Developing Intercultural Competence teacher education students blogging while abroad Kimberly L. Tohill and Orrin T. Murray Penn State University

Intercultural Competence a curious and open attitude general knowledge of social groups and norms of another culture skills for interpreting interactions and relating to one's own culture skills for developing and improving one’s knowledge of a culture through discovery  an ability to critically evaluate both one’s own and another culture iterative and on-going; individuals must demonstrate a deep internal change in perspective through behaviors and attitudes; changes in attitude, knowledge, and skills within the individual, yet demonstrated explicitly. Byram's 5 objective model which includes attitudes, skills, and knowledge (1997) Book called Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence Byram (1997)

ICC vital for second language teachers - increasingly necessary for all teachers hard to define in practice a personal and transformative process use of teacher education programs to promote classroom demographics are changing but teacher demographics are not; teacher education programs can require or recommend cultural immersion experiences both domestic and abroad

Digital tools support ICC development promote reflection reconcile contradictions through reflection increase authenticity access to feedback sustained conversations students experience a disorienting dilemma aka culture shock; they struggle to reconcile new information with existing beliefs. Students engage in  metacognition while reflecting. Web 2.0 tools enable social learning and improve motivation.

looking for ICC development Intercultural Development Inventory Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory Intercultural Competence Assessment project IDI based on Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity assesses ICC at individual, group, or organizational level. CCAI assesses individual's potential to be cross-culturally effective; can identify strengths and weaknesses. INCA is based on theoretical work of Byram & others; evaluates 6 competencies through questionnaires, scenarios, & role plays.

context 7 females–4 Spanish, 2 French, 1 German at least 10 weeks Spain, Ecuador, France, or Germany standard equipment: MacBook Internet access tasks and production of digital artifacts blog with prompts, video conferences, inquiry activities, language learner autobiography University blogging system; 10 weeks of blog entries chosen from 15 different topics. Students had to use target language at least twice. Students had to reply to each other as well as writing their own entries.

modified ICC Adapted from Byram (2000) Byram presents five different categories of intercultural competence demonstrated through eight specific dimension or definitions; this framework was derived through a reconfiguration of Byram’s framework (2000). Adapted from Byram (2000)

Reconfiguration of Byram’s (2000) Definitions From the previous model, we reconfigured Byram's definitions into a framework to further organize and analyze our data. Reconfiguration of Byram’s (2000) Definitions

“I was completely surprised that my host mother did not have a TV” findings “I was completely surprised that my host mother did not have a TV” “I am fascinated by the differences found within the language. For example when I traveled to Barcelona, my Spanish was not recognized since they speak Catalan.” attitudes: curiosity and openness toward new culture Attitudes move beyond stereotypes and prejudices. Viewing others from an ethnorelative rather than ethnocentric perspective.

findings knowledge: apparent and conceptual “… elections in France are pretty different than those in the States. There are two tours, or rounds, of elections...The votes are then counted, and there is a new person in charge. The votes are always manual; the French don't really believe in electronic voting and it's safety” knowledge: apparent and conceptual Apparent: superficial, explicit knowledge of one's and the target country/culture. Often acquired through formal schooling or socialization - fraught with misconceptions and stereotypes. Conceptual: deeper, tacit understanding of processes. Result of challenging apparent knowledge and challenging ethnocentric lenses. “I've also been trying to meet more people that only speak Spanish...then English isn't an option”

findings “I will randomly start talking to locals in order to gain language experience, and I have actually made friends by doing this. I think this is extremely necessary in any situation.”  re Skills deal with interpersonal interactions, interpretation of events, and navigation of intercultural communication with members of target culture. Did not focus on the level of skill but rather demonstration of skill. "I have learned a lot about myself and about others. I learned to experience and look at things with new eyes. I have learned to accept others a lot more." skills: the ability to do something

role of technology electronic tether that allows timely reflections in a public virtual space ability to engage in "conversation" public blogs = audience situated in authentic context Digital tools increased self-reflection on the learners’ experiences, improved access to feedback and comments, and incited sustained conversations surrounding these experiences.  Blogs provided the students with an outlet for expression that led to subsequent reflection, learning, and development of essential attributes of intercultural competence.

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