Intercultural Field Research Articles

The Development and Validation of an Intercultural Nursing Educator Profile Using the Delphi Method.

Educators require focused training to foster the development of intercultural competence in nurses. Training programs for educators need to be based on a comprehensive profile with a focus on intercultural learning. This study aims to define and validate a profile of the Intercultural Nursing Educator (INE). The Delphi method was used with an iterative, multi-stage process to transform opinions into group consensus. A total of 46 European, African, and American experts from the nursing and intercultural field participated. Inclusion criteria required English at a level of B2, expertise in the field of intercultural competence, experience in teaching intercultural competence in the nursing context, and publications focused on intercultural topics. The INE profile was developed and all 126 competencies were validated. The profile is freely available on the project website and provides the basis for curricula, training programs and assessment of the required competences.

Curriculum Design for a World Englishes and Intercultural Communication Course: Survey Research

With the current position of the English language in the globalized world, individuals from different backgrounds meet on the common ground of English, which serves the function of lingua franca. In this connection, currently, a variety of Englishes are in sight, and each speaker contributes to these varieties with his or her cultural being. Considering the limited number of research studies focusing on curriculum design in the field of world Englishes and interculturality, the present study aims at designing a curriculum for a potential world Englishes
 and intercultural communication course by obtaining the views of ELT academics and ELT undergraduate students. Survey research model was adopted in the current research study, and data were collected through two online questionnaires. The initial questionnaire was the primary data collection tool and filled by 28 ELT academics and 25 undergraduate students, whereas the follow-up survey was administered to 2 ELT professors, 2 EFL instructors and 3 ELT undergraduate students. Descriptive statistics were computed to analyse the quantitative data, and the qualitative data were analysed using the bottom-up approach. The items selected by more than half of the participants in each group were included in the course curriculum.
 than half of the participants in each group were included in the course curriculum.

Interculturality and Internationalisation in a Swedish Teacher Education Programme

The concepts of interculturality and internationalisation have gained prominence in Swedish teacher education in general. This is a direct response to intensified migration, mobility and demographic shifts in contemporary, typically Western, societies. However there remains confusion and lack of clarity about what these mean both as a policy, and in practice, given that interculturality is a polysemic concept, used in different ways in different contexts. This article explores these concepts through a case study involving document analysis (curricula, study plan, syllabi, required reading lists) in an early childhood education programme within a Swedish university. The findings are further discussed with the support of analytical concepts from the field of critical interculturality in education. The research found that even though the concepts are widely discussed in general educational discourse, they are poorly represented and problematised in the course documents.

Co-inclusion: problematising binary understandings of social inclusion

ABSTRACT This paper responds to a gap between theorists' bilateral understandings of social inclusion and the more unilateral understandings available to refugee support practitioners. We argue that scholarly work on social inclusion does not consistently reflect intercultural conceptualisations of societies as emergent spaces continually coming into being through the participation of all their members and bilateral understandings can institutionalise ‘local/newcomer’ power asymmetries. Our intercultural field can learn from the concept of co-inclusion which encapsulates key tenets of intercultural thinking and promotes a horizontal, collective, ongoing process of social inclusion that involves all members of a given society.

The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house: decolonising intercultural communication

ABSTRACT The issue of representation has polarised public discourse and in recent years the decolonisation of research methodologies has entered the field of interculturality. However, universalistic discourses of dialogue and tolerance can be harnessed to silence certain voices by construing them as ‘other'. With this paper I confront this conceptual knot of representation and I recognise the role of epistemic violence in speaking for ‘the other’. I employ the idea of minor literature to counteract non-perfomative and tokenistic displays of diversity that appropriate the word intercultural and use it as a form of currency in neo-liberal academia.

МЕМУАРЫ УСТНЫХ ПЕРЕВОДЧИКОВ НА ВЫСШЕМ УРОВНЕ И ИХ ДИДАКТИЧЕСКИЙ ПОТЕНЦИАЛ

The intensification of international contacts has made socio-political translation a popular area in public life. The transfer of meaning in this kind of translation is a very complex process, since an incorrectly chosen equivalent can be misinterpreted and affect the foreign policy of states in the future. Difficulties in translation can be caused by non-equivalent vocabulary, violation of phraseological combinations, euphemisms, currently popular phrases and words. Practicing translators in the field of translation of international negotiations have accumulated enormous experience and knowledge, their memoirs are of great value as an intangible cultural heritage. Being a storehouse of decision-making experience in difficult situations of translation precedents, having a high didactic potential, the memoirs of translators in the socio-political sphere can be used in foreign language classes with international students. Of great importance is the perception of the translation experience, familiarization with the stylistics and vocabulary, cliches and terms traditional for political texts. The personal practical experience of the author, the analysis of his behavior significantly increases the interest of students, stimulating the effectiveness of learning. Familiarity with the experience of translators at the highest level, described in their memoirs, with their practical activities during negotiations, stimulates the development of constructive and critical thinking, trains the speed of decision-making, analysis of situations. The description of specific episodes that have occurred in the intercultural field leaves space for an objective assessment, analysis of the causes of the situation, search for ways to solve it, which makes foreign language classes more interesting, richer

Feldforschung im postsowjetischen Raum. Methodologische Reflexion international vergleichender sonderpädagogischer Forschung

Our research on dangers of excluding people with disabilities and the scope of actions that aim at supporting their inclusion in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has revealed the challenging circumstances empirical studies face in intercultural fields. These challenges, as identified in our study, suggest an increased necessity of iterative (self-)reflection in the research process. This is a valuable outcome of our study that is not constraint to international contexts.

LANGUAGE PRACTICE AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLURILINGUAL COMPETENCE IN THE CLASSROOM OF FFL

In recent years, the field of didactics has been marked by the development of consensus in the intercultural field, which is of concern to many specialists in linguistic and cultural diversity. However, the objectives of the Council of Europe’s guidelines are the development of plurilingual and pluricultural competence, which is essential for teaching and learning languages. Thus, our reflection is part of a research framework that focuses on language practices as important teaching tools for the learning of a new foreign language allowing learners to broaden linguistic and cultural knowledge in situation of authentic communication. Emphasis is placed on developing plurilingual competence for an adult audience using the linguistic and cultural prerequisites of the first foreign language, how participants react in a socio-cultural context with the activation of languages other than English and mother tongue during verbal interaction. It is obvious that social representations remain anchored in the conversational exchange between subjects emphasizing this self-image, and a recognition of the other that reflects symbolic traits by appealing to culturally associated knowledge abroad. Thus, the reinvestment of knowledge underlines this capacity which is useful in a varied communication situation for the awareness of the assets of other linguistic repertoires and the tolerance of others in the improvement of the communicative competence of the learner. Our study focuses on an interactive analysis that involves taking into account the language repertoire of the participant when confronting cultural values of another language in an institutional setting

Dynamic Perspectives on the Study of Intercultural Interactions: Proposing a Dialogic & Integrative Approach

Abstract To introduce, provide the rationale, and set the direction for the new Peter Lang Journal of Intercultural Communication & Interactions Research (JICIR) the editors propose a “dialogic & integrative” Both/And Ampersand (&) approach to intercultural research. Acknowledging the complexity of cultures, the diverse disciplinary origins, the multiple paradigms adopted, and the range of approaches, topics, and desired outcomes, the editors invite a “Both/And” inclusive approach to bring greater focus to the study of the dynamics of cultures in interaction (with special emphasis on the “inter” and “com” aspects). The maturity of the ever-expanding intercultural field is reviewed, emphasizing that with its complexity, multiplicity of approaches, and diverse interpretations or operationalizations of “culture,” an Ampersand (&) dialogic approach can contribute to the growing disciplinary strength and expanded inquiry of the intercultural field(s).

Teaching intercultural communication through associative fields of professional vocabulary

In the era of globalization and social distancing, intercultural dialogue plays a crucial role and requires a thorough reinterpretation. It is impossible without foreign language proficiency. Therefore, teaching foreign languages is a key to professional competency and personal growth. Language reflects the culture and functions as a universal tool of mutual understanding. It makes it possible to embrace the interlocutor’s mentality through grasping the peculiarities of the language. The proposed article is devoted to the validity study of the associative field technique. Its application contributes to the successful memorizing of terms and terminological expressions in a foreign language. The research considers the corresponding theoretical background devoted to the issues of intercultural communication, associative fields, and metaphorization of terms and terminological expressions in English. The methods applied in the study include comparative analysis, the method of continuous sampling, and a questionnaire survey. After the survey, the authors identified the terms that evoke associations with the notions “death” and “dead”. The article contains a number of interim conclusions with a further perspective on this issue. It is determined that the notion of “death” stands out as a representative of the “naïve” picture of the world and an initially expressive concept. In the case of a formal concept, the notion functions as a successful component of terms, especially metaphorical ones. The results of the study may be implemented in teaching a foreign language and intercultural communication, as well as in comparative linguistics and cultural studies.

Un irepetabil Adio Ioan Pășcuță (10.05.1953-27.04.2020)

Prof. Ioan Pășcuță was an important sociologist for the 70s generation. He was the Vice-dean at the Faculty of Sociology and Psychology, and Director of Roman Banat-Crișana Social Institute, and conducted a lot research in the field of rural-urban inequality, education, and interculturality in the area of Timis county.We will always remember fondly his name.

Speaking Back to Academic Colonial Gatekeeping: The Significance of Intercultural Performance Studies Works in Promoting Marginalized Knowledges and Identities

ABSTRACT Despite the “critical” turn in the intercultural communication field, dominant scholarship produced in the field still relies on White/Western frameworks, resulting to the dismissal of marginalized knowledge and identities. In this autoethnographic essay, I use my lived experience as a transnational Black African scholar to demonstrate how intercultural performative works can serve as critical decolonial scholarship to subvert “colonial gatekeeping” and (re)centre marginalized identities and knowledge at the core of the communication discipline. In so doing, my lived experience serves as strategic tool to advocate for resistance to the colonization of identities and works of marginalized scholars.

Difference, becoming and rhizomatic subjectivities beyond ‘otherness’. A posthuman framework for intercultural communication

ABSTRACT The recent turn in intercultural studies demonstrates an increasing concern with contingency, precarity and fractures over the search for reliable indicators of competence and measurable outcomes. In order to harness this potential emerging in the intercultural field, I aim to engage theoretically with the notion of otherness from a posthumanist perspective. Employing the notions of difference and becoming through biomythography and the ‘fusion of outsider identities’ I argue in this paper that rhizomatic subjectivities as sites of desire and becoming can shift the understanding of the intercultural beyond the binary self and other .

“Matemáticas indígenas”: Tensionamentos na formação intercultural para professores

Este artigo analisa tensões que ocorrem quando, ao desenvolver pesquisas sobre questões emergentes de sua comunidade, uma estudante indígena busca estabelecer relações entre práticas da tradição indígena e práticas matemáticas escolares, no contexto da licenciatura intercultural. Situa-se nos estudos sobre interculturalidade, na perspectiva decolonial e sobre etnomatemática, formulada a partir da obra tardia de Wittgenstein e do pensamento de Michel Foucault. Adota-se uma abordagem qualitativa reunindo um material de pesquisa que articula escrita, imagens, áudios da sessão de defesa e de uma entrevista e respostas a um questionário. Constrói-se, com base nesse material, um excerto multimodal, representativo da pesquisa e procede-se a uma análise multimodal desse excerto. A análise mostra que as tensões emergem das relações de poder entre a matemática escolar ocidental e outras formas de produzir matemáticas, neste caso, tomando o conhecimento tradicional das pinturas corporais Pataxó como referência. Dada à variedade de usos, funções e papéis da linguagem, com referências em diferentes epistemologias, torna-se impossível aceitar a existência de uma linguagem matemática universal, legitimando outras matemáticas que não dissociam a prática escolar do modo próprio de ser e viver do povo Pataxó.

Teacher Training in Intercultural Education: Teacher Perceptions

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate teacher perceptions on the training received in intercultural education. Methods: The article presents a quantitative, non- experimental and ex-post-facto type of research; directed to inquire about the perceptions of the teachers of primary education in Andalusia (Spain) in relation to the intercultural training received. Based on the descriptive survey method, two questionnaires were administered to a sample composed of 320 students and 80 teachers. Results: The results show certain strengths of the training teacher programs in the field of interculturality (encouragement of reflection, participation and collaboration …), as well as weaknesses (decontextualization, inflexibility, primacy of theoretical learning, non-transversal character, etc.). Conclusions: Despite strengths, intercultural teacher training continues to be a challenge in Andalusia.

Pedagogia da infância no Brasil e na Itália: a criança em contextos interculturais marcados historicamente pelo racismo

Este artigo busca, a partir dos estudos pós-coloniais, da sociologia das relações raciais e de dados de pesquisas bibliográficas acerca das culturas infantis, problematizar a educação das crianças pequenas em contextos históricos e sociais marcados por processos de racialização. Trata-se de inquietações que emergem de pesquisas realizadas em um contexto transnacional Brasil-Itália, preocupadas em compreender o lugar das crianças no debate a respeito de cidadania e direitos, tendo em vista realidades marcadas pela imigração e por históricas relações étnico-raciais que resultam em fenômenos sociais, culturais e políticos pautados na segmentação e segregação social e racial. No contexto italiano, analisa-se a Educação Infantil e os desafios que o movimento migratório das últimas décadas coloca para as creches e pré-escolas, em termos interculturais. No Brasil, retoma-se a trajetória histórica de construção de uma pauta político-educacional que envolva a diversidade cultural e étnico-racial, frente à monoculturalidade, encaminhando perspectivas no campo da interculturalidade. Com base nas análises, pode-se destacar que os efeitos do racismo são semelhantes entre os dois países, pois correspondem a uma forma de estruturação da sociedade, mas com características distintas em sua forma de segregação e hierarquização, colocando um desafio à construção de práticas pedagógicas para a infância nos dois países.

The Role of L2 and Cultural Mediation in the Inclusion of Immigrant Students in Italian Schools

Background: The purpose of this research is to analyze the perception of teachers and their thinking about two specific and functional issues which are often deemed to be controversial, that is, the acquisition, by recently arrived migrant students of the host language and the role that the professional services of a cultural mediator may have in said school context. The methodology used has been a case study by means of the technique of in-depth interview. To this end, twelve teachers from an Italian comprehensive school in the region of Sicily who for several years have been immersed in the relatively abrupt arrival of immigrant students have been interviewed. Results: There is evidence of some teachers adopting the position from a classic epistemological approach in the field of interculturality. For example, while the attitude and involvement of teachers seems to be consolidated, the teachers think that a key element of real inclusion should include practical measures such as early immersion in the host language, in this case Italian, and that considerable and external professional efforts are necessary, particularly from cultural mediators, which could make the inclusive project more viable.

Development of the Theory of Intercultural Communication in Russia

This article deals with the analysis of the development of the theory of intercultural communication in Russia. In our opinion, the following values of intercultural communication should be included in the dictionary entry: the process of communication and interaction between individuals and groups belonging to different linguistic cultures;the science that develops, substantiates and implements a set of measures to realize what is happening when confronted with foreign cultures and to resolve emerging intercultural misunderstandings and conflicts; educational discipline aimed at the formation of practical skills and abilities in communicating with speakers of other linguistic cultures. Thus we made the conclusion that scientists search for the place of intercultural communication in the system of other sciences. There is an understanding of the relationship and interdependence of new sciences, including those in the formative stage. In general, it can be noted that interdisciplinary research in the intercultural field, of course, contributes to the development of intercultural communication, but also in many ways impedes its formation in an integral branch of science. intercultural communication theory is in its infancy and it has yet to form a coherent system of knowledge about intercultural communication.

Internationalisation and student diversity: how far are the opportunity benefits being perceived and exploited?

Most schemes that rank universities for their level of internationalisation are based on compositional criteria, such as the numbers of international students and staff, and student mobility numbers. Yet if such diversity is to be meaningful beyond financial benefits and enhance the quality of education and research, including stimulating growth in (inter alia) intercultural competence, other measures are needed. Research in the intercultural field indicates that two foundational elements are required for this stimulation: (a) positive attitudes (e.g. openness and curiosity) towards diversity and motivation to learn about/engage with it and (b) experiences of difference that challenge people’s viewpoints, ideas and ways of doing things. Yet these variables are rarely probed simultaneously in higher education research. This article reports a study that used a tool to probe both of these elements in combination, in relation to three facets relevant to internationalisation: social integration, academic integration and global opportunities and support. The study draws on data from 2360 students, gathered from four different countries, to explore how the opportunity benefits offered by diversity are being perceived and exploited by the respondents. The interconnections between the variables are explored, along with similarities and differences in ratings across regional groups. The article ends by discussing the conceptual and strategic planning implications of the findings.

Representations and Origins of the Cultural Differences Regarding Hierarchy Between Chinese and Japanese Employees in the Workplace

The views and outlooks of Chinese and Japanese employees regarding hierarchy in the workplace are not as similar as certain researchers in the field of interculturality may think. Through a series of over 50 in-depth interviews, this article illustrates that there is a big difference between how the Japanese insist on a strict hierarchical structure within a company and how Chinese employees demand equality, especially among young people. These cultural differences originate from the diverse histories behind the Chinese and Japanese cultures. Japanese culture is very hierarchical, as reflected in the family structure and the inheritance system. Chinese society, on the other hand, is just as hierarchical but less rigid, due to its different family system and the influence of the imperial examinations.