Gist1-2007.indd
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Intercultural
Communication
Competence through
Experiential Learning:
The Importance of
Student-Initiated
Strategies and Dialogic
Encounters
Josephine Ann Taylor
Acknowledgement
Many thanks are due to the students of Intercultural
Communication, 2nd semester 2005, of the Institución
Universitaria Colombo Americana for their participation in
the Subculture Project and their permission to reprint their
experiences and findings here:
Angela Ardila, Jennifer Calderón, Milena Jiménez, Viviana
Morales, Angélica Peña and Diana Salcedo
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intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
Abstract
Approaches to intercultural communication competence (ICC) generally argue
the need for objective knowledge about another culture as well as knowledge
about and the ability to achieve appropriate behaviors of that target culture.
Most of these approaches continue to base themselves on a conception of
culture as comprehensive but static. Intercultural contact in this sense is a
matter of contrasting and overcoming differences between one’s own culture
and the host or target culture. other approaches, however, are adopting a
more multicultural and pluricultural view of intercultural competence, and a
more fluid and dynamic conceptualization of culture. These approaches tend
to see the intercultural dynamic as an opportunity for “third places” to emerge
where entirely new cultural knowledge and behavior can be constructed through
cross-cultural contact and the interaction process in itself. This view sees cultures
not as fixed entities to be learned and then copied, but rather as a hybrid and
emergent phenomenon of today’s societies. What are needed, it is argued, are
individuals who are more aware of their own linguaculture in a much deeper
way, and who are open to exploring new identities and perspectives as part of
their daily contact with others. here, the other is not only the different culture,
with the emphasis on “different,” but rather the other may be anyone with
whom the individual chooses to interact. This paper explores the Subculture
Adaptation Project conducted with third semester students in the bilingual
education program at the Institución Universitaria Colombo Americana.
Students were asked to choose a subculture to which they wanted to or
needed to belong, and complete a series of tasks to document the adaptation
process. This exercise reveals that students who achieved the greatest degree of
adaptation were those who were not limited to focusing on differences between
themselves and members of the subculture. Rather, these students consistently
sought out emergent third places where they could construct relationships and
interactions that brought together self and other in dialogic encounters where
new understandings, relationships and identities could emerge.
Resumen
Distintas propuestas sobre la competencia comunicativa intercultural (CCI)
plantean la necesidad de poseer un conocimiento objetivo acerca de la otra
cultura, al igual que de la habilidad de adquirir comportamientos propios de
ésta. La mayoría de estas propuestas continúan basandose en la idea de que la
cultura es amplia, pero estática. En este sentido, el contacto cultural se considera
como una cuestión de contrastar y superar las diferencias entre la cultura propia
y la cultura huesped u objeto. otras propuestas, sin embargo, están adoptando
una visión más multicultural y pluricultural de la competencia intercultural, y
una conceptualización más dinámica y fluída de la cultura. Estas propuestas
tienden a concebir la dinámica intercultural como una oportunidad para que
aparezcan “terceros lugares” en donde se puedan construir un conocimiento
y un comportamiento cultural completemente nuevos por medio del contacto
entre-culturas y el proceso de interacción mismo. Esta aproximación asume
que las culturas no son entidades rígidas, que deben ser aprendidas y luego
copiadas, sino que son un híbrido y un fenómeno que surge de las sociedades
de hoy. Se necesita, explican, de personas que sean más concientes de su
lenguacultura a un nivel más profundo, y que estén abiertos a explorar nuevas
identidades y perspectivas como parte de su contacto diario con otros. En este
caso, el otro no es sólo la otra cultura diferente, con un marcado énfasis en su
caráter de “diferente”; por el contrario, el otro puede ser alguien con quien
la persona decide interactuar.Este escrito explora el Proyecto de Adaptación
Cultural que se llevó a cabo con estudiantes de tercer semestre de la Institución
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Universitaria Colombo Americana. En éste, se le pidió a los estudiantes que
escogieran una subcultura a la que necesitaban o querían pertenecer, y que
hicieran una serie de tareas para documentar el proceso de adaptación. Este
ejercicio muestra que los estudiantes que alcanzaron los niveles más altos de
adaptación fueron aquellos que no se limitaron a enfocarse en las diferencias
entre ellos y los miembros de la subcultura que estudiaron. Por el contrario,
estos estudiantes buscaron de manera consistente aquellos “terceros lugares”
que surgían, a partir de los cuales construyeron relaciones e interacciones que
integraban su yo y el otro en encuentros donde se daba el surgimiento de
nuevos entendimientos, relaciones e identidades.
Key words: Intercultural competence, cultural contact, cultural adaptation,
culture, identity.
Palabras clave: Competencia intercultural, contacto cultural, adaptación
cultural, identidad.
Introduction
The concept of intercultural communication and more specifically
intercultural competence has become more frequent in contexts of
foreign language learning since its inclusion in the general competences
of the Common European Framework (Council of Europe, 2001).
