This paper reports the use of critical incidents in three rounds of purpose-designed training events for 87 staff in three Chinese universities. To develop intercultural communicative competence (ICC), we present a possible framework of six intercultural approaches, combinations of which yield relevant principles as a rationale for ways of…

Symbolic competence is integral to intercultural teaching and learning, but limited research and teaching guidance exist in foreign language classrooms. This paper explores the use of critical incidents in developing the symbolic competence of advanced-level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at a Chinese university. Mixed methods…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of using structured reflection via the critical incident analysis method to develop multicultural awareness and intercultural empathy in undergraduate-level pre-service teachers. This research is important, given the striking demographic mismatch between students and teachers in US…

There is a growing body of work on the field of what is now known as 'cultural literacy', but little has been written about its application, and even less on how to teach it in the context of higher education. This article discusses 'destabilisation' as an approach to teaching cultural literacy in higher education in the context of the global…

This paper examines a pedagogy of using a critical incidents-based (CI-based) method combining student-authored critical incidents, reflection, and interviews to teach and assess intercultural learning. The researcher used student-authored critical incidents as authentic cultural materials, with reflection on those incidents and interviews as…

In this internationalised world, graduate employability in terms of intercultural communication skills needs to be taken into account in higher education. The present study aims to explore the effects of critical incident task instruction on English non-majored undergraduates' intercultural competence. One group of students received ten weeks of…

From the skills needed to adjust for the current mismatch between labor market demands and higher education training, collaboration and the development of communication strategies stand out. To improve communication as a whole, "The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)," constitutes a body of reference which adds…

Critical incident exercises (CIEs) are increasingly used in English courses, and there seems little doubt that in addition to providing English practice opportunities CIEs also help learners build intercultural competence. The question is: What precise aspects of intercultural competence do CIEs help learners build? This article introduces an…

The development of intercultural competence and foreign language skills in study abroad and the foreign language (FL) classroom is often seen as an either/or proposition due to lack of time, training or the availability of materials in the target language. The Critical Incident method (CI) provides an example of an intercultural training tool that…

Recent research demonstrates that operating effectively across boundaries is more complex than traditional essentialist models in cross-cultural studies suggest. The authors present a teaching model that leverages this research and moves away from static comparative models of intercultural interaction. Using self-reflexive and analytical…

This study explores critical incidents regarding differing cultures-of-use in telecollaboration against the backdrop of Hong Kong and German teacher education contexts. The rationale for the exchange was to model technology use and task design with the ultimate goal of internationalizing teacher education and supporting global citizenship.…

Educational institutions are acknowledging the requirements of a globalized world on students' mobility, interculturality, and language skills by offering study-abroad programmes. These need to be accompanied by procedures to assess student needs prior to and during their time abroad as well as upon their return. In the exploratory study reported…

Incidents in which program leaders confront issues of culture and race occur regularly in many youth programs. These incidents are important because they reflect powerful dimensions of youth's lived experience and bring issues of injustice and program inclusiveness to the fore. This study examined these culture-related incidents and how leaders…

Using the critical incident approach, preschool teachers at 10 preschools in Sweden were asked to describe their work with respect to ethnic and cultural diversity. The study attempted to provide insights that go beyond commonly used models of intercultural sensitivity and intercultural competence (e.g. Gudykunst and Kim; Landis, Bennett, and…

This paper presents an intercultural training program that was developed by the Center for Intercultural Learning at the European University Viadrina in cooperation with students. A few of the student-generated activities will be described in detail. The program, aimed at enabling students to acquire intercultural competence, was developed at an…