Examining intercultural competence of L3 learners in higher education

Abstract

This study examined third language (L3) learning in higher education from an intercultural competence (IC) perspective. Semi-structured interviews were used to record eight (n = 8) international students’ (ISs) descriptions of their L3 learning experience. All students were full-time students at a large, public university in the United States (US) and were non-native speakers of English. Therefore, participants were learning an L3 in their second language (L2) context, English. In addition to deductive coding interview transcripts, via NVivo 11, utilizing Deardorff's (2006) intercultural competence framework, an inductive coding approach based on patterns that emerged from the data was also used. Findings strongly suggested that various factors, including the desire to learn/speak an additional language helped ISs to minimize objective challenges they confronted in relation to L3 learning. Furthermore, most participants showed an intuitive understanding of the relationship between language and culture. Subsequently, they developed skills pertaining to IC including consciousness of their own culture, openness as well as the willingness and ability to learn and function in new cultures. Due to the number of international students studying in universities in the US, coursework in higher education should include teaching IC explicitly as a component of language instruction.