Still, many treatments of intercultural competence are based on the
concept of culture as a set of fixed parameters for thought and action
and intercultural communication as a matter of contrast, essentially,
between one’s own and others’ beliefs and behaviors. In this light,
intercultural competence is a matter of achieving a smooth transition
between one’s own culture and that of others by acquiring objective
knowledge about the target culture as well as expertise in and the
ability to achieve appropriate behaviors in that culture
Recently, however, other approaches are adopting a more multicultural
and pluricultural view of intercultural competence, and a more fluid
and dynamic conceptualization of culture. This view sees cultures not
as fixed entities to be learned and then copied, but rather as a hybrid
and emergent phenomenon of today’s societies (Areizaga, 2001;
Carr, 1999; Trujillo Sáez, 2001). Some have compared culture and
intercultural communication to the construction of different discourses
or realities on an interpersonal or inter-group level (Palfreyman,
2005). The “assumptive world of the individual” (Barna, 1998) is a
highly significant, although subjective perspective of reality, and it
is common for individuals to routinely encounter difference in their
perspectives of the same thing. Difference according to age, gender,
profession, religious affiliation, organizational or family membership
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are common, and we could argue that distinct perspectives of reality,
values and patterns of behavior are constructed within these groups,
much in the way they are in different cultures according to an ethnic
dimension. Achieving effective communication between members
of different groups, not only ethnic or regional groups, is a challenge
for living in today’s diverse communities. Many authors (Gudykunst
& Ting-Toomey, 1988) consider the role of culture in interpersonal
communication much in the way that it has been considered for
intercultural communication in the traditional sense.
These latter approaches tend to see the intercultural dynamic as an
opportunity for “third places” to emerge where entirely new cultural
knowledge and behavior can be constructed through cross-cultural
contact and the interaction process in itself (Lo Bianco, J. et al, 1999;
Carr, 1999). What are needed, it is argued, are individuals who are
more aware of their own linguaculture in a much deeper way, and
who are open to exploring new identities and perspectives as part
of their daily contact with others. here, the other is not only the
different culture, with the emphasis on “different,” but rather the
other may be anyone with whom the individual chooses to interact.
This paper explores the Subculture Adaptation Project conducted
with third semester students in the bilingual education program
at the Institución Universiatria Colombo Americana. Students were
asked to choose a subculture to which they wanted to or needed to
belong, and complete a series of tasks to document the adaptation
process. This exercise reveals indeed that students who achieved
the greatest degree of adaptation were those who were not limited
to focusing on differences between themselves and the subculture,
but rather who sought out emergent third places where they could
construct relationships and interactions that brought together both
self and other into dialogic encounters where new understandings,
relationships and identities could emerge.
What is culture?
Perspectives about intercultural competence and ideas about how to
achieve it are rooted in one’s underlying conception of culture. The
traditional definition of culture, and perhaps the most common still
remains some version of E.B. Tyler’s famous 19th century statement that
culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society” (in Lustig & Koester, 1999, 28). These
beliefs, norms and patterns of behavior are also considered to form
a hidden superstructure that acts as a filter through which members
intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
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of a group see things (Geertz, in Berthoin & Friedman, 2003). This
group is usually considered according to an ethnic dimension, that
is, as having a distinct country, regional or territorial affiliation, or at
least a hereditary dimension since it is assumed that culture is learned
and passed along through the generations as well.
While it is still frequently seen and appeals to common sense as
well, this traditional definition is accompanied today by other
conceptualizations of culture that definitely impact the approach to
intercultural communication and attempts at developing or studying
intercultural competence. Today’s concepts of culture include three
important distinctions from the above. First, that culture can involve
different domains, and is not an overriding set of norms applicable to
all domains that most people inhabit on a daily basis. Second, that
it can reside in both the individual and the group (Gudykunst & Ting-
Toomey, 1998¸ Palfreyman, 2005). Third, that culture is not a fixed
set of parameters, but is rather fluid and emergent, and particularly
influenced by the interaction process itself (Fairley, 2000). In this way,
culture might not even be the appropriate term, but rather might relate
more closely to what is known in post-structuralist theory as a discourse
(Foucault, in Palfreyman, 2005; Gee, in Carr, 1999), which is “a way
of interpreting and describing the world that is constructed through
language and that appears across different contexts” (Palfreyman,
2005, 213).
This new interpretation is highly relevant when attempting to explain
and address the difficulties that many people have communicating
across boundaries of identity with others of different groups, not
just different ethnic groups, but also across boundaries of age,
gender, class, organizational or professional affiliation, or even across
boundaries of identity constructs such as hobbies, personalities, and
subculture identification. Again, while much of the material on
intercultural competence refers to culture in the traditional way and
perceives intercultural communication as a problem of two different
ethnic worldviews coming into contact, for our purposes it is relevant
to draw on these latter considerations in order to address, as well,
the communication problems most immediate and common in our
setting.
Indeed, the subculture project described in this paper assumes the
following: First, that interpersonal encounters and interaction across
boundaries carry a similar dynamic as intercultural contact in the
traditional sense. Second, that experiential learning is possible through a
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combination of theoretical study and exercises of reflection relevant to the
adaptation process. This learning occurs without the need for intercultural
encounters in the traditional sense; i.e. through visits to foreign countries
or contact with foreigners. Third, that the project would afford students
important lessons for future encounters with others in terms of improved
intercultural awareness and communicative competence across cultural
and other boundaries and eventually more productive and peaceful
relationships in their daily interaction in today’s society.
Perspectives on Intercultural Competence
There are a variety of frameworks for dealing with intercultural
awareness, communication and competence, as well as the adaptation
process to a new culture. Most of these frameworks and models
presuppose one or another conceptualization of culture, as discussed
above, and may be considered more or less useful to our discussion.
Nevertheless, it may be useful to examine several of them here.
Traits, Competences and Behaviors
Most of the models for developing intercultural competence assume
the need to possess or acquire specific traits, characteristics, skills or
competences in order to be more successful at dealing with members
of other cultures, or with other individuals as well (Lambert, 1999;
Lustig & Koester, 1999). It is assumed that these items may be identified
and in some cases even taught in order to increase an individual’s
competence. In general, this approach looks for indicators of higher
levels of global awareness as well as relativity and include such traits
as flexibility, openness, patience, empathy and tolerance for ambiguity.
