Interactions between business counterparts have become increasingly free from boundaries, as technological innovation brings the world closer together (Adler, 2002). Locally, the typical South African organisation employs workers from a multitude of cultural backgrounds, at various levels of acculturation. Organisational coaches must be prepared to engage with diverse national and international client populations. Coaching bodies such as the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC, 2008) and the locally-based Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA, 2009; COMENSA, 2010), require coaches to provide culturally responsive services to coachees. If the coach differs culturally from the coachee, he/she may incorrectly use his/her own understanding of what is appropriate for a situation to make sense of the coachee’s behaviour, possibly leading to the misinterpretation of the diverse coachee’s situation. In addition, the coach may also project his/her own cultural bias and stereotypes onto the coachee. This in turn may lead to barriers in communication, and ultimately to the inhibition of efficiency of the coaching process as possible outcomes. Inefficient coaching may not allow for the achievement of the desired results, leading to financial losses for the company. Therefore, it is imperative that the coach is aware of his/her own culturally-laden values, beliefs and expectations which may include biases, prejudices and stereotypes held about the coachee, i.e. his/ her cultural self-awareness. The purpose of the current research study was to explore and describe the experiences and perceptions of South African organisational coaches in terms of cultural self-awareness. Specifically the study investigated how eight South African organisational coaches (N = 8) develop, maintain and promote cultural self-awareness, and what the perceived consequences of such awareness were. The study was conducted within the constructivist research paradigm and utilised a qualitative research approach. The multiple case study research strategy employed in-depth interviews to collect the research data. A grounded theory research methodology was used to analyse and explore the experiences and perceptions of South African organisational coaches in developing and utilising cultural self-awareness. Eight findings were obtained from the interviews, namely: the cultural self-awareness cultivated during coaching developed as part of a general process of cultural self-awareness, which in turn formed part of the participants’ personal development; both intentional strategies and happenstance led to the coaches’ cultural self-awareness; situational and internal factors contributed to changes in their cultural self-awareness; cultural self-awareness is maintained through self-management involving internal and external strategies; future cultural self-awareness is promoted through pursuing experiences that would cause them to question bias; a change in cultural self-awareness held consequences for the personal developmental process as well as for the coachee, and the coaching process; the meaning of cultural self-awareness was explained by using metaphors. The most prominent metaphors the coaches used were ‘sight’, ‘the past’, ‘internal work’, and ‘managing’; additional psychosocial processes that occur during intercultural coaching which can be grouped under macro, meso and micro issues, contextualised the process of cultural self-awareness during intercultural coaching. The findings were interpreted to show that various levels, developmental paths, and applications of cultural self-awareness exist amongst organisational coaches. On the basis of the results obtained from the research study, recommendations were made for future research, coaching education and training programmes, coaching clients, and current or prospective coaches. / Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Lo scopo di questa tesi è affrontare l'internazionalizzazione di un’università in termini di sviluppo e valutazione della competenza interculturale attraverso un intervento pedagogico efficace e sostenibile che prepari gli studenti a vivere in un mondo globalizzato. La mia ricerca ha utilizzato un approccio randomizzato e metodi misti sperimentali con una combinazione di otto distinti studi longitudinali e trasversali che hanno coinvolto un totale di 16.787 studenti iscritti presso università statunitensi, esaminati nel corso dei quattro anni di studio, dal primo anno fino alla laurea, con una particolare attenzione per 3.725 studenti della Bellarmine University di Louisville, in Kentucky. Si è lavorato inoltre con il più grande insieme di dati di studi IDI intrapresi fino ad oggi, con 1.812 partecipanti contro i 1.159 dell'ultimo lavoro sull’impatto degli studi IDI sui corsi all'estero, il Georgetown Consortium Study, facente