Intercultural Competence in Teaching: Defining the Intercultural Profile of Student Teachers
Abstract
This article describes the intercultural profile of European student teachers in order to clarify the relationship between Intercultural Competence (IC) and teacher training. The main tool used for that was a questionnaire to assess IC, following the criteria established by the Intercultural Competence Assessment (INCA) Project in which IC levels are ranked. The survey poses a variety of personal and professional situations where IC comes into play and different responses to choose from, ranging from insufficiently intercultural to highly intercultural. The results of this study show that most European student teachers participating in the research displayed an intermediate level of IC, which indicates a necessity to improve future teachers’ IC training, particularly highlighting IC dimensions such as behavioural flexibility or communicative awareness.Keywords
Intercultural Competence, teacher training, student teachersReferences
Aguado, T., Ballesteros, B. & Malik, B. (2003). Cultural Diversity and School Equity. A Model to Evaluate and Develop Educational Practices in Multicultural Education Contexts. Equity and Excellence in Education, 36(1), 50-63.
Alkan, M. & de Vredee, E. (1990). Education in a Plural Society: A Survey of the Professional Opinions of Teachers in Europe. Amsterdam: Euras.
Alred, C., Byram, M. & Fleming, M. (2003). Intercultural Experience and Education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Alonso-Belmonte, I. & Fernández-Agüero, M. (2015). Practical proposals for the development of Intercultural Communicative Competence in EFL: What textbooks won’t tell you. In M. B. Paradowski (Ed.), Productive Foreign Language Skills for an Intercultural World. A Guide (not only) for Teachers (pp. 163-178). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Alonso-Belmonte, I. & Fernández-Agüero, M. (2013). Enseñar la competencia intercultural. In Y. Ruiz de Zarobe & M. L. Ruiz de Zarobe (Eds.), Enseñar Hoy una Lengua Extranjera (pp. 182-220). London: Portal Education.
Alonso-Belmonte, I., Fernández-Agüero, M., Garrote, M. & Morcillo, E. (2014). Análisis del perfil intercultural del profesor de segundas lenguas en formación. Paper presented at the 15th International Conference of the Spanish Association of Language and Literature Education. Valencia, Spain, 19-21 Nov 2014.
Arasaratnam, L. A. & Doerfel, M. L. (2005). Intercultural communication competence: Identifying key components from multicultural perspectives. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29, 137-163.
Ashwill, M. A. & Duong, T. H. O. (2009). Developing globally competent citizens. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The Sage handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 141-178). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Barros García, B. & Kharnásova, G. M. (2012). La interculturalidad como macrocompetencia en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras: revisión bibliográfica y conceptual. Porta Linguarum, 18, 115-31.
Breidbach, S. (2003). Plurilingualism, Democratic Citizenship in Europe and the Role of English. Council of Europe, Language Policy Division, Strasbourg. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Publications_EN.asp.
Byram, M. (2009). Intercultural Competence in foreign languages: The intercultural speaker and the pedagogy of foreign language education. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The Sage Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 321-332). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Byram, M. (Ed.) (2000). Routledge Encyclopaedia of Language Teaching and Learning. London: Routledge.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M. & Fleming, M. (1998). Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective. Approaches through Drama and Ethnography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Byram, M., Gribkova, B. & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teaching. A Practical Introduction for Teachers. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from http://lrc.cornell.edu/director/intercultural.pdf.
Byram, M. (Ed.), Neuner, G., Parmenter, L., Starkey, H. & Zarate, G. (2003). Intercultural Competence. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Retreived 16 December 2015 from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Publications_EN.asp.
Byram, M. & Phipps, A. (2007). Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Byram, M. & Zarate, G. (1997). Defining and assessing intercultural competence: some principles and proposals for the European context. Language Teaching, 29, 14-18.
Cavalli, M., Coste, D., Crişan, A. & van de Ven P. H. (2009). Plurilingual and Intercultural Education as a Project. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Language Policy Division.
Chen, G. M. (2005). A model of global communication competence. China Media Research, 1, 3-11.
Chen, G. M. & Starosta, W. J. (1996). Intercultural Communication Competence: A synthesis. In B. Burleson (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 19 (pp. 353-383). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Clouet, R. (2012). Studying the role of intercultural competence in language teaching in upper secondary education in the Canary Islands, Spain. Onomazein, 26(4), 309-334.
Collier, M. J. (2005). Theorizing cultural identification. In W. B. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about Intercultural Communication (pp. 235-256). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Costa, C. (2011). Intercultural competence: a major issue in foreign language teacher training? In A. Witte, T. Harden, A. Witte, & T. Harden (Eds.), Intercultural Competence; Concepts, Challenges, Evaluations (pp. 127-139). London: Peter Lang.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Deardorff, D. K. (Ed.) (2009). The Sage Handbook of Intercultural Competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Deardorff, D. K. (Ed.) (2006). Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10, 241-266.