By competence, most agree that the concept includes aspects such as
effectiveness as well as appropriateness (Lustig & Koester, 1999). These
competences include the ability to establish interpersonal relationships,
as well as the awareness of the implications of cultural differences.
other competences are the ability to communicative effectively and
appropriately, the ability to adhere to norms and get help and the
ability to collaborate in order to accomplish something of mutual
interest or need. An obvious, but often overlooked element also
includes proficiency in the target language (Fantini, 2001).
once the process has begun, the development of intercultural
competence normally involves an on-going and lengthy process,
occasionally even with plateaus and set-backs, and normally with no
definable end. Intercultural interactions are considered to be similar
intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
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to interpersonal interactions, but with many more variables. We
could imagine a continuum of interactions with intimates or strangers
within one’s own culture, interaction with people within a different
subculture, interaction with others from other cultures in the home
culture, and interaction with others in the host culture. Each stage
on the continuum presents more and more variables that make
interactions less and less predictable (Fantini, 2001).
other approaches include the behavioral, which is not just what people
think but what they do. This approach looks at specific communication
behaviors during interactions. This approach looks for both the
appropriateness and effectiveness of interactions and includes such
evidence as the following: display of respect, orientation to knowledge,
empathy, task role behavior or how to get something done, relational
role behavior or how to relate to others, interaction management, and
tolerance for ambiguity (Koester & olebe, in Lustig & Koester, 1999).
The above traits, competences and behaviors tend to intersect
with cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions of intercultural
competence. Some authors, however, devote particular attention to
the affective dimension and refer specifically to the development of
intercultural sensitivity (Bennett, 1998; Chen, 1997). Chen, specifically,
separates intercultural awareness, sensitivity and competence
according to the cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions,
respectively, and gives particular priority to sensitivity as a pre-requisite
for the other dimensions to be developed. Bennett’s Developmental
Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (1998) explores the process of cultural
adaptation, beginning in stages of ethnocentrism and moving towards
stages of increased ethnorelativism.
Goals and Adaptation Development
one drawback of the above approaches is the lack of attention as
to how individuals are expected to acquire the traits, competences,
attitudes or behaviors needed to be successful at intercultural
encounters. The following approaches devote more attention to
issues arising directly out of processes of adaptation and spaces of
interaction between selves and others.
Success at acquiring intercultural competence is linked to the purpose
and goals of the interaction. For some, a goal might be to achieve
native-like behavior; for others, it may be to gain acceptance in the
host culture; and for still others, it might be just to survive (Bradford
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et al, 1998). Fantini’s (2001) YoGA framework or “Your objectives,
Guidelines, and Assessment” allows participants to define their own
objectives, guides them throughout the experience and also provides
an assessment tool for use at various stages of the process and at
the end. This framework is also unique in that it includes both the
guest’s (outsider) and host’s (insider) perspectives. This illustrates
well the view of competence mentioned above as being that which
is not only effective behavior (from the guest’s viewpoint) but also as
appropriate behavior (from the host culture perspective). This model
includes four dimensions: Educational Traveler, Sojourner, Professional,
and Specialist (Fantini, 2001).
The Bhawuk and Triandis model of Intercultural Expertise Development
(1996) accounts for the relationship between cultural knowledge,
theoretical knowledge and experience in the development of
intercultural competence. It includes four categories of expertise along
a continuum: lay, novice, expert and advanced expert. Moving along
the scale depends on the individual’s level of theoretical knowledge and
length of time in the host country. It is assumed that more training and
theoretical knowledge of intercultural concepts, along with extended
stay will develop knowledge (and expertise) at the level of application
(knowing how to apply theory to experience) and eventually will allow
for automatic knowledge where an individual might know how
to behave at the moment of interaction. This model is interesting
because it correlates strongly with the experiences of students in the
subculture project, described later, where they were able to understand
their experiences more deeply through their increasing contact with
theoretical knowledge. This model is important as well because it
stresses the limited developmental potential in pure experience, and
attempts to explain why long-term residents of foreign countries
often know how to behave but rarely know why certain behaviors or
norms are preferred.
Avoiding and Dealing with Cross-cultural Misunderstanding
Some of the literature about adaptation is specifically interested in the
analysis or prevention of cross-cultural misunderstandings. Although
considered by many as an out-of-date piece of scholarship, Gordon’s
1974 study of homestays in Bogotá, Colombia is quite useful for its
challenges, even today, of typical folk wisdom surrounding intercultural
encounters, especially in reference to those traits and characteristics
thought to be important. Indeed, not only intercultural sojourners,
but most people do not normally consider themselves closed, difficult,
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arrogant or inflexible people. Yet most people routinely have mild
to serious misunderstandings with others on an almost daily basis.
The subjects in Gordon´s study were all individuals who were highly
motivated to live in Colombia and participate in their host families’
lives. Still, as Gordon points out, “goodwill and intelligence are
not enough” (Gordon, 1974, 3) to prevent unintended but serious
misunderstandings capable of undermining not only a guest’s ability to
adapt to a homestay, but also capable of generating and perpetuating
cultural stereotypes on the part of both North Americans and
Colombians. Gordon proposes a syllogistic analysis of the situations
surrounding misunderstandings where the underlying cultural
assumptions and patterns as well as situational premises are the source
of many misunderstandings among people who actually have a strong
desire or intention to communicate well (Gordon, 1974).
Another interesting perspective on the source of misunderstandings is
related to what is known as the “assumptive world of the individual,”
where one person’s individual reality, regardless of cultural background,
may be quite distinct in relationship to another (Barnlund, 1998).
