A narrative inquiry of the impact of short-term study abroad on perceived intercultural competence : co-constructing a learning process

Abstract

Higher education worldwide has cited intercultural competence (IC) as an essential goal and learning outcome in the study abroad (SA) curricula because of the increasing demand in calibers with global vision and international relations and demand in IC competent leaders for solving intercultural conflicts and diplomatic crises. Despite the abundance of SA research on the benefits and adverse impacts on sojourners, some gaps remain that this study attempts to address. First, there is still little known about what effect short-term study tours have on sojourners’ development of intercultural competence (IC). Moreover, the existing frameworks and models for studying IC development in SA are grounded in the European and the North American contexts. Findings and data from the Asian and Australasian contexts are needed to enrich this field. In response to these research gaps, the current study, grounded in Byram’s IC framework and Barkhuizen & Feryok’s framework, addresses how a short-term SA experience impacts students’ expectations and sense-making of subsequent, longer SAs to different countries, their IC learning between the two experiences, and how narrative interviews themselves constitute a tool for IC development in the co-construction process. Drawing on narrative inquiry approach, the study investigated the impact of two consecutive SAs on five Hong Kong tertiary-level participants. All participated in the same three-week short-term trip to New Zealand, and then each traveled to a different country on their second trip. For four out of five participants, these lasted several months to three years. Various forms of data from the participants including their reflective writings, journals, questionnaires, and interviews were used for yielding insights into the key aspects of IC, such as intercultural knowledge, attitude, skills and critical cultural awareness. The current project is one of the very few studies of IC which suggests that during the first trip, unexpected experiences created more salient impacts on participants’ IC learning than expected experiences from the program. Other major findings included the discovery of the strong relationship between intercultural knowledge (Savoirs) and attitude (Savoir Être), and between knowledge (Savoirs) and critical cultural awareness (Savoir S’Engager) in IC development via SA, as well as the significant role of race and cultural historical background of the SA participants in their meaning negotiation of SA experiences. Most importantly, the study also refined the criteria of a mediator in the narrative interview and the content to be mediated for cultivating SA participants’ IC learning from past SA experiences. In conclusion, the study points to the essence of dialogues and guided meaningful reflections that SA participants need for developing IC and the necessity of an appropriate mediator to illuminate the important learning aspects of journeys to the SA participants: not simply preparing students to learn from SA or debriefing them after SA, but transforming the unexpected experiences into learning opportunities for future SAs. Consequently, narrative co-construction has a pedagogical value as an IC development process since SA participants reach the highest level of positioning level 3 in Bamberg’s Positioning Theory, showing critical cultural awareness.