Abstract
Purpose - Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is important in intercultural exchange, to address problems and conflicts which may arise due to miscommunication that results from interlocutors’ diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Interlocutors may have different perceptions and interpretations of communicative behaviour. However, cultural and intercultural aspects seem to be ignored in teaching Mandarin as a foreign language (MFL) in Malaysian higher education institutions. Hence, the ICC level among local MFL learners is unknown. In this study, formative assessments were designed in a culturally integrated MFL module to investigate learners’ level of ICC in a selected Malaysian polytechnic. Methodology - The polytechnic was selected as cultural competency was incorporated in the MFL course. A design and developmental research was carried out to design formative assessment for ICC based on experts’ feedback. The assessment comprised Intercultural Discussion and Reflections, Cultural Discovery, Cultural Quizzes and an Intercultural Communicative Task. They were implemented to assess learners’ ICC. Findings - The results indicate that different forms of assessment were suitable for assessing the respective competences, and that multiple forms of formative assessment should be employed to assess and improve MFL learners’ ICC. Significance - Instructors in higher education could apply these forms of formative assessment to develop ICC among their MFL learners. The assessments could also be extended to intercultural communication competence development in other languages, which is important in a multicultural and globalized society.
Highlights
In today’s globalized world, foreign language education needs to focus on cultural and intercultural understanding in addition to linguistic knowledge and skills
The results indicate that different forms of assessment were suitable for assessing the respective competences, and that multiple forms of formative assessment should be employed to assess and improve Mandarin as a foreign language (MFL) learners’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC)
The findings indicate that Intercultural Discussion and Reflection (IDR) and Cultural Quizzes (CQ) contributed to high scores in knowledge (80.6% and 93.5% respectively), while Cultural Discovery (CD) contributed to the attainment of high scores in skills (100%)
Summary
In today’s globalized world, foreign language education needs to focus on cultural and intercultural understanding in addition to linguistic knowledge and skills. ICC in foreign language studies attempts to avoid the misunderstandings and conflicts common in learning a foreign language (Hammer, 1999). This is because during intercultural communication, interpretations are made based on assumptions and perceptions from the interlocutors’ differing cultural background (Kramsch, 1993; Liddicoat, 2001). As linguistic competence does not ensure ICC, cultural and intercultural aspects should be made explicit in the foreign language curriculum (Byram, 1997; Deardorff, 2006; Jin, 2013; Kramsch, 1993). A study on learning Spanish as a foreign language in a technical university in Malaysia showed that students were motivated to learn the language when they appreciated the target language and culture (Hou-Keat, Hassan, & Ramli, 2017)
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