riferimento al periodo 2003-2005. La mia ricerca su queste serie di dati si è concentrata in particolare sull’efficacia di uno specifico curriculum d'intervento per studenti coinvolti in programmi di studio all’estero. Ho analizzato il livello di sviluppo della competenza interculturale attraverso la somministrazione di test precedenti e successivi al loro periodo all’estero in merito a una varietà di esperienze universitarie, dando particolare attenzione sia in termini quantitativi sia qualitativi all'impatto dei corsi interculturali seguiti all'estero. L'approccio pedagogico è stato progettato dal ricercatore con l’intento di riflettere l’attuale cambiamento di paradigma in atto nell'apprendimento all'estero e si basa su un intervento guidato allo scopo di raggiungere risultati di apprendimento espliciti piuttosto che lasciare l'apprendimento interculturale al caso. I risultati dei miei vari studi forniscono risposte decisamente positive alla domanda centrale di questo progetto: “Se l'internazionalizzazione dell'istruzione superiore è in parte misurata dal livello di competenza interculturale sviluppata dai suoi laureati, può allora un’esperienza universitaria di quattro anni, come quella delle università statunitensi di studi umanistici, sviluppare competenze interculturali attraverso una serie di attività ed esperienze di apprendimento curricolare ed extracurricolare, sia all’interno dell’università che al di fuori di essa? Se sì, in che misura?” 7 Le conclusioni tratte dai risultati dei vari studi quantitativi e qualitativi contenuti in questo elaborato supportano fortemente il mio quadro di intervento pedagogico, denominato Framework for Reflective Intervention in Learning Abroad (FRILA) e basato sulla teoria dell'apprendimento esperienziale, il modello di sviluppo della sensibilità interculturale (la teoria DMIS) (Bennett, 1986) e la pedagogia culturalmente rilevante per l'apprendimento all'estero. Le implicazioni di questa ricerca nell’ambito dell'istruzione internazionale sono tali che, per ottenere una vera trasformazione durante l'apprendimento all'estero, è fondamentale che le università offrano agli studenti la possibilità di accedere a un programma guidato che ponga l’enfasi sul coinvolgimento e la riflessione. / The purpose of this study is to address the internationalization of a university in terms of the development and assessment of intercultural competence via an effective and sustainable intervention pedagogy in support of preparing students for a globalized world. My research utilized a randomized experimental, mixed methods approach with a combination of eight separate longitudinal and cross-sectional studies referencing a total of 16,787 students at U.S. institutions over four years from freshmen year until graduation with particular focus on 3725 students at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, including the largest data set of IDI studies undertaken to date, 1812 participants versus 1159 in the last IDI study abroad impact study, the Georgetown Consortium Study in 2003-2005. My research involving these data sets focused specifically on the effectiveness of a special intervention curriculum for students engaged in learning abroad. I analyzed the level of intercultural competence development through pre and post testing vis-à-vis a variety of high impact college experiences, giving special quantitative and qualitative research attention to the impact of intercultural course work abroad. The pedagogical approach was designed by the researcher to reflect the current paradigm shift in learning abroad, relying on guided intervention to achieve explicit learning outcomes rather than leaving intercultural learning to chance. The findings from my various studies provide compelling positive answers to this research’s central question: “If the impact of internationalization of higher education is in part measured by the level of intercultural competence developed by its graduates, can a U.S. liberal arts college experience over four years develop intercultural competence via curricular and extracurricular learning on and off campus, and if it can to what extent?” 5 Conclusions from the findings from the various quantitative and qualitative studies reflected in this dissertation, strongly support my intervention pedagogy framework, referred to as the Framework for Reflective Intervention in Learning Abroad (FRILA), based on experiential learning theory, the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS theory) (Bennett, 1986), and culturally relevant pedagogy in learning abroad. The implications of this research for the field of international education are such that in order for real transformation to occur during learning abroad, it is imperative that universities give students access to a guided curriculum with emphasis on engagement and reflection.