Dogra, N. (2007). The views of medical education stakeholders on guidelines for cultural diversity teaching. Medical Teacher, 29(2-3), e41-e46.
Dooly, M. & Villanueva, M. (2006). Internationalisation as a key dimension to teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(2), 223-240.
Dunn, W., Kirova, A., Cooley, M. & Ogilvie, G. (2009). Fostering intercultural inquiry in subject‐area curriculum courses. Canadian Journal of Education, 32 (3), 533‐557.
Fantini, A. E. (2000). A central concern: Developing intercultural competence. SIT Occasional Paper Series, 25-42.
Fantini, A. E. (1997). New Ways in Teaching Culture. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Garrido, C. & Álvarez, I. (2006). Language teacher education for intercultural understanding. European Journal of Teacher Education, 29(2), 163-179.
Gifford, C., Gocsal, A., Rado, B., Gonçalves, S. & Wo odźko, E. (2009). Intercultural Learning for European Citizenship. European Commission’s Department of Education and Culture. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from http://www.interculturallearningandcitizenship.eu.
Hammer, M. R. & Bennett, M. J. (2001). The intercultural development inventory Manual. Version 2. Portland, OR: Intercultural Communication Institute.
Hammer, M. R., Bennett, M. J. & Wiseman, R. (2003). Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The intercultural development inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27(4), 421-443.
INCA Project Team. (2004). INCA Assessee Manual. Leonardo da Vinci VII Project. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/index.cfm?action=media.download&uuid=2A9DBC62-915D-2DF1-BB29CABD750B1B42
Kealey, D. J. (1989). A study of crosscultural effectiveness: Theoretical issues, practical applications. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 13, 349-370.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lanas, M. (2014). Failing intercultural education? ‘Thoughtfulness’ in intercultural education for student teachers. European Journal of Teacher Education, 37(2), 171-182.
Lázár, I. (2003). Incorporating Intercultural Communicative Competence in Language Teacher Education. Strasbourg: European Centre for Modern Languages, Council of Europe. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from http://archive.ecml.at/documents/pub123bE2003_Lazar.pdf.
Lázár, I., Huber-Kriegler, M., Lussier, D., Matei, G. S. & Peck, C. (Eds.) (2007). Developing and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence; A Guide for Language Teachers and Teacher Educators Strasbourg: European Centre for Modern Languages, Council of Europe. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/publications/B1_ICCinTE_E_internet.pdf.
Martin, J. N. (1987). The relationship between student sojourner perceptions of intercultural competencies and previous sojourn experience. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 11(4), 337-355.
Martinelli, S. (Coord.) (2000). Intercultural Learning T-kit. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, European Youth Center. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from http://pjp-eu.coe.int/en/web/youth-partnership/t-kit-4-intercultural-learning.
Moran, P. R. (2001). Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Scarborough, ON: Heinle & Heinle.
Prechtl, E. & Davidson-Lund, A. (2007). Intercultural competence and assessment: perspectives from the INCA Project. In H. Kotthoff & H. Spencer-Oatey (Eds.), Handbook of Intercultural Communication (pp. 467-490). Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Ruben, B. D. (1989). The study of cross-cultural competence: Traditions and contemporary issues. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 13, 229-240.
Ruben, B. D. (1977). Guidelines for crosscultural communication effectiveness. Group and Organization Studies, 1, 334-354.
Ruben, B. D. & Kealey, D. J. (1979). Behavioral assessment of communication competency and the prediction of crosscultural adaptation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 3, 15-48.
Seelye, H. N. (1996). Experiential Activities for Intercultural Learning, Vol 1. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.
Sercu, L. (2010). Assessing intercultural competence: More questions than answers. In A. Paran & L. Sercu (Eds.), Testing the Untestable in Language Education (pp. 17-34). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Sercu, L. (2006). The foreign language and intercultural competence teacher: The acquisition of a new professional identity. Intercultural Education, 17(1), 55-72.
Spitzberg, B. & Changnon, G. (2009). Conceptualizing intercultural competence. In D. Deardorff (Ed.), The Sage Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 1-52). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Taylor, M., Brander, P., Cárdenas, C., Gomes, R. & de Vicente Abad, J. 1995. All Different, All Equal. Education Pack. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, European Youth Centre. Retrieved 24 December 2015 from http://www.eycb.coe.int/edupack.
Ting-Toomey, S. (1999). Communicating Across Cultures. New York: Guilford Press.
Vez, J. M. (2009). Multilingual education in Europe: Policy developments. Porta Linguarum, 12, 7-24.
Villegas, A. M. & Lucas, T. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers; Rethinking the curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1), 20-32.
Young, T. & Sachdev, I. (2011). Intercultural communicative competence: exploring English language teachers’ beliefs and practices. Language Awareness, 20(2), 81-98.
Williams, T. R. (2005). Exploring the impact of study abroad on students’ intercultural communication skills: Adaptability and sensitivity. Journal of studies in international education, 9(4), 356-371.
Published
Downloads
Copyright (c) 2016 Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Language & Literature
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.