This thesis reports three studies which examined the components of intercultural competence, developed methods for measuring these components, examined how these components are related to each other, and examined differences in intercultural competence as a function of gender, age, minority vs. majority status and multilingual status. Study 1 developed a set of quantitative scales for measuring the different components of intercultural competence using students from the University of Surrey, while Study 2 tested these scales further using students from the University of Kuwait. These two studies showed that 12 different components of intercultural competence could be measured using these scales. Study 3 used the same scales to collect data from secondary school students in Kuwait at the beginning and at the end of a school year. Study 3 showed that the intercultural competence of these school students did not develop over the year, and was not enhanced by an educational intervention. Study 3 also showed that the intercultural competence of these school students was sometimes but not always related to their attitudes to people from other cultural groups. Taken together, the three studies revealed that the components of intercultural competence can be measured using quantitative scales, that these components tend to be positively correlated with each other, and that females, older individuals, minority individuals and individuals who speak multiple languages tend to have higher levels of intercultural competence. However, intercultural competence does not always develop across the course of a single school year in the absence of intercultural training or intercultural experiences.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:553751 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Alkheshnam, Abeer |
| Publisher | University of Surrey |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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