The international classroom is presumably a far more effective learning environment for the acquisition of intercultural competence when students receive adequate training to make the most of their intercultural encounters. This paper provides a summary of the intercultural training taught to first-year students of an international programme in The Hague University of Applied Sciences. The purpose of the paper is to investigate how the students respond to this intercultural training as well as what signs of intercultural awareness they show after completing the course. The findings were obtained via qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews, observations and student homework assignments. Overall, students evaluate the training positively. Furthermore, students show some awareness of the necessary ingredients for effective intercultural communication in the international classroom as well as of the challenging nature of this communication due to cultural diversity. Finally, this paper provides recommendations from the facilitators on stimulating intercultural learning in the international classroom.
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In this study it was hypothesized that collaborative learning in international higher education contributes to the development of intercultural competence. Two hundred and fifty-two students of an international business and management study programme of a Dutch university participated in two surveys on collaboration in a group learning activity and one survey on their development of intercultural competence. Additionally, three groups of four to six students took part in focus group interviews. The results indicated that when students perceive that the group process improves, the quality of the collaboration in terms of verbal interaction and equal contribution will also improve. Furthermore, the results revealed that a higher perceived quality of the collaboration relates to an increasing development of intercultural competence. The findings are discussed and related to implications for the use of group learning activities in international higher education. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315319826226
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To understand under what conditions intercultural group work (IGW) leads to more intercultural interactions, a survey was conducted among local students (n = 80) and international students (n = 153) in Dutch universities. In this study, students were more inclined to engage in intercultural interactions when they perceived that working with culturally diverse others prepared them to work and live in a diverse setting. The positive association was strengthened when students perceived that diversity, in terms of nationality within their work group, was also beneficial for accomplishing their group task. The findings demonstrate the significance of students’ perceptions of IGW, including the perceived general value for personal development and intellectual benefits related to specific tasks. This implies that institutions and teachers could be made responsible for engaging with innovative educational methods to address and incorporate student diversity into curriculum.
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The experiences with intercultural competence training at the Hanze International Business School Groningen may serve as a blueprint for augmenting professional intercultural behaviour at the SME work floor. The set-up of the training is based on current intercultural communication theory and models, and has as its basic assumption that a change in worldview will make a change in behaviour more likely and feasible. Test results and interviews reveal that the worldviews of 34 participants have changed between the start and the end of the training.
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Chapter 18 in R. Hampel, & U. Stickler (Eds.). The Bloomsbury Handbook of Language Learning and Technology, Part IV: Moving the Learner Online
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This paper concerns an on-going study aiming at finding evidence for the assumption that a study abroad episode with active intervention in the students engagement and reflection as part of intercultural learning will result in higher intercultural competence development scores than a study abroad without such intervention. The findings show that almost half of the students score substantially different on intercultural competence after their stay abroad than before. However, this applies to both intervention and non-intervention groups. Moreover, the changes are both positive and negative. Positive developmental scores relate to high scores on four specific competences: intercultural sensitivity, intercultural communication, building relationships, and managing uncertainty. Developmental scores also relate to the factors curiosity, care for cultural difference, time lived abroad, age and gender. Factor analysis of all 13 study variables supports the idea that an intrinsic desire for cross-cultural interaction and an ability to communicate sensitively moderate intercultural learning. Further study is required to test these factors as moderating factors, and how this relates to effective intervention.
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In this study we measured the effect of COIL on intercultural competence development using a quasi-experimental design. Our sample consisted of 108 undergraduate students from two universities, one located in the Netherlands (NL) and one in the United States (US). Students’ self-reported intercultural competence was measured using a pre-post survey which included the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS) and Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Qualitative data were collected to complement our quantitative findings and to give a deeper insight into the student experience. The data showed a significantly bigger increase in intercultural competence for the US experimental group compared to the US control group, supporting our hypothesis that COIL develops intercultural competence. This difference was not observed for the NL students, possibly due to the NL control group being exposed to other international input during the course.
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This dissertation increases our insight into the role of the service employee’s intercultural competences in the service to culturally diverse customers. Investigating the effect of the intercultural competences of service employees is of major importance because, as a consequence of globalization, the number of intercultural service encounters has increased dramatically and still does. The delivery of service to a culturally diverse customer-base requires a combination of knowledge, skills and attitude; the intercultural competences (also known as Global Mindset). In this study the hotel sector has been investigated specifically. The hotel sector is an important economic player that continues to grow inspite of economic downturn. The special characteristics of hotel services make the sector also very suitable for the research of face-to-face encounters in an international context. In this dissertation, a holistic approach has been chosen, meaning that in the four empirical studies not only the perspective of the manager, but also that of the employee and the customer was investigated. All three of the above-mentioned are actors in intercultural service according to the argumentation of the ‘service-profit chain’ (Heskett, Jones, et al., 1994). Together, the manager, employee and the customer form the so-called ‘service triangle’ (Bitner, 1990).
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The range of studies that has been conducted on the role of gossip in organizations suggests that gossip in the workplace plays a variety of important roles in organisational processes. However, relatively few studies have explored its role in intercultural situations. This is surprising given how organisations are becoming increasingly diverse. This paper addresses this gap in the literature. It reports on an exploratory project that sought to determine how perceptions of organisational gossip vary between members of different cultural groups. Using a sensemaking, interpretative approach, we showed two gossip scenarios to 8 Chinese, 8 German and 8 Dutch first year students, and conducted semi structured interviews, asking them how they perceived the nature of the gossip, the gossiper and the object of gossip (i.e., the person being gossiped about). After analysing the data with ATLAS.ti, we observed certain patterns emerging. For example, while all students condemned a manager’s bad behaviour, the Chinese students seemed to expect it more than did their Dutch or German counterparts. Moreover, we found that the relationship and amount of trust that exists between gossiper, listener and object of gossip greatly influenced how the gossiper and object of gossip were perceived. After reflecting on our research methodology, this study sets the stage for the next phase of our research on the role of gossip in intercultural situations. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiquedarmon/
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Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is often framed as an example of a broader practice known as Virtual Exchange (VE). The term Virtual Exchange has increasingly been used as an attempt to unify a fragmented field of Higher Education practice and is often used interchangeably with the term COIL. However, the design of COIL, with its strong focus on collaborative and intercultural learning, is often very different to other VE initiatives. Labelling all VE initiatives, including COIL, generally as VE, can lead to both educators and researchers having difficulty identifying and distinguishing COIL. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of VE and define COIL and its key characteristics. This article also describes how theory can inform practice and explains why continued interchangeable use of the term COIL with the umbrella term Virtual Exchange is unhelpful for future research and practice.
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