Abstract
The current situation of international communication in globalization context requires intercultural competence (IC) to achieve successful communication (Crystal, 2003). Concerning this intercultural competence, non-verbal communication (NVC) plays a key role to indicate the success of having intercultural competence. On the other hand, Thai Ministry of Education (MOE) has launched the CEFR for the country policy in English teaching and learning (Ministry of Education, 2016). The purpose of this paper is to present major results of an investigation of intercultural competence, that is, the NVC. An innovative program implemented in this study is the CEFR and project- based activities (the CEFR-PBA). The study also examines Thai university students’ attitude towards this innovative class. This paper discusses the IC students learned from role-plays. The participants of the study were 44 students of third year English Education at a Thai Rajabhat University. Research method applies action research (Burns, 1999) and case study (Yin, Case Study Research: Design and Method, 2003). Data collection gained was from 1) videotape recordings of students’ role-play, and 2) the questionnaire. Data analysis for video recordings employed a NVC rating scale evaluated by native-speaker raters; while means, percentage, and SD were used for the questionnaire. Grounded theory’s color coding (Strauss & Cobin, 1990) will be utilized in analyzing the qualitative data from raters’ additional comment. Findings revealed students’ NVC performance were both appropriate on body movement and position as well as vocalic communication. Moreover, their attitude towards the CEFR-PBA was positive.
Highlights
This study originated from the current situation of globalization which means the communication among people who has different background of language and culture
This study aims to promote Thai university students’ intercultural competence using an innovative teaching - the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) and project-based activities
Findings are presented into two main parts: 1) the participants’ intercultural competence regarding non-verbal communication, and 2) the participants’ attitude towards learning through the CEFR-PBA
Summary
This study originated from the current situation of globalization which means the communication among people who has different background of language and culture. Concerning this context, intercultural competence plays an important role and is required as a basic component in intercultural dialogue to promote the mutual understanding. Previous research studies have highlighted how difficult and miscommunication may arise when people with different culture have communicative interaction (Schnell, 2003; Ruthrof, 2015). These problems are most likely to arise in contexts where two cultures are different. Ministry of Education has launched the CEFR policy to both universities and schools all over the country in integrating those both linguistic and sociolinguistic areas into all language learning (2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
