Designing Programs to Foster Intercultural Competence through Interdisciplinary Study Abroad

Autor/inn/en	Goetz, Lily Anne; Holliday, William
Titel	Designing Programs to Foster Intercultural Competence through Interdisciplinary Study Abroad
Quelle	In: NECTFL Review, (2017) 80, S.11-45 (35 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2164-5965
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Cultural Awareness; Competence; Interdisciplinary Approach; Study Abroad; Summer Programs; Cultural Differences; Spanish; Second Language Learning; Immersion Programs; Language Skills; Program Effectiveness; Learner Engagement; College Students; Writing Instruction; Oral Language; Spain (Valencia) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität; Kompetenz; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Studies abroad; Auslandsstudium; Sommerkurs; Kultureller Unterschied; Spanisch; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Immersionsprogramm; Language skill; Sprachkompetenz; Collegestudent; Schreibunterricht; Oral interpretation; Mündlicher Sprachgebrauch
Abstract	This article presents a model for a short-term interdisciplinary study abroad program designed specifically to foster intercultural competence. It provides a description of a one-month interdisciplinary General Education Summer Abroad Program in Valencia, Spain, that attempts to sensitize students to cultural differences, to engage students to a higher degree in historical inquiry, and to develop Spanish language skills by weaving together three General Education requirements (history, intermediate Spanish, and an English advanced writing seminar) in an immersion setting. It also presents data demonstrating that participants showed improvement in their Spanish language-speaking abilities and exhibited high levels of cognitive and affective engagement. The data also suggest that participants generally performed favorably in comparison to student cohorts who completed similar General Education courses on-campus, especially in terms of the engagement levels of students with grade point averages <3.0 on a 4-point scale. The article also emphasizes that one cannot assume that cultural immersion will, on its own, lead to intercultural competence; it describes how this program fosters intercultural transformation and Spanish language skills growth among students through specific activities that require students to interact with Spaniards in a variety of contexts. It concludes with a discussion of further possibilities for research regarding the potential role of interdisciplinary study and university core curriculum courses in the development of intercultural competence. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. 2400 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214. e-mail: info@nectfl.org; Web site: https://www.nectfl.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01