…people see the world through templates which force them to
construe events in unique ways. These patterns or grids which we fit
over the realities of the world are cut from our own experience and
values, and they predispose us to certain interpretations. Industrialist
and farmer do not see the “same” land; husband and wife do not plan
for the “same” child; doctor and patient do not discuss the “same”
disease; borrower and creditor do not negotiate the “same” mortgage;
daughter and daughter-in-law do not react to the “same” mother.
The worlds people create for themselves are distinctive worlds, not
the same worlds others occupy. They fashion from every incident
whatever meanings fit their own private biases. These biases,
taken together, constitute what has been called the “assumptive
world of the individual.” The worlds people get inside their heads
are the only worlds they know. And these symbolic worlds, not
the real world, are what people talk about, argue about, laugh
about, fight about.
Barnlund (1998, 41).
Later in the subculture project, we will examine this perspective more
in detail as participants were given a specific assignment in reference
to this concept. Students also found particularly helpful a collection
of over-riding caveats, pointing out common errors in intercultural
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and even interpersonal communication. Barna (1998) points out six
stumbling blocks to intercultural communication that may also be
applied to communicating with others even inside the same culture.
They are: Assumption of Similarities, Language Differences, Nonverbal
Misinterpretations, Preconceptions and Stereotypes, Tendency to
Evaluate and high Anxiety.
The preconceptions and stereotypes of others and the preference for
similarity especially lead to the practice of “othering.” othering refers
to “the ways in which the discourse of a particular group defines other
groups in opposition to itself: and Us and them view that constructs
an identity for the other and, implicitly, for the Self” (Woodward,
in Palfreyman, 2005). othering can perpetuate generalizations and
stereotypes and cause major barriers to successful communication.
Interactional Perspectives
Related to newer views of culture mentioned earlier, there are also
alternative perspectives of intercultural communication competence
which perceive culture and intercultural encounters as more fluid
and unpredictable in terms of creation, emergence and interaction.
hammer (in Fairley, 2000, 9) states “it is not the communication skill
per se that contributes to the various adaptation and or effectiveness
outcomes… Rather, it is the individual interactants’ judgments of self
and other competence based upon the communication performances
engaged…” Casmir (in Fairley, 2000) provides a model of intercultural
communication that moves away from the unidirectional emphasis
of previous models, proposing that the model should mirror the
interactionality and participatory nature of real human encounters.
he suggests that new cultures can emerge through intercultural
interaction since individuals are actually more than the boundaries of
cultural norms to which they may belong. This is particularly relevant
when viewing subcultures since most individuals move in a fluid
fashion from subculture to subculture throughout their daily routines,
adapting, modifying and creating themselves in the process, and that
it is precisely the qualities that enable this daily adaptation that are
the same qualities and competences required when facing “foreign”
or “new” cultures and subcultures.
This alternative view sees culture linked to the concept of identity, and
cultural identities as emerging, modifiable and situational, negotiated
during interactions, much in keeping with the not-only-ethnic, discourse-
natured concept of culture outlined earlier. In this view, culture is actually
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emerging, dynamic, and created even within the contexts of interaction,
subject to change (Casmir, in Trujillo Sáez, 2005). Competence in this
context is not characterized by universal or general aptitudes (tolerance,
respect, empathy) applicable to any and all situations, but rather
dependent on the particular situation or context and one’s interaction
with it. Intercultural communication is not just for divergent groups or
contexts, but is actually characterized by the coming together through
interaction and shared experience and the third culture that emerges
from this interaction (Lo Bianco et al, 1999).
It is argued that these “third spaces” are in fact the most valuable in terms
of their potential for generating opportunities for interaction, dialogue,
and even conflict, which at its root provides the most fertile ground
for “productive dialogue between existing and new understandings”
(Carr, 1999, 106). This approach challenges the need for learning
appropriate behaviors or acquiring useful traits for future encounters
when it is virtually impossible to predict cultural behavior. Rather, it
relies on experience, including failure experience as a teaching tool
and rejects the notion that being competent necessarily involves being
appropriate. This approach also embraces the newer conceptualizations
of culture as a highly emergent, individual and hybrid and views the
spaces of interaction between cultural beings as opportunities for
dialogic encounters and heteroglossia (Bakhtin, in Carr, 1999) where
many voices come together to form a new culture. It is interesting that
precisely this multi-voicing and dialogue were strategies developed by
students in the Subculture Adaptation Project.
The Subculture Adaptation Project
In order to explore these frameworks and theories in a practical
and experiential exercise, it may be interesting to document several
findings from the “The Subculture Adaptation Project,” carried out
with third-semester-university students enrolled in the undergraduate
Bilingual Education program at the Institución Universitaria Colombo
Americana in Bogotá, Colombia. The objective of the project was for
each student to follow his or her personal process of adaptation to a
new subculture. This paper assumes that a subculture can be defined
as a slice of the host culture, a group to which one belongs in addition
to belonging to the umbrella culture of, for example, Colombians or
Bogotanos. Examples of subcultures include professions and families,
each with their own rules and patterns of behavior, insider knowledge,
discourses and beliefs. other examples can include those chosen in
this study: hip-hoppers, Millionarios or Santa Fé soccer team fan
clubs, gym-goers, or members of classrooms or a particular group
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of friends or social circle. The goal of the project was not necessarily
that students adapt completely, but to carry out an attempt at the
adaptation process and to learn from the experience.
