1. Dr. Grisel M.García Pérez
Raising Intercultural Awareness: Bridging the gap between China and Kelowna, British Columbia
Dr. Robert Campbell
Dr. Grisel M.García Pérez
Dr. Karen Ragoonaden
UBC Okanagan

2. Outline Background Rationale Participants Research Design Materials
Procedure
Results
Discussion and Implications
Limitations

3. Background Growing number of international students at UBC Okanagan
Problems adapting to university life; Kelowna and English pronunciation
Relationship between language and culture
Students believe in the value of pronunciation classes (Derwing 2003; Derwing and Rossiter, 2002)
Debate about the value of teaching pronunciation
Fossilization (Selinker, 1972, Acton, 1984)
Critical Period (Lenneberg, 1967; Scovel, 2000)

4. Objective
To assess the impact of a thirty hour language/culture based course on Chinese learners’ achievement of a comfortably comprehensible pronunciation
To see if there is a causal relationship between cultural mindset and language learning.

5. Terminology
Comprehensibility: The listener’s ability to understand the meaning of an utterance in its context (Jenkins, 2002). The measurement relies on the ratings of listeners who are native speakers.
Intercultural Competence: the capability to accurately understand and adapt behaviour to cultural difference and commonality.
IDI (Intercultural Development Inventory)

6. The IDI
is a statistically reliable, cross-culturally valid measure of intercultural competence
is a 50-item, theory-based instrument that can be taken either in paper and pencil form or online.
is currently in twelve languages (Bahasa Indonesian, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Korean, French, Japanese and Chinese).

7. The IDI individual profile
provides valuable information about your own orientations toward cultural difference and commonality.
can help you reflect on your experiences around cultural differences and similarities.

8. Orientations that range from more monocultural to more global mindsets

9. Monocultural Mindsets
Makes sense of cultural differences and commonalities based on one’s own values and practices
Uses broad stereotypes to identify cultural
difference
Supports less complex perceptions and
experiences of cultural difference and
commonality

10. Intercultural/Global Mindsets
Makes sense of cultural differences and commonalities based on one’s own and other culture’s values and practices.
Uses cultural generalizations to recognize
cultural difference
Supports more complex perceptions and
experiences of cultural difference and
commonality

11. Orientation Descriptions
Denial: An orientation that likely recognizes more observable cultural differences (e.g., food) but may not notice deeper cultural difference (e.g., conflict resolution styles) and may avoid or withdraw from cultural differences. Polarization: A judgmental orientation that views cultural differences in terms of “us” and “them”

12. Orientation Descriptions (cont.)
Minimization: An orientation that highlights cultural commonality and universal values and principles that may also mask deeper recognition and appreciation of cultural differences . Acceptance: An orientation that recognizes and appreciates patterns of cultural difference and commonalities in one’s own and other cultures.

13. Orientation Descriptions (cont.)
Adaptation: An orientation that is capable of shifting cultural perspective and changing behaviour in culturally appropriate and authentic ways.

14. How to Interpret the IDI Profile
Perceived Orientation (PO): Your Perceived Orientation (PO) reflects where you place yourself along the intercultural development continuum. Your Perceived Orientation can be Denial, Polarization, Minimization, Acceptance or Adaptation.

15. How to Interpret the IDI Profile
Developmental Orientation (DO) indicates your primary orientation toward cultural differences and commonalities along the continuum as assessed by the
IDI . The DO is the perspective you most likely use in those situations where cultural differences and commonalities need to be bridged. Your Developmental Orientation can be Denial, Polarization, Minimization, Acceptance or Adaptation.

16. How to Interpret the IDI Profile
The Orientation Gap (OG) is the difference along the continuum between your Perceived Orientation and Developmental Orientation. If the gap is greater than 7 you have overestimated your intercultural competence.

17. Participants Subjects 8 (3 females, 5 males) Age: 19-31 (m=24.9)
L1: Chinese
AOL: 5-14 (m=10.3)
Motivation: 2.75
Raters: 3 Canadian born ESL trained females
ESL instructor

18. Experimental Design
Within groups (Experimental and Control), pretest-posttest

19. Materials More than Words (Pamela M. Elder and Barbara Chen, 1997)
Language Background Questionnaire
Comprehensibility test
IDI

20. Procedure IDI (before ESL class started)
Comprehensibility test: Recorded answers to four questions (before and after)
How long have you been learning English for?
What do you know about life in Canada?
What do you know about culture in Canada?
Have you had the opportunity to interact with locals in Kelowna? And what cultural differences did you notice?
Culture based ESL class. Feedback to pronunciation mistakes was given in the classroom.

21. IDI: Perceived Orientation: Experimental Group

22. IDI: Developmental Orientation: Experimental Group

23. IDI: Perceived Orientations: Control Group

24. IDI: Developmental Orientation: Control Group

25. Where do we want the students to be in the continuum?

26. Rater’s results on a Likert 5 point scale: Comprehensibility Test

27. Discussion and Implication
Control Group: Intercultural Mindset more open to become ‘the other’, more motivated to improve pronunciation
Experimental Group: Monocultural Mindset, more resistant to become ‘the other’. Less motivated to improve pronunciation. Rapid progress in recognizing commonalities and differences between the Canadian culture and the Chinese culture due to training.
Minimal improvement in Comprensibility test results in both groups.

28. Implications
Should foreign language learning be used to make cultural learning more effective?
Will a more effective foreign language teaching improve intercultural awareness?
Will increasing intercultural awareness facilitate language learning?
Does intrinsic motivation have an impact in language learning and intercultural awareness?

29. Limitations Sample size (small number)
Age difference (fossilization, critical period)
Exposure to the language
Longitudinal effect
No intelligibility test
No post IDI

30. grisel.garcia@ubc.ca karen.ragoonaden@ubc.ca robert.campbell@ubc.ca