Intercultural competence of first year students of English at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University: a report of research

Zerzová, Jana

doi:10.1515/jolace-2016-0013

Abstract

The article presents the initial stage of research conducted at the Department of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno. The aim of the research is to examine the departmental students’ intercultural competence (IC) at the beginning of their studies (autumn 2011), compare it with their level of IC at the end of their studies (autumn 2016) and investigate the influences that played a role in their IC development. In this paper, only the initial stage of the research is presented, i.e. examining the students’ IC at the beginning of the studies. The Intercultural Development Inventory®, version 3, was used for the purposes of the research. Since this instrument is not currently being used for academic or corporate purposes in the Czech (or Slovak) Republic, a secondary aim of the article is to introduce it to the wider academic community. The results indicate that students tend to overestimate their level of IC, and find themselves in ethnocentric stages of intercultural development at the beginning of their university studies.

References

BENNETT, M. J. (1986). A Developmental Approach to Training for Intercultural Sensitivity. International Journal for Intercultural Relations, 10(2), 179-196.10.1016/0147-1767(86)90005-2
Search in Google Scholar
DEARDORFF, D. K. (2004). Intercultural Competence Model. Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Raleigh NC: North Carolina State University. Retrieved April 24, 2011. Available at: http://www.unr.edu/oiss/toolbox/2009/INTERCULTURAL%20COMPETENCE%20MODELS%20deardorff%2006.pdf.
Search in Google Scholar
DEARDORFF, D. K. (2009). Exploring interculturally competent teaching in social sciences classrooms. ELiSS, 2(1). Retrieved May 10, 2011. Available at: http://www.unc.edu/world/Vol2_1_Deardorff.pdf 10.11120/elss.2009.02010002
Search in Google Scholar
FANTINI, A. E. (2000). A Central Concern: Developing Intercultural Competence. In A. E. Fantini (Ed.), About Our Institution (pp. 25-42). SIT Occasional Papers Series. Brattleboro, VT: The School for International Training.
Search in Google Scholar
FANTINI, A. E. (2006). Assessment Tools of Intercultural Communicative Competence. Retreived August 10, 2013. Available at: http://www.sit.edu/SITOccasionalPapers/feil_appendix_f.pdf
Search in Google Scholar
FANTINI, A. E. (2009) Assessing intercultural Competence: Issues and tools. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of Intercultutl Competence (p. 456-476). USA: Sage Publications, Inc.10.4135/9781071872987.n27
Search in Google Scholar
HAMMER, M. R. (2011). Additional cross-cultural validity testing of the Intercultural Development Inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 474-487.10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.02.014
Search in Google Scholar
HAMMER, M. R. (2009). The Intercultural Development Inventory: An Approach for assessing and building intercultural competence. In M. A. Moodian (Ed.), Contemporary leadership and intercultural competence: Exploring the crosscultural dynamics within organizations (pp. 203-108). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Search in Google Scholar
HAMMER, M. R., BENNETT, M. J., & WISEMAN, R. (2003). The Intercultural Development Inventory: A measure of intercultural sensitivity. In M. Paige (Guest Editor), International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 421-443.10.1016/S0147-1767(03)00032-4
Search in Google Scholar
HAMMER, M.R. (2009a). The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI v3) Berlin, MD: IDI, LLC.
Search in Google Scholar
INCA Assessor Manual: Intercultural Competence Assessment (INCA). (2004). INCA, LdVII. Retreived August 10, 2013. Available at: http://www.incaproject.org/tools.htm.
Search in Google Scholar
LANDIS, D., BENNETT, J. M., & BENNETT, M. J. (Eds). (2004). Handbook of Intercultural Training. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.10.4135/9781452231129
Search in Google Scholar
Souhrnné poznatky o podpoře a rozvoji výuky cizích jazyků v předškolním, základním a středním vzdělávání v období let 2006-2009. Praha: Česká školní inspekce, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2011. Available at: http://www.csicr.cz/cz/85027-podpora-a-rozvoj-vyuky-cizich-jazyku.
Search in Google Scholar

Intercultural competence of first year students of English at the Faculty of Education, Masaryk University: a report of research

Abstract

Paradigm

My account