Effects of critical incident tasks on students’ awareness of intercultural communication (Efectos de un programa de actividades basadas en incidentes críticos en la competencia de los estudiantes sobre comunicación intercultural)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Due to the internationalization and globalization of businesses in Vietnam, the new-generation students need to develop skills in intercultural communication. The current study aims to develop English non-majors’ awareness of intercultural communication by using critical incident open-ended tasks. Critical incidents in intercultural communication training are descriptions of situations in which a misunderstanding, problem or conflict arises as a result of the cultural differences of the interacting parties. One group of 234 students received 10 weeks of instruction with one critical incident task per week and another group of 88 students received regular English classes. Data were collected from the students’ answers on pre- and post-test and on papers from 10 critical incident tasks. The results showed a significant and strong effect of the intervention with critical incident tasks on students’ awareness of intercultural communication, with the strongest effect for the student groups with low and moderate initial awareness. Within the intervention group, students’ scores on awareness of intercultural communication over 10 critical incident tasks fluctuated as these covered different themes and situations. Implications for educational practice refer to further teaching with critical incident open-ended tasks.