Using interpretive qualitative research methods, this dissertation study examines how a telecollaboration in a social networking site affects learners’ intercultural competence development. In particular, it explores the changes in learners’ understanding of the concept of culture, as well as their understanding of their own and target cultures. Additionally, this study investigates what role the medium of the exchange plays in the project. Finally, it analyzes three individual learners’ experiences in an online intercultural exchange. Two intact classes of college-level language learners—U.S. students learning Spanish and Colombian students learning English—participated in an eight-week telecollaboration using Facebook. Each week students shared information about their own culture and reacted to the posts about the target culture made by the students in the partner class. This study analyzed 14 U.S. students’ experiences and learning, based on their pre- and post-telecollaboration questionnaires, reflexive portfolios, and pre- and post-telecollaboration one-on-one interviews. Data analysis demonstrated that the participants experienced a notable development in their intercultural competence. In particular, participants showed a more detailed understanding of the concept of culture, as well as the reasons for cultural learning and awareness. The activity of explaining their own culture to foreigners led the participants to an ongoing analysis of their own culture and, therefore, facilitated development in their understanding of the home culture. Specifically, participants were able to take a critical stance in their analysis and evaluate their own culture from the position of an outsider. Finally, participants gained knowledge about Colombian culture and developed an ability to analyze cultural products and practices, as well as infer information about cultural perspectives from that analysis. In general, the telecollaboration enabled participants to develop critical cultural awareness and change their worldviews from more ethnocentric to more ethnorelative. In regard to the use of Facebook, this popular social networking site proved to be uniquely suitable for a telecollaboration. It gave the participants an opportunity to create a personal learning environment that was accessible whenever and wherever they needed it. It also facilitated a bridging between participants’ learning and leisure online activities. The three case studies demonstrated that while any type of learner can benefit from telecollaboration, their experiences and the degree of intercultural competence development are individual. In addition, the development of intercultural competence appeared to be non-linear, which demonstrates the difficulty of its assessment. Based on the findings, the researcher concludes that telecollaboration facilitates the development of intercultural competence and, thus, is an effective way of addressing the challenge of culture instruction in foreign language courses. Additionally, the unique properties of social networking sites make them an easily accessible platform for telecollaboration projects.

During the last decade higher education organizations and educational policy makers have substantially increased efforts to incentivize study abroad participation. These efforts are grounded in the longstanding belief that study abroad participation improves intercultural competence - an educational outcome critical in a globalized 21st century economy. Yet decades of evidence that appear to support this claim are repeatedly limited by a series of methodological weaknesses including small homogenous samples, an absence of longitudinal study design, no accounting for potential selection bias, and the lack of controls for potentially confounding demographic and college experience variables. Thus, a major competing explanation for differences found between students who do and do not study abroad continues to be the possibility that these differences existed prior to participation. The current study sought to determine the effect of study abroad on intercultural competence among 1,593 participants of the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study on Liberal Arts Education. The Wabash National Study is a longitudinal study of undergraduates that gathered pre- and post-test measures on numerous educational outcomes, an array of institutional and self-reported pre-college characteristics, and a host of college experiences. The current study employed both propensity score matching and covariate adjustment methods to account for pre-college characteristics, college experiences, the selection effect, and the clustered nature of the data to both cross-validate findings and provide guidance for future research. Under such rigorous analytic conditions, this study found that study abroad generated a statistically significant positive effect on intercultural competence; an effect that appears to be general rather than conditional. Moreover, both covariate adjustment and propensity score matching methods generated similar results. In examining the effect of study abroad across the three constituent subscales of the overall measure of intercultural competence, this study found that study abroad influences students' diversity of contact but has no statistically significant effect on relativistic appreciation of cultural differences or comfort with diversity. Finally, the results of this study suggest that the relationship between study abroad and intercultural competence is one of selection and accentuation, holding important implications for postsecondary policy makers, higher education institutions, and college impact scholars.

According to the new German defense policy concept, the German armed forces can be deployed abroad in multinational operations to establish security and to manage the aftermath of conflict in crisis areas. This paper investigates different aspects, resulting prospects and consequences connected with this challenge. It focuses on the meaning of intercultural competence with respect to the primary objective of Germany´s foreign deployment policy to achieve sustained, comprehensive and integral crisis prevention, and to generate peace in the 21st century.