The rationale for the project is connected to the university’s philosophy
of learning as involving the acquisition of not only content but skills and
language as well. hence, the objective of the course was for students
to not only demonstrate knowledge about theories of intercultural
communication, but also to carry out systematic chains of action in order
to gain and demonstrate competence as well. In the case of intercultural
communication, the approach to culture argued above made it possible
to carry out experiential learning without an international experience
with a “foreign” culture or with the culture of the target language,
that being English. As stated above, encounters with members of other
subcultures or individuals within one’s own culture carry an intercultural
dimension that is significant but often overlooked.
In a previous course, Communication Theory, students were exposed to
the concept of a subculture, and had spent an entire semester studying
insider meaning within the subcultures they belonged to, for example,
metal-heads, billiard players, Jehovah’s Witnesses, soccer teams,
families, musical groups, salsa clubs, Dance-Dance-Revolutionaries,
and more. Students were able to observe and analyze all aspects of
insider meaning, including symbols and artifacts, use of space and
environment, cultural patterns, values and beliefs, verbal and non-
verbal communication.
They acquired tools and techniques such as ethnographic fieldnotes,
participant observation, use of informants, and had learned to analyze
the observed phenomena according to general theories of meaning
creation within groups. Two of the most important theoretical figures
in the course included Edward T. hall and Roland Barthes, and students
used these frameworks in their analysis of cultural patterns, artifacts,
symbols and space. The Intercultural Communication course was
an extension of this previous training and provided new theoretical
concepts related to cultural variation, the adaptation process, and
intercultural competence.
Task 1: Choose the Subculture
The subculture project was divided into four tasks. In the first task,
students were asked to choose the subculture to which they wished to
adapt and to explain the reasons for their choice. Personal motivations
for the choice of subculture differed, but most expressed a real need
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and desire to adapt to the group. In three cases, students chose a
new class with a new teacher who was a foreigner (North American
and British). other students related their choice to social needs and
relationships with friends or boyfriends who belonged to different
subcultures that the student felt the need to join: e.g. a different social
circle, Millionarios and Santa Fé soccer team fan clubs, gym-goers.
Many students saw the subculture project as a way to confront their
own preconceptions about the group and saw the project as a way
to overcome difficulties that they might have experienced previously,
or to deal with issues related to difference, miscommunication,
misadaptation, and the existence of preconceptions, stereotypes and
generalizations.
For example, Angela chose the “World Deport” gym where her best
friend worked out even though she admitted that “I do not like to
exercise and I have a bad preconception about people who go there.
For me, these people are superficial and plastic. It means that they
only want to look good and they do not care about knowledge.”
Milena chose her boyfriend’s social circle despite previous difficulties.
“For me to make an integration with them has been hard because
of many reasons. First, I feel unsure of my own knowledge and
personality in front of them. Second, my boyfriend’s friends have
another style of life. For instance, they have families and other kinds
of experiences that I do not have, so their perspective is different
from mine.”
Jennifer chose her Research teacher, a North American. She noted that
the adaptation would not only involve an individual from a foreign
culture, but to a new group of classmates as well. “Besides adapting
to my new research teacher, I have to share with people I have not
worked with before.”
Most voiced feelings of anxiety and anticipation about facing new
situations and new people, nervousness about facing the new
experience, but optimism about the project as a way to help them
learn how to adapt to new situations. Some even presented a list
of objectives, or a plan to mentally visualize how the project would
develop.
Viviana wrote, “Based on my experience with my English teacher, who
is an American, I am positive that I can learn much more through
differences because they lead me to develop adaptation strategies.”
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Jennifer says, “Many times I have to tell my research teacher; ‘Excuse
me, could you please explain…?’ It is embarrassing. But I will overcome
misunderstandings and later on I will laugh with my classmates about
the professor’s jokes”
Milena comments, “When I was in my boyfriend’s office, I felt a little
nervous because there were people I did not know, so I was thinking,
‘how do I have to behave here?’”
Angela: “I feel anxious because I know that it can be difficult for since
I have to do physical exercise. But, I also want to meet new people
and ways of thinking.”
Task 2: “The Assumptive World of the Individual”
This task made reference to a theoretical concept, the “assumptive
world of the individual,” which students had encountered in Barnlund
(1998). This concept is relevant to the development of intercultural
competence since it explores the existence of reality from within each
individual rather than in reference to an “objective” world outside of
our heads. This explains why two cultures, groups, or even individuals
can perceive “the same thing” from entirely different perspectives, a
phenomenon that lies at the heart of many, if not most, intercultural
or interpersonal misunderstandings. This concept is also important
because it helps us move beyond the typical consideration of culture as
something static and predictable by groups, comprised of predictable
common beliefs and patterns of behavior. Rather, it helps us explore
culture as something more flexible, emerging and variable, articulated
in individual or group discourses.
Most students in this task related an incident that had taken place
in their new subculture and then attempted to analyze and explain
the basis for misunderstanding through the distance between their
own perspective of the event vs. that of the member or members of
the subculture.
Angelica writes, “When I saw the police woman in El Campin,
(football stadium) I smiled like saying ‘hi!’ but she thought that I had
something strange because of my smile. I did it because I was quite
nervous.” Angelica was given an extra-complete frisking and had her
belt confiscated as a “reward” for her “polite” behavior.
Angela encountered what she considered “strange behavior” on
her first visit to the gym. She writes, “The first time I was there I felt
intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
79
uncomfortable because people looked at me as an alien. After telling
my friend how I felt, she told me that they always behave like that with
new people… Usually we see, hear, smell and feel according to our
own reality, rather than based on the insiders’ one….not everybody
understands and interpret behaviors in the same way. Today I am
conscious about it, and it is really helpful.”
here we can see the emergence of strategies employed by the students
as they attempted to investigate the “insider” meaning vs. their
own understanding. They used participant observation, informants,
sometimes multiple informants, sometimes asking the member of the
subculture directly, reflection, class discussion and time as tools to
understand the incident from another perspective. Diana writes about
her British teacher, “I do not like it when my teacher says ‘shut up.’
