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

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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)

8. 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

9. “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.

10. 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”

11. 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

12. 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.

13. To view this presentation and download the full paper, please visit: