The implementation of an intercultural competence syllabus to prepare study-abroad students for global communication

Abstract

This study presents the outcome of the implementation of a process-oriented model of an intercultural competence (IC) and English as a lingua franca (ELF)-awareness development syllabus to prepare government-sponsored Turkish international sojourners for global communication in English L1 countries. Based on social constructivist research methodology, both, qualitative and quantitative data were used in the study that came from three major sources. The qualitative data included field notes obtained from a class of 10 study-abroad English preparatory students and interviews conducted with the preparatory school administrators, and the quantitative data came from pre-tests and post-tests which demonstrated a considerable shift in the attitudes of the participants of the experimental group with a boost in their ELF awareness and intercultural sensitivity compared to their control group counterparts. The outcome of the study underlines the significance of IC and ELF awareness development during language preparatory programmes prior to sojourn.

Keywords:

• Intercultural competence
• English as a lingua franca (ELF)
• intercultural sensitivity