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

Autori
Vodopija-Krstanović, I. ; Brala-Vukanović, M.

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, ostalo

Knjiga
Intercultural Horizons Vol III: Intercultural Competence: Key to the New Multicultural Societies of the Globalized World

Urednik/ci
Nash, E.J. ; Brown, N.C. ; Bracci, L.

Izdavač
Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Grad
Newcastle upon Tyne

Godina
2015

Raspon stranica
135-154

ISBN
978-14438-7658-2

Ključne riječi
Intercultural competence, English studies, four dimensions, curriculum development

Sažetak
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.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija

POVEZANOST RADA