Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Mississippi, 2006. / Typescript Vita Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-101) Also available online via ProQuest to authorized users. The study examined the relationship between intercultural sensitivity and linguistic competence in English-as-Foreign-Language (EFL) pre-service teachers in Korea. One hundred and four pre-service teachers, enrolled at the two national universities in Korea, participated in the study. The data were collected by administering two instruments: the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to measure the development of the participants' intercultural competence; and the Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) to measure the levels of the participants' language competence. Correlation analysis and independent samples t-tests were used to address the research questions. The results indicated that little correlation was found between the level of intercultural sensitivity and linguistic competence. That is, while a significant mean difference was found in linguistic competence between primary and secondary pre-service teachers in Korea, the same participants still did not show a significant mean difference in the level of intercultural sensitivity. The results may imply that the development of intercultural competence can be shown relatively slower than the linguistic development. The findings of the study lend support for many theoretical claims that intercultural competence might not naturally grow with the development of linguistic competence. Thus, the findings of the study suggest that intercultural competence has to be taught explicitly, as we teach linguistic components in language education. The findings of the study also had other educational implications, such as the need for methods to improve and methods to evaluate intercultural competence in second/foreign language classrooms and teachers' programs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:OCLC/oai:xtcat.oclc.org:OCLCNo/179549616 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Park, Misug, |
| Source Sets | OCLC |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Source | Full text available from ProQuest UM Digital Dissertations |
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