Some of my classmates say that it is a way to control; others interpret
this expression as ‘callese la jeta.’ After asking my teacher about this
phrase, I could understand that she just wants us not to talk among
ourselves in order to lead us to ask her in case of any doubt.”
Jennifer writes, “’I like risks, or why do you think I am here in
Colombia?’ It was not funny for me, but it was for most of the class
because they already know the kind of jokes that the Research teacher
tells. For me he was a little rude. After asking one of my classmates
what was so funny about that, I could see the situation from another
perspective and could laugh too. Now I am becoming more open
minded and respectful while adapting to my subculture.”
Viviana used a combination of direct questioning and comparison with
her own cultural reference to interpret the following problem:
“Study all the new reading’s vocabulary for the exam.” When my
English teacher asked me to do that, I thought he was crazy. This
is impossible to achieve, and it doesn’t make any sense. English 4
readings have 60% new words, and X’s favorite phrase is, “I will
ask this on the final test.” So, in spite of my fear when I am in
front of X, I decided to ask him what he means by “study all the
new reading’s vocabulary.” His response was “I do not want you to
memorize every single word, just use some of them in your writing.
Also, I want you to focus on the main ideas of the readings, not
just in new words. Don’t worry about it.” After our conversation,
I asked myself why I was stressed about memorizing all the
words. I concluded that it was because in my culture, students
are supposed to learn many things by memory. After clarifying
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80
this misunderstanding, I realized how different our “assumptive
world” was. He asked me something according with his own
intentions and worldview, and I understood another thing due to
my personal interpretation about it..
once students achieved the understanding from another perspective,
it aided them in breaking down preconceptions, stereotypes and
generalizations since it added a dimension of understanding and
empathy. As well, the use of informants to gain insights into the
perspective of the other, and establishing dialogue directly with the
individual in question or a member of the subculture were important
strategies that once developed, students continued to rely on in future
encounters. once established, the continued use of informants and
dialogue enabled the students to open third spaces of emergent
culture where they could openly explore the issues affecting their
entry into the other culture as well as others’ perceptions of them. To
the extent that these dialogic encounters were allowed to continue
and develop throughout the project, students’ adaptation gained an
important dimension absent from other students’ who did not manage
to establish such spaces.
Viviana writes, “I had some prejudices about my English teacher.
Last semester a friend of mine told me, ’his speech is not easy to
understand. he assigns a great amount of homework. Exams are
difficult and they are the only grade along the semester. Also, he is
not friendly at all.’ Fortunately, now I am aware of how harmful it is
to keep those prejudices, so facing the situation is a good chance to
get rid of them. The high degree of interaction I developed during
classes and out of them helped me a lot to know and adapt to my
English teacher.”
Task 3: Where am I on the Adaptation Scale?
In this task, students were asked to place themselves on the Bhawuk
and Triandis’ scale of intercultural expertise. This scale makes reference
to the interplay between theoretical knowledge, culture-specific
knowledge and experience, and their effect on the individual’s
adaptability to a foreign culture. (Bhawuk & Triandis, 1996). Most
students placed themselves between novice and expert stages, with
some feeling that they were more towards the novice and others more
towards the expert. After placing themselves on the scale, they gave
concrete evidence to support their decision.
intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
81
Most students discussed the role of theoretical knowledge and its
usefulness for helping them adapt to the new subculture. Key to
reaching the “associative” stage of the scale and moving to be an
“expert” is acquiring the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to
practical experience. This relationship does not become automatic
where the person naturally knows how to behave until the “advanced
expert” stage, but at the associative stage, the person at least is able
to make the link between what he or she experiences and what
intercultural theory might lend to that experience. In our case, it helped
students analyze their experiences, although often after the fact.
When analyzing their ability to apply theory, students referred
frequently to Edward T. hall’s discussion of cultural patterns (hall,
1959, 1969, 1976) studied in the previous semester. It is interesting to
note that students found his theoretical insights into cultural patterns
useful even in the new class.
In most assessments, students mentioned that they had successfully
adapted to the subculture enough in order to carry out basic interaction
as part of the group without feeling as much like an outsider with
no idea what to do. Most said that they felt fairly comfortable when
being in the group, in social situations, knew when to laugh, could
follow the social interaction and basically felt okay.
Jennifer writes, “I have applied in my research class what I have learned
in Intercultural Communication class, so I can say that theory is helpful
to face and understand differences. Taking into account my experiences
in research class, I consider that my level of theoretical training is high
because when I face new situations I analyze differences, common symbols,
expressions, and so on; theory and experience must go together.”
Milena explains, “Despite of the fact that I felt uncomfortable and
anxious with my boyfriend’s co-workers because of their age and
knowledge, I am trying to adapt using the theory I have learned.
During my process of adaptation there, once I talked with one of my
boyfriend’s friends and I realized that she was not as I thought. So, I
am sure that theory leads me to be open-minded, and helps me a lot
to get rid of generalizations.”
The only exception was Angelica who did not feel that she had
adequate knowledge about soccer or enough theoretical knowledge to
apply to her experiences in El Campín. She still felt like a novice. She
writes, “I do not know what theory I can apply when I am interacting
with unfamiliar people or subcultures. When I was in El Campín
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watching a game, I felt tired so I sat down. As soon as I did, people
looked at me in a bad way. Later my boyfriend explained that people
there do not sit down until after the first 45 minutes of the game.” In
spite of his explanation, Angelica was upset because she considered
that she had a right to sit down if she was tired.
Most students felt that in spite of their progress, they still had many
things to learn and continued to experience misunderstandings or
continued to struggle with difficulty accepting members of the other
subculture. Some students began wondering if there were limits to
adaptation. Milena writes, “I met a man (in the group) with a sexist
attitude. This… made me feel so uncomfortable and also caused me to
make strong generalizations about him because according to my own
perspective, this way to behave was disgusting and disrespectful…So,
I could not avoid my own perception about his personality.”
Again, students pointed to a variety of tools, skills and strategies they
had developed to understand members of the subculture and to read
encounters and experiences through the eyes of theory. Most felt
that the theory allowed them to be more aware of difference and
aware in general. Again, strategies were used successfully to deal with
miscommunications and to avoid “bumps.” These strategies included
participant observation and analysis afterwards, speaking to informants,
reflection, discussion of incidents in Intercultural Communication class,
and analysis. Frequently time and more experience aided in the students’
ability to adapt and move on the scale.
Diana writes, “I am moving from the novice to the expert stage since
I have developed some strategies like the identification of artifacts,
symbols, cultural patterns, use of space, and power relationships.
Noticing these variables is possible through out observation, fieldnotes,
participant observation, data analysis, reflection, having informants,
asking the person directly and so on. Based on my experience, I
consider that theory and practice are really helpful to understand
unfamiliar situations and reach adaptation.”
Task 4: Final Conclusions
In the fourth and final task of the project, students were asked to write
a report about the state of their adaptation to the subculture they had
chosen. They were to give specific examples to discuss the extent of
adaptation, gauge the level of success of the adaptation, and specific
reasons why they had or had not successfully adapted.
In this exercise, the degree of success depended to a great deal on
how the student defined adaptation, and to his or her own personal
goals in terms of the extent to which he or she needed definitely to
intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
83
become a part of the subculture, or perhaps to simply understand it.
Also, this personal objective of adaptation also had to do with the
personal investment each individual had of belonging to the group
and to what extent.
In Milena’s case, there were very high expectations as well as high stakes
involved in her belonging to her boyfriend’s social circle. Therefore, she
continued, in spite of her successes, to have a great deal of anxiety about
her adaptation, and tended to become frustrated each time there were
difficulties in her complete adaptation. on the other hand, she had
managed to find a friend among the group, and this ally enabled her to
link herself more into the social circle and achieve a sense of belonging.
She also discovered that interaction with her boyfriend’s group of friends
was easier outside the office in “neutral” spaces like in soccer games
since the topics of conversation were not about knowledge or money.
“During the soccer game, I had the opportunity to talk with some of
them about my studies without feeling anxious or ashamed…once,
while I was waiting for my boyfriend in his office I met Y; it was nice
because after our long conversation I could realize that my assumptions
about her personality were wrong.”
Clearly for the students there were different goals in terms of the
levels of adaptation they had hoped to achieve. For some, it was
just a matter of facing a new group of people and understanding
them better, being able to deal with the anxiety of entry into a new
group. As soon as these people felt that they knew the group better
and could interact on a basic level, they felt that their adaptation had
been complete.
In Jennifer’s case, she felt that she had been successful adapting to
the research class of the North American teacher. She stated that
she had been able to learn the system and the rules and was able to
follow the class. In other words, she knew what she had to do to get
along in the course and could follow the class sessions better, knew
when to laugh at the teacher’s jokes, and generally felt that she fit
in fairly well in the class. She had also developed strategies to find
out what she had to do. So, in relation to her goals and definition
of what adaptation is, Jennifer felt herself to have been successful.
“Adapting to my new class was kind of easy because sometimes my
classmates helped me to understand and solve misinterpretations
and misunderstandings. Also, I checked the website that the teacher
had designed for clearing up doubts and read his class summaries. I
consider that I have adapted to the class since I know the flow of the
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84
course, I understand more when my teacher speaks, and I feel much
more comfortable because I am doing the right thing; I am not lost
any more.”
Viviana chose the same teacher but her view of adaptation was
slightly different from Jennifer’s. For Viviana, the preconceptions
and generalizations she had about the teacher were the basis for her
choosing that particular subculture because she instinctively knew that
she should confront those preconceptions in order not to perpetuate
the stereotyping of the teacher among her classmates. So, in her eyes,
adaptation was not only to the structure and routines of the class,
but to the teacher as a person who is new, different and unknown.
In order to adapt to the subculture, to the course, she had to learn
to adapt to the person and to confront her biases. Viviana was also
able to develop the strategy of dialogue as a mechanism to clarify
class questions with the teacher and also as an important vehicle
to open the door for further communication with the teacher. It is
through this dialogue that she got to know the teacher as a person
and modified her preconceptions based on first hand experience rather
than gossip. “once I asked my teacher to clarify some rubrics and
he told me, ‘Don’t worry about my strong suggestions. You got it!’
Then I realized that the communication problem between us was not
language or the class itself, rather it was because of biases. So, I began
to talk with him after classes about him as a person since I wanted to
face preconceptions. Currently, I consider that free of prejudices and
assumptions, we are having a nice relationship.”
It is important to note that all students who completed the project felt
that they had been successful at their adaptation to the subculture
although each clearly had a different notion as to what adaptation
would entail and their own personal goals in the project. It is also
important to note that the students were able to make this adaptation
through a combination of theory, experience and the development
of specific skills and strategies. Students frequently mentioned the
theories outlined above as a framework for understanding difference.
They also resorted frequently to fieldworking skills they had learned in
the previous semester as a way to observe and analyze culture. Further,
all students benefited from the space for analysis and distance that
were possible over time due to the restriction of most experiences to
discreet “entries” into the subculture rather than constant exposure.
Perhaps more importantly, it is possible to posit a relationship between
the degree of complexity and penetration of students’ interactions
intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
85
and the need for not only theory but also independent strategies
for understanding, coping and analyzing what they experienced.
Particularly in the cases of Milena and Viviana, the desire to create
dialogic third spaces with members of the subcultures they had chosen
led to more complex interactions and ultimately more features of
emergent third cultures characterized by sustained interaction and
the construction of new discourses among the members.
Conclusion
Several factors proved to be significant in students’ experiences in the
Subculture Adaptation Project: theoretical awareness of culture and
intercultural communication, the development and use of strategies, and
the emergence of on-going dialogic encounters. Students who employed
all three in the analysis and reflection of their experiences in the project
tended to achieve greater degrees of penetration, sustained contact and
interaction, and eventually adaptation to the group or to individuals in the
group. Students who primarily considered difference and the contrast of
one’s own beliefs and behaviors with others’ tended to achieve recognition
of and sometimes understanding of difference, but failed to establish third
spaces of dialogue or on-going interaction. It is interesting to note as
well that where these third spaces were absent, the construction of new
cultural knowledge and behaviors, new identities and interculturality in
its hybrid and dynamic sense were not achieved.
It is important to note that of the three significant factors affecting
students’ adaptation in the project, the only aspect explicitly
considered in the tasks assigned in the project was the need for theory
when approaching experiential learning. The two other factors,
development of independent strategies and third spaces of dialogue
and construction of interculturality, were not specifically predicted
as important or significant. As the strategies began to emerge in
students’ practice, the professor did call the other students’ attention
to what she considered significant developments. however, the
concept of third spaces was never included explicitly in the project in
the moment it was being carried out.
This is relevant to the extent to which students might have actually
gained higher or more significant levels of adaptation had these other
elements been explicitly worked into project tasks and the respective
reflection, analysis and discussion of them. had students known
about the possibility or need for establishing dialogue and third spaces
for new cultural construction, and had tasks been constructed that
would have sought to invite precisely these types of considerations
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86
in the subcultures, students might have been able to achieve more
experience of that kind. As it stands, dialogue and strategies were
developed in a completely independent and spontaneous fashion
by the students. It would be important to devote more precise and
structured attention to these aspects in future projects.
Still, a striking similarity has emerged between this experience and
newer considerations of culture and intercultural communication
outlined at the outset of this paper. however, as with many of the
approaches to intercultural competence outlined above, there tend
to be a surplus of available models but a lack of grounded research
applying or exploring these frameworks. If, for example, the basis for
strategy development and dialogue is to be explored further, it will be
important to develop a more structured approach to research with
these considerations in mind, as well as many more experiences from
which to draw conclusions.
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Appendix
Tasks for the Subculture Adapatation Project
Subculture project: Task 1
Choose the subculture you wish to use for the first course project. Write
a brief (1-page) explanation of why you have chosen the particular
subculture, and describing the degree of interaction you will be able
to have with that subculture. If you wish to use a subculture which
you only have limited interaction with, please propose a way to work
with the deadlines outlined by the course.
Subculture Project: Task 2
Complete the following task based on fieldwork in your subculture.
Kelly (in Barnlund, 1998) argues that individuals and cultures create
and use different templates, patterns or grids to see the world,
that things we assume are common are not, in fact, the same for
everyone, even the child is not the same child according to the different
interpretations by the husband or wife. Barnlund goes on to argue that
the worlds people create for themselves are distinct, not the same,
and that they constitute the “assumptive world of the individual.” It
is the only world they know, and these symbolic worlds, not the real
world are what people talk about, etc.
In the subculture you are studying, demonstrate these different
worlds. Choose several aspects to compare, for example, ideas, facts,
artifacts, people. Analyze to what extent the subculture’s perception
or interpretation of that aspect is the same or different as your own.
Explain how the two perceptions differ. For example, explain the
meaning in your subculture and then the meaning according to the
perception of the subculture you are studying.
Submit a 1-2 page report about your findings.
Subculture Project: Task 3
For the following task, please refer to Bhawuk and Triandis’ chart
of intercultural expertise. Use the information in the article to place
yourself on the chart in reference to the subculture you are working
on.
Use concrete evidence from your experience in your subculture (and
from your theoretical training in our courses) to explain why you
placed yourself where you did on the chart. For example, what degree
intercultural communication comPetence through exPeriential learning
89
of theoretical training do you think you have? how have you applied
that theoretical knowledge in the subculture experience? What level of
experience do you have in the new subculture? how has this growing
experience helped you to be able to adapt into the culture?
Write up your ideas in 1-2 pages.
Subculture Project: Task 4
Please write a report about the state of your adaptation to the
subculture you have chosen. Give specific examples to discuss the
extent of your adaptation into this subculture. Do you feel that you
have, indeed, been successful in your adaptation? Discuss the specific
reasons why you have or have not successfully adapted.
Your report should be 2-3 pages long, and you should prepare a short
5-10 minute oral report for class.
Josephine Ann Taylor is the Academic Director of the Centro
Colombo Americano, Bogotá and Adjunct Professor at the
Institución Universitaria Colombo Americana. She holds a
B.A. in English and French from Emory University and an
M.S. in Teaching English as a Second Language from Georgia
State University, both in Atlanta, Georgia. She has taught
and lived in Germany, the U.S. and Colombia. her interests
include curricular development, speech communication,
cultural studies and discourse analysis.
e-mail: jtaylor@colombobogota.edu.co
josePhine ann taylor