The Role of Cross-Cultural Awareness in Expatriate Assignment Success

Author(s):  
Patricia Ann Mehegan
Author(s):  
Fatuma Namisango ◽  
Sarah Eyaa ◽  
Peninah Kansiime ◽  
Sharlotte Tusasiirwe

As people live in cross-cultural contexts, there is a need to recognize and appreciate the role of different worldviews and how they shape our understanding of humanity, upbringing, and engagement in social or work environments. The key starting point to enable this is exploring the often-overlooked indigenous philosophies of life such as Ubuntu and examining how such value systems survive alongside opposing or similar traditions. This chapter improves the understanding of cultural values by discussing the central tenets of the African philosophy of Ubuntu, in comparison to the Western ways of life and the strategies that Africans in the diaspora are applying to preserve Ubuntu values. Strategies for promoting Ubuntu in the education system and community settings are also recommended with the goal of enhancing cross-cultural awareness.


Author(s):  
Adele Botha ◽  
Steve Vosloo ◽  
John Kuner ◽  
Madelein van den Berg

Increasingly, technology is mediating the way in which the youth around the world communicate, consume content and create meaning. As mobile communication media and the internet become more pervasive, young people from different cultures and communities are afforded more opportunities for collaboration across previously unbridgeable distances. The need for cross-cultural awareness and communication is thus more important than ever. The initiative described in this article, successfully demonstrated the role of mobile phones and the web as mediating technologies in the development of intercultural competencies and communication skills among a group of teenagers scattered across two countries.[Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-355
Author(s):  
Mary Masterson

Background: Although culture is deeply embedded in language, cultural proficiency is not always gained during language learning. Experiential pedagogies that emphasize reflection may be appropriate for such learning. Purpose: This research explored pupils’ self-awareness as they engaged in the co-construction of personal life stories in one experiential pedagogy, the Autobiography, Biography, and Cross-cultural analyses (ABCs) model. Methodology/Approach: The ABCs methodology was implemented across two secondary-level foreign language classrooms, one of Irish students learning German, and the other of German students learning English utilizing a case study approach. Student writing products generated during early stages of the implementation were analyzed for themes related to self-discovery and cultural awareness, to explore how students negotiated self-image as they experienced cultural exchanges with the cross-cultural partner. Findings/Conclusions: Thematic analysis revealed that in the early stages students’ understanding of the role of culture in their own identities was absent. Implications: Teaching culture alongside language is challenging, especially in an online format. The current study demonstrates that language students do not necessarily show awareness of the self and the role of culture at the outset of the intervention. It also shows how the ABCs model can foster experiential learning in a foreign language classroom setting toward greater cultural awareness through self-discovery.


2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Karremans ◽  
Camillo Regalia ◽  
Giorgia Paleari ◽  
Frank Fincham ◽  
Ming Cui ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan Siritzky ◽  
David M Condon ◽  
Sara J Weston

The current study utilizes the current COVID-19 pandemic to highlight the importance of accounting for the influence of external political and economic factors in personality public-health research. We investigated the extent to which systemic factors modify the relationship between personality and pandemic response. Results shed doubt on the cross-cultural generalizability of common big-five factor models. Individual differences only predicted government compliance in autocratic countries and in countries with income inequality. Personality was only predictive of mental health outcomes under conditions of state fragility and autocracy. Finally, there was little evidence that the big five traits were associated with preventive behaviors. Our ability to use individual differences to understand policy-relevant outcomes changes based on environmental factors and must be assessed on a trait-by-trait basis, thus supporting the inclusion of systemic political and economic factors in individual differences models.


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