The purpose of this paper is to find out pedagogues approach to intercultural education through IVIK, goals and guidelines, the school for newly arrived students and how student experience and knowledge are utilized. In my study, I used a qualitative research method. I have interviewed four teachers and four students and a school administrator at IVIK. Results of the study show that most teachers have a good understanding of interculturalism, but that doesn’t mean that teachers make of this relationship means in their teachings. Lack of knowledge about students' cultural background means that teachers can´t integrate it into their teaching. Another result is that the school has no clear goals, students are not faced with high expectations and the school will not be on the student's own experiences. Pupils' prior knowledge is mapped and not the pupil's needs are met. The key aspects that emerge are that teachers should have knowledge of their students' cultural backgrounds in other words, become inter-culturally competent, the school must have clear goals and guidelines and will offer training that is tailored based on student needs and abilities, and student prior knowledge must be identified on the student school language. For individual support and education to plan and to primarily utilize the student's skills and strengths and not focus on the student's potential lack of ability.

Cette étude s’intéresse à la présence des stéréotypes dans les dessins animés Disney, en particulier, des représentations de la culture française et à l’utilité d’inclure ces films dans les cours de langues étrangères afin de combattre ces visions culturelles restreintes, de générer une réflexion critique chez les élèves et finalement, de les former à la compétence interculturelle. Ainsi, vous trouverez ici une étude du pouvoir du cinéma, et de Disney, sur le public, par extension les élèves, puis une réflexion sur le stéréotype et sur l’importance pédagogique de son étude et pour finir, une discussion sur l’analyse des représentations culturelles françaises et de leur évolution à travers le temps dans trois dessins animés Disney, The Aristocats (1970) Beauty and the Beast (1991) et Ratatouille (2007).

Literature pertaining to English-speaking L2 learners of Arabic on study abroad programs in the Arabic-speaking world is almost nonexistent. This may be due to the fact that not even one out of a hundred American students chooses to study abroad in the Arabic-speaking world each year (Gutierrez et al., 2009). The small number of American students studying in the Arabic speaking world is at odds with the MLA's most recent language report in which Arabic enrollments increased more than any other language from 2002 to 2006 (Furman, Goldberg & Lusin, 2007). With the increase in Arabic enrollments it is probable that more and more American students will desire to study Arabic in the Arabic-speaking world. The benefits of study abroad have long been praised (Carroll, 1967; Kinginger & Farrell, 2004; Berg et al., 2008). Not all studies, however, have been congruent (Freed, 1995). This dissertation investigates L2 learners of Arabic on study abroad programs in the Arabic-speaking world. The primary countries in this research are Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen. This research focuses on issues related to acculturation, language variety preference, proficiency and the use of technology in learning Arabic among students of Arabic on study abroad programs in the Arabic-speaking world. Particular attention is paid to the binary nature of Arabic as manifest in a host of spoken colloquial varieties. For example, the spoken colloquial Arabic in North Africa differs to a great extent from the Arabic spoken in the Levant. This feature of Arabic is referred to as diglossia (Ferguson, 1959a).Over 90 L2 learners of Arabic participated in this research, though not all of them answered every question. These learners completed an extensive online survey pertaining to their cultural experiences and interaction, language situations and functions, proficiency in Arabic, and which technologies they or their teachers used to assist in learning Arabic. It is hoped that this research will provide empirical insights pertaining to the cultural and linguistic experiences of L2 learners of Arabic in the Arabic-speaking world. General implications for Arabic programs are also presented.

Interactions between business counterparts have become increasingly free from boundaries, as technological innovation brings the world closer together (Adler, 2002). Locally, the typical South African organisation employs workers from a multitude of cultural backgrounds, at various levels of acculturation. Organisational coaches must be prepared to engage with diverse national and international client populations. Coaching bodies such as the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC, 2008) and the locally-based Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA, 2009; COMENSA, 2010), require coaches to provide culturally responsive services to coachees. If the coach differs culturally from the coachee, he/she may incorrectly use his/her own understanding of what is appropriate for a situation to make sense of the coachee’s behaviour, possibly leading to the misinterpretation of the diverse coachee’s situation. In addition, the coach may also project his/her own cultural bias and stereotypes onto the coachee. This in turn may lead to barriers in communication, and ultimately to the inhibition of efficiency of the coaching process as possible outcomes. Inefficient coaching may not allow for the achievement of the desired results, leading to financial losses for the company. Therefore, it is imperative that the coach is aware of his/her own culturally-laden values, beliefs and expectations which may include biases, prejudices and stereotypes held about the coachee, i.e. his/ her cultural self-awareness. The purpose of the current research study was to explore and describe the experiences and perceptions of South African organisational coaches in terms of cultural self-awareness. Specifically the study investigated how eight South African organisational coaches (N = 8) develop, maintain and promote cultural self-awareness, and what the perceived consequences of such awareness were. The study was conducted within the constructivist research paradigm and utilised a qualitative research approach. The multiple case study research strategy employed in-depth interviews to collect the research data. A grounded theory research methodology was used to analyse and explore the experiences and perceptions of South African organisational coaches in developing and utilising cultural self-awareness. Eight findings were obtained from the interviews, namely: the cultural self-awareness cultivated during coaching developed as part of a general process of cultural self-awareness, which in turn formed part of the participants’ personal development; both intentional strategies and happenstance led to the coaches’ cultural self-awareness; situational and internal factors contributed to changes in their cultural self-awareness; cultural self-awareness is maintained through self-management involving internal and external strategies; future cultural self-awareness is promoted through pursuing experiences that would cause them to question bias; a change in cultural self-awareness held consequences for the personal developmental process as well as for the coachee, and the coaching process; the meaning of cultural self-awareness was explained by using metaphors. The most prominent metaphors the coaches used were ‘sight’, ‘the past’, ‘internal work’, and ‘managing’; additional psychosocial processes that occur during intercultural coaching which can be grouped under macro, meso and micro issues, contextualised the process of cultural self-awareness during intercultural coaching. The findings were interpreted to show that various levels, developmental paths, and applications of cultural self-awareness exist amongst organisational coaches. On the basis of the results obtained from the research study, recommendations were made for future research, coaching education and training programmes, coaching clients, and current or prospective coaches. / Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

In this era of global mobility, it is increasingly common for individuals to travel beyond their home contexts to live and work. However, adjusting to life and work in an unfamiliar cultural setting can pose challenges due to the differing cultural values, norms and expectations which one might encounter. This thesis focuses on the UAE where, because of the relatively small numbers of UAE nationals, the demographic profile is characterized by the numerical dominance of foreign nationals at almost every occupational level. However, the shaping forces of the indigenous culture remain at the forefront of virtually every aspect of life in that country exerting a strong influence on working practices and expectations. This thesis investigates the experiences of a small group of expatriates recruited to leadership positions in the UAE tertiary sector, specifically it focuses on what challenges they experience in their work in that context and what coping strategies they may employ to help them navigate their new environment. This research was carried out in two tertiary institutions and data were gathered through interviews with seven expatriates new to the context; the views of two Emirati colleagues also contributed to this study. The findings of the study reveal that while tertiary educational institutions in the UAE appear to share structural similarities with western counterparts, local interpretations of organizational roles, structures and processes combine to create organizational cultures unique to that context. The resulting mismatch of expectations between western recruits and their Emirati hosts can sometimes be a source of tensions and misunderstandings. The study additionally found that participants who were able to draw upon attitudes and behaviours associated with the ongoing development of intercultural competence were better equipped to cope with the challenges they encountered in ways which were more beneficial to them in terms of their individual well-being and peace of mind, as well as to their employing institutions. The findings of this study have implications for the way UAE human resources departments organize and conduct not only the recruitment of senior expatriate staff, but also the ongoing orientation and professional support that is offered to them.