Abstract
The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the intercultural competence (IC) level of college students, explore whether there is a statistically significant difference in the IC level between students with study abroad (SA) experience and those without SA experience, and examine their attitudes, ideas and experiences about SA programs and intercultural communication. Data collected from online questionnaires and Zoom interviews were examined through the lens of Hall’s the Iceberg Analogy of Culture and M. J. Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), which were also used as the conceptual framework in this study. Both quantitative and qualitative results indicated the IC level of college students was high, reaching up to the acceptance stage or/and adaptation stage of Bennett’s DMIS. Quantitative study showed that the IC level of students who participated in SA programs was higher than those who didn’t.
Highlights
With the development of globalization and internationalization, intercultural competence (IC) has gained great importance in all fields
The quantitative research questions are addressed as follows: (1) What is the IC level of overall college students at a flagship university in the northwest, United States? What are the IC levels of students who participated in study abroad programs and those who didn’t participate respectively? (2) Is there any statistically significant difference in IC between students with SA experience and those without SA experience?
The first instrument used in this study include a revised Intercultural competence questionnaire (ICQ) developed by Mirzaei and Forouzandeh (2013), which consists of two sections
Summary
With the development of globalization and internationalization, intercultural competence (IC) has gained great importance in all fields. There are many ways for students to experience cultural differences and create greater potential to develop their IC (Rust et al, 2013). Research demonstrated that participating in study abroad (SA) programs is one way to get access to the cultural differences. Some outstanding researchers in this field, such as Deardorff (2006), stated that a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods is the best way to study complicated issues of IC. A mixed method has been employed to assess the IC of college students, explore whether there is a statistically significant difference in IC levels between students having SA experience and those who do not have SA experience, and examine the college students’ attitudes and ideas about SA programs and IC interactions
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