Intercultural Competence in Teaching: Defining the Intercultural Profile of Student Teachers

Abstract

This article describes the intercultural profile of European student teachers in order to clarify the relationship between Intercultural Competence (IC) and teacher training. The main tool used for that was a questionnaire to assess IC, following the criteria established by the Intercultural Competence Assessment (INCA) Project in which IC levels are ranked. The survey poses a variety of personal and professional situations where IC comes into play and different responses to choose from, ranging from insufficiently intercultural to highly intercultural. The results of this study show that most European student teachers participating in the research displayed an intermediate level of IC, which indicates a necessity to improve future teachers' IC training, particularly highlighting IC dimensions such as behavioural flexibility or communicative awareness. Keywords: Intercultural Competence, teacher training, student teachers ResumenEste artículo describe el perfil intercultural de futuros docentes europeos con la intención de esclarecer la relación entre la Competencia Intercultural (CI) y la formación docente. La principal herramienta utilizada para ello ha sido un cuestionario que evalúa la CI, siguiendo el criterio establecido por el Proyecto Intercultural Competence Assessment (INCA) en el cual se clasifican distintos niveles de CI. La encuesta plantea diferentes situaciones personales y profesionales donde la CI entra en juego y da varias respuestas a elegir, desde la considerada insuficientemente intercultural hasta la altamente intercultural. Los resultados muestran que la mayoría de los futuros docentes europeos que participaron en el estudio manifestaron un nivel intermedio de CI, lo que indica una necesidad de mejorar la formación en CI de los futuros docentes, especialmente en lo que se refiere a aspectos como la flexibilidad de conducta o la conciencia comunicativa. Palabras clave: Competencia Comunicativa, formación docente, futuros docentes ResumAquest article descriu el perfil intercultural de futurs docents europeus amb la intenció de clarificar la relació entre la Competència Intercultural (CI) y la formació docent. S'ha utilitzat com a eina principal un qüestionari que avalua la CI, seguint el criteri establert pel Projecte Intercultural Competence Assessment (INCA) en el qual es classifiquen els diferents nivells de CI. L'enquesta planteja diferents situacions personals i professionals on la CI entra en joc i proposa vàries respostes a escollir, des de la considerada insuficientment intercultural fins a l'altament intercultural. Els resultats mostren que la majoria dels futurs docents europeus que varen participar en l'estudi, varen manifestar un nivell intermedi de CI, el que manifesta la necessitat de millorar la formació en CI dels futurs docents, especialment en tot el que fa referència a aspectes com la flexibilitat de conducta o la consciència comunicativa.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Culturally Appropriate Pedagogical Strategies in Virtual Learning Environments: A Study in Colombia

“…Likewise, the results show that a proportion of teachers have assumed evaluative practices as being linked to intercultural training. However, according to the findings, in the Fair category, a significant percentage of teachers state that they do not have knowledge of multiculturalism in the classroom, which is consistent with the intermediate level of intercultural competence reported by researchers in other contexts (Baches & Sierra, 2019;Dervin et al, 2012;Garrote & Fernandez, 2016 They also claim that they do not know how to apply teaching and learning strategies and evaluative practices that promote intercultural encounters in favor of training in student diversity from any modality (virtual, face-to-face, combined, distance) (Ricardo, 2017;Dominguez et al, 2012). In particular, some authors note deficiencies in the intersection between the use of ICT tools and teachers' intercultural competence (Borjas et al, 2014;Iriarte et al, 2015;Navarro et al, 2018).…”

“…Although the development of students' intercultural competence is a joint work of students and teachers, in the case of this study, focusing on teachers, the fundamental requirement is teacher training. One training strategy is the design of integrated didactic units oriented to the intercultural competence, configuring training situations, which are isomorphic to those that will be worked with the students (Dominguez et al, 2018;Medina, 2017Medina, , 2018 as well as generating a training spiral typical of innovative didactic laboratories, as confirmed by other researches (Baches & Sierra, 2019;Dervin et al, 2012;Garrote & Fernandez, 2016). The contributions of these investigations confirm that the mastery of intercultural competence by teachers is intermediate, which evidences the necessary updating and professional development of teachers in this priority competence.…”

Blog and Intercultural Grouping Effect on Learners’ Perceptions of Intercultural Communication Projects

“…In alignment with Zhang, et al (2014), the study results show that blog-based peer feedback improves learners' motivation and collaboration and eventually improve students' L2 writing and L2 writing experience. The findings also endorse those of Ai, 2017, Salazar and Agüero 2016and Chen, Shih, and Liu (2015, Bukowski and Vithanage (2016), Campbell (2003) and Knobel 2003, which assert that the current technological developments require intercultural communication skills that can take place within the framework of at least two distinct cultures. Intercultural communication can be considered a major component of the digital age.…”

“…Accordingly, this study assumes that integrating BALL along with small culturally -mixed group work might improve the university students' perceptions of both intercultural communication and writing research projects. The study rationale emerges from the meta-analysis of the literature, which asserted that the current technological developments require intercultural communication skills (Salazar and Agüero 2016) that can take place within the framework of at least two distinct cultures. Intercultural communication can be considered a major component of the digital age and one of the twenty-first century skills that should be viewed within different contexts.…”

Instrument to Evaluate Intercultural Competence in Pedagogy Students

“…Consequently, studies related to the teaching of a foreign language in contact with another culture predominate in the literature on intercultural competence in initial teacher education, showing few studies in the field of mother tongue teaching. In addition, there is a need for more instruments that measure the dimensions established by different theoretical models on intercultural competence that are valid and reliable [31], presenting a methodological gap regarding the matter. Thus, there is a need for instruments that measure this construct, guaranteeing the identification of the impact of teacher training.…”