Assessing Intercultural Sensitivity and Effectiveness

Author(s):  
Meihua Liu

This chapter examines adult CSL (Chinese as a L2) learners' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness while studying in a university in Beijing. Seventy-four international students from various countries answered the intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) and intercultural effectiveness scale (IES) as well as other scales in the present study; eight participants were informally interviewed. The findings indicate that the participants were moderate in terms of intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness, that intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness were generally and significantly related to each other, and that students' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness levels were not statistically correlated with their background variables. Based on these findings, some implications are therein discussed.

Author(s):  
Meihua Liu

This chapter examines adult CSL (Chinese as a L2) learners' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness while studying in a university in Beijing. Seventy-four international students from various countries answered the intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) and intercultural effectiveness scale (IES) as well as other scales in the present study; eight participants were informally interviewed. The findings indicate that the participants were moderate in terms of intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness, that intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness were generally and significantly related to each other, and that students' intercultural sensitivity and effectiveness levels were not statistically correlated with their background variables. Based on these findings, some implications are therein discussed.


Author(s):  
Ghada M. Awada ◽  
Hassan B. Diab ◽  
Kawthar H. Faour

The study reports the effect of group investigation (GI) cooperative learning method and the Glogster online poster on improving the intercultural communication skills of international students (n=54) of eight different countries. The study is premised on the proposition that the integration of GI and Glogster in classrooms consisting of Lebanese and non-Lebanese students could be effective in improving the intercultural communication skills of international students and enhancing their perceptions of intercultural communication. The study employed the mixed methods pretest-posttest control group experimental design whereby six Interactions Among Civilizations intact classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. Employing the intercultural sensitivity scale yielded findings indicating the significance of the GI and Glogster in developing the cultural adaptability and intercultural sensitivity of the experimental group participants (n=25) whereas the control group participants (n=28) did not show similar improvement.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 467-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeongyeon Kim ◽  
Jinsook Choi ◽  
Bradley Tatar

This case study examined the reactions of local students to the diversity in student population. Specifically, it investigated how the local students’ intercultural sensitivity to the international students is interrelated with their perception of the English-medium instruction (EMI) policy. The quantitative and qualitative analyses of the questionnaire responses of 213 college students and the subsequent interviews with 15 students revealed a lack of intercultural sensitivity which was correlated with their perception of EMI. The findings indicated that the local students’ different perceptions of the policy interplayed, directly and indirectly, with their sensitivity to the cultures of international students. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of cultivating intercultural sensitivity in an English as a lingua franca context.


Author(s):  
Ghada M. Awada ◽  
Hassan B. Diab ◽  
Kawthar H. Faour

The study reports the effect of group investigation (GI) cooperative learning method and the Glogster online poster on improving the intercultural communication skills of international students (n=54) of eight different countries. The study is premised on the proposition that the integration of GI and Glogster in classrooms consisting of Lebanese and non-Lebanese students could be effective in improving the intercultural communication skills of international students and enhancing their perceptions of intercultural communication. The study employed the mixed methods pretest-posttest control group experimental design whereby six Interactions Among Civilizations intact classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. Employing the intercultural sensitivity scale yielded findings indicating the significance of the GI and Glogster in developing the cultural adaptability and intercultural sensitivity of the experimental group participants (n=25) whereas the control group participants (n=28) did not show similar improvement.


Author(s):  
Myo Thandar Cho ◽  
Ulwiyyah

This study investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and intercultural sensitivity of international students and chinese students in a university of china. A total 233 students participated. 122 students were chinese and 111 students were international students. English version of wong and law emotional intelligence scale (wleis), and chen and starosta’s (2000) intercultural sensitivity scale (iss) were directly used to measure the emotional intelligence and intercultural sensitivity of international students while they were translated into chinese for chinese students. The results showed that there were no significant differences in emotional intelligence and intercultural sensitivity based on gender, foreign experience and length of stay in china. International students were significantly higher in both emotional intelligence and intercultural sensitivity than chinese students after controlling for age differences and educational level. Emotional intelligence was positively correlated with intercultural sensitivity and it had 52.5% predictive ability on intercultural sensitivity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
IMRAN SSEMUDDU

<div> <div> <div> <p> </p><div> <div> <div> <p> </p><div> <div> <div> <p>This study is set out to understand intercultural communication competence and sensitivity among International students in Malaysia. In the discipline of communication, intercultural communication competence (ICC) has been a subject of study for more than five decades. Over this time, many have identified a number of variables that contribute to intercultural communication (ICC). This paper examines significant relationship between international students’ intercultural communication competence and their intercultural sensitivity as per their everyday situations in Malaysia. Anxiety uncertainty management theory is applied to the study to explain the relationship between intercultural communication competence and intercultural sensitivity among international students studying in Malaysia. Gudykunst (2005) described seven factors that envisage a person’s uncertainty and anxiety levels while communicating with unfamiliar persons: motivation to interact with strangers, self-concept, reactions to strangers, social categorization of strangers, situational processes, ethical interactions and connections with strangers. These help reduce other people’s anxiety as well as their uncertainty. The study employed a quantitative research design using the survey method where a self-administered questionnaire was employed and respondents were recruited using non-random sampling to generate the data. 300 international students from international Islamic university Malaysia (IIUM) who have studies in Malaysia for over a year participated in the study. Findings show, that there is a significant relationship between students with intercultural sensitivity and intercultural communication competence. The study recommends, that further research should be done to examine whether a single mediating factor such as change in anxiety and uncertainty can affect the level of intercultural sensitivity and intercultural communication competence. The theory is also supported in the study.</p><p> </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>


Author(s):  
Rae Lynne Mancilla

This chapter examines second language (L2) listening and note-taking tasks performed by international students in university settings, guided by Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) and the split attention effect. It provides a background of the cognitive aspects of L2 listening processes, academic lecture listening, and note-taking, as they interface with temporal, physical, and affective forms of split attention to compromise information decoding and learning outcomes for L2 learners. While this work does not present new findings in the field, it reviews existing studies that provide insight into the Echo SmartpenTM by Livescribe as a mobile e-learning tool for alleviating the split attention effect, and enhancing the encoding and external storage functions of note-taking for L2 learners.


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