Assuring quality for the teaching of intercultural communication in Europe: perspectives and challenges

Sharon Millar and Célio Conceição

Aims • To summarise main findings of a

mapping exercise on the teaching of intercultural communication (IC) across partner European contexts

• To identify existing quality measures

Aims • To present a number of learning

outcomes defined by the project members on the basis of a shared understanding of IC and with quality issues in mind

Understandings of IC

• Theory or Practice• The extent to which IC is seen as theoretical

knowledge about a culture, communication etc. or a practical competence/skill can vary

• In many HE institutions, a more theoretical approach dominates (e.g. in Denmark, Austria) but more skills-oriented approaches are found (e.g. in Ireland (Waterford))

Understandings of IC

• Independent of language learning or integrated into language learning • Autonomous courses on IC (often as

part of business, media, communication, anthropology degrees) generally not related to language learning (as found in Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Lithuania)

Understandings of IC

• IC may be integrated into language learning (e.g. translation) but this is often implicit and not very systematic• Traditional foreign language degree

programmes may not even mention the term IC

LanQua perspectives on IC

• IC defined as “situated communication between individuals or groups of different linguistic and cultural origins”

• IC seen as both a concept and a competence

LanQua perspectives on IC

• As a communicative competence, it combines• Knowledge• Skills• Attitude(Byram 1997)

LanQua perspectives on IC

• Given focus of overall LanQua project, IC seen as integral part of foreign language learning

• Part of intercultural communication is language proficiency

Quality assurance mechanisms• Over-ordinate top-down quality

assurance exists to some degree in all partner countries at national level and increasingly universities are establishing internal quality assurance procedures

Quality assurance mechanisms• Formal quality assurance tends to

focus on degree programmes rather than the details of specific courses or disciplines

• Bottom-up, teacher-driven quality assurance is not formalised

Learning Outcomes

• Taking the LanQua perspective on IC, 10 learning outcomes for IC were defined

• These learning outcomes take into account• the need for coherence between outcome,

implementation and assessment• the need to be formulated in more general

terms to allow for widespread applicability within and across national contexts

Example of LO: knowledge

Knowledge of the cultures, institutions, histories and ways of life of different communities. The ability to recognise the impact of the above on behavioural norms in given fields of communication.

Example of LO: knowledge• Implementation • Textbooks, interactive learning and

diverse contemporary media based materials (textual and audio-visual) offer selective information relating to the contexts towards which the learning is directed. These should be integrated meaningfully into the language learning syllabus as an essential knowledge base.

Example of LO: knowledge• Assessment• Essay, cross-cultural study project,

learner diary, reflective commentary, oral examination, simulation, presentation.

Example of LO: attitudeReflection on the cultural factors influencing one’s own behaviour and that of others• The aim is to raise consciousness of cultural

differences and how these can affect verbal and non-verbal communication. Reflection on the self as opposed to the other is encouraged in relation to intercultural issues, culture shock and communication between cultures.

Example of LO: attitude• Implementation• Oral and written production skills should

be practised with special attention to cultural differences: simulation tasks, group presentations, discussions, video clips without sound for guessing the meaning of body language, writing a journal recording their learning experience in relation to their own behaviour and thinking, essays.

Example of LO: attitude• Assessment• Simulation tasks, group presentations

followed by discussion, commentaries on video clips, learner journal, essays

Challenges• Role of Assessment• Aspects of IC difficult to assess

(sensitivity, awareness)

• Non-traditional modes of assessment needed but these have to be integrated into existing classroom and assessment culture

Challenges• Globalisation • Increasing multicultural nature of

“national” cultures needs to be incorporated into IC

• Particular challenge presented by English as a Lingua Franca

Challenges• Success indicators for LOs• Difficult to establish quantifiable

criteria for measuring success of LOs (% of students passing exams, degree of positive student, teacher or employer feedback, increased student mobility?)

Challenges• Dissemination • Not all colleagues within and across

national boundaries will necessarily agree with LanQua perspectives

• As an exercise in bottom-up quality assurance, the aim is to encourage ongoing discussion of IC in relation to language learning – to initiate and maintain a dynamic process and not to dictate a final product