engleski

Developing Intercultural Competence at an English Department in Croatia: Identifying Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities

Departing from the position that it is the educational institution’s responsibility to play a central role in preparing young people for the challenges of interacting in a world which is culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse (Deardorff, 2009), this paper aims to investigate the perception of the status of Intercultural Competence (IC) development at an English Department in a Croatian University (Rijeka). For this purpose a survey was conducted among students, aimed at exploring knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and skills (Fantini, 2011) that are significant for the development of Intercultural Competence. We also examine whether these four dimensions of IC are developed within the above academic context. The issues looked at include: a) the understanding of Intercultural Competence (IC) ; b) the degree to which IC is developed through the current curriculum ; b) the views about the degree to which IC should be developed through the curriculum ; c) suggestions for IC status improvement. Our results indicate that there exists a substantial gap between the current and desired situation, and also a worrying lack of awareness of theoretical developments in the IC field. Out results seem to point to a need to reconceptualise language (teacher) education relative to IC topics.

Intercultural competence, English studies, four dimensions, curriculum development

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