Student intercultural competence in a Malaysian campus: a phenomenological approach

ABSTRACT

This study offers a Malaysian perspective on intercultural competence. Specifically, we examine how the students of various nationalities portray their intercultural competence acts in everyday situations. Drawing upon a phenomenological approach, we explore their experiences interacting with the locals and their discourse on intercultural competence. We collect data from in-depth interviews with selected individuals. The findings are presented in two themes that describe the essence of intercultural competence: cultural understanding and language ability. The analysis not only adds to current understanding of intercultural competence, it also contributes to the emergent literature on intercultural competence that takes into account lived intercultural experiences in Malaysia.

KEYWORDS:

• Intercultural competence
• intercultural communication
• phenomenology
• discourse
• Malaysia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Syarizan Dalib (Ph.D. in Communication, UUM) is a Senior Lecturer at School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia. She has recently completed her doctoral study focusing on intercultural competence from a non-Western perspective. Her research interests include intercultural communication, communication competence, ethnicity, identity, and phenomenology. She has a keen interest on studying how intercultural competence and identity plays out in everyday interaction in non-Western settings.

Minah Harun (Ph.D. in Communication, Ohio) is senior lecturer at the School of Languages, Civilization and Philosophy, Universiti Utara Malaysia. Currently, she teaches Discourse Analysis which is one of the courses under Masters of Applied Linguistics. Previously, she was the Director of UUM Press (2010–2014) and UUM Language Centre (2008–2010). She received her Master of Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching (with distinction) from University of Southampton and Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Language Teaching from St. Mary’s College, UK. She is a life member of Editors Association Malaysia. Her current interests include interpersonal communication, interethnic communication, discourse analysis, hospitality language, and learner difficulties. Her publication includes ‘Hospitality Language as a Professional Skill’ in English for Specific Purposes Journal (2003), which she co-authored with George M. Blue (University of Southampton).

Norhafezah Yusof (Ph.D. in Communication, Nottingham Trent University) is an Associate Professor of Communication at Universiti Utara Malaysia. Her research interests include religion, culture and communication education. She is particularly interested in analyzing how religion and culture play their roles in communication fields.