



































TF_Template_Word_Windows_2010


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

58 

 

Developing Intercultural Competence Through Mediated  
Triple-Intercultural Classroom Collaboration 

 
Cathryn Cushner Edelstein 

 
Emerson College, USA 

 
Abstract 

 
Intercultural competence (ICC) describes individuals’ ability to effectively 
interact with people of other cultures in an appropriate manner. 
Institutions of higher education around the world are invested in 
developing the ICC of their students and to this end encourage 
participation in study abroad programs while simultaneously 
internationalizing the student population of their institutions. Towards 
this goal, more recently, faculty have been asked to internationalize 
curricula contextually and experientially to develop student ICC in the 
classroom. This article offers an experiential and pedagogical approach 
for faculty to consider in this initiative. This approach involves mediated 
collaboration, utilizing standard and social media platforms to allow 
communication between three diverse global classroom communities 
providing students with comprehensive intercultural experiences. This 
approach was utilized in Fall 2013 with 105 students combined from the 
USA, Romania, and Fiji, and resulted in a rich experience for all 
participants. The ICC development of the 35 students from the USA was 
measured over the semester using an ICC assessment tool and results 
concluded impressive growth. With access to mobility imposing limits on 
student travel, it is critical that higher education look to alternative 
methods, such as the one described in this paper, to develop student 
ICC. 

 
Introduction 

 
Students in higher education are often encouraged to enroll in courses that will help 
them develop their intercultural competence (ICC) so they will be better prepared to 
engage in the global community upon graduation. For the purpose of this paper, this 
definition of ICC will used: 
 

Intercultural competence is the appropriate and effective management 
of interaction between people who, to some degree or another, 
represent different or divergent affective, cognitive, and behavioral 
orientations to the world. These orientations will most commonly be 
reflected in such normative categories as nationality, race, ethnicity, 
tribe, religion, or region (Spitzberg & Changnon, 2009, p. 7). 

 
Intercultural communication curriculum is offered at many higher education institutions 
around the globe with development and improvement of student ICC among its list of 
desired learning outcomes. Many institutions have utilized study abroad programs to 
provide opportunities for students to experience cultural immersion and without a 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

59 

 

doubt this has enabled students to experience first hand, different cultures, which has 
been proven to impact ICC development. UNESCO states, 
 

At least 3.6 million students in 2010 were enrolled in tertiary education 
abroad, up from 2 million in 2000. East Asia and the Pacific is the largest 
source of international students, representing 28% of the global total. 
Students from China make up one-half of this figure, or 17% of the total. 
The United States, Australia, and Japan are their main destinations for 
study. North America and Western Europe follows, accounting for 15% 
of those going abroad (UIS, 2014).  

 
Though the number of students around the globe engaged in studying abroad has 
increased significantly over the past decade, NAFSA reports that just 1% of U.S. 
students traveled abroad in 2011/2012 for academic purposes (NAFSA, 2013) with 
reasons commonly attributed to lack of access, high cost and availability of time. With 
this in mind, the onus is on professors in U.S. higher education and around the world 
to internationalize their curriculum to afford students the opportunity to learn about 
different cultures without traveling. Of the 1% or 283,332 U.S. student participants, 
64.8% were female and 76.4% were Caucasian (Institute of International Education, 
2013) indicating that a rather narrow segment of U.S. students are actually studying 
abroad. This data provides incentive for teachers to consider other means of 
developing their students’ ICC, one that does not require travel, can reach the masses, 
is inexpensive and easy to execute. 
 
This paper describes an experiential and pedagogical approach to interculturalizing 
curricula using mediated collaboration between three diverse global classroom 
communities. Access to mobility need not hinder ICC development as triple-
intercultural mediated classroom collaboration can advantageously affect learning 
outcomes in regard to intercultural skill development. Outlined in the following paper 
is a review of one such collaboration between students in the United States, Romania 
and Fiji. Additional content includes how faculty can create a triple-intercultural 
mediated classroom collaboration and considerations for introducing this concept to 
students. Technology as a medium can be a powerful tool in creating intercultural 
experiences for students across the globe. 
 

Use of mediated intercultural collaboration in ICC development 
 

According to NAFSA, “The United States sends far fewer students abroad to study 
than it receives from other countries to study in the United States” (Johnson, 2013). 
The influx of international students entering U.S. classrooms provides one aspect of 
internationalizing classrooms, but course content and classroom experiences need to 
embrace internationalization as well. Pedagogy often includes students reading 
culturally rich texts and viewing cultural documentaries in an effort to provide relevant 
worldview content and context. These methods however, are rather one-dimensional, 
as they do not allow students to bridge what they are learning with practical 
communication experiences. Thus, the learning can be considered limited because 
they are not given the opportunity to transfer what they have read, discussed and 
viewed to real intercultural situations. The result is students have learned cultural 
theories and expanded their knowledge of global cultures, but they have not personally 
experienced intercultural communication. 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

60 

 

 
The ability to effectively communicate with people from cultures different from one’s 
own is not natural for many, but a capacity that needs to be acquired and practiced. 
Interpersonal communication, the ability to send a message so that the receiver 
decodes the intended message correctly, is made more challenging when a sender 
and receiver share little by way of cultural similarities.  
 

Contact with other languages and cultures provides an excellent 
opportunity to foster the development of intercultural communicative 
competence (ICC, or intercultural competence, for short). Once 
intercultural contact has begun, ICC development generally evolves as 
an on-going and lengthy process, occasionally with periods of regression 
or stagnation, but more commonly with positive results and no end point. 
(Fantini, 2005, p.1).  
 

A course that states its learning outcome is to develop ICC should provide students 
with access to intercultural communication experiences between its students and 
those from another culture(s). The use of mediation provides access for such learning 
experiences to take place. “Internationalization has to join forces with new 
technologies and employment in general. Combining this in practical applied studies, 
the entrepreneurs of tomorrow learn the use of modern