intercultural effectiveness have focused solely on trait EI, i.e., self-reported emotional efficacy, and on emotion recognition, disregarding the core components of ability EI, particularly its understanding emotions branch. Considering this gap and arguing for the relevance of emotion understanding in intercultural communication, the present study examined whether emotional vocabulary (EV), a marker of the ability to understand emotions, predicts intercultural problem solving above verbal intelligence and personality, and whether it (partially) mediates their effects on the criterion. Participants were 336 university students from Serbia, assessed on EV, verbal intelligence, the Big Five, and intercultural judgment and decision making (CJDM). A hierarchical regression analysis found verbal intelligence, Openness, and Extraversion (Step 1), and EV (Step 2) to significantly predict CJDM, with EV incrementally explaining 2% of criterion variance. A path analysis yielded excellent fit indices for a model postulating EV as a partial mediator of the effects of verbal intelligence and Openness on CJDM. The study thus provides first evidence of the specific contribution of emotion understanding to solving intercultural communication problems, the implications of which for both EI and intercultural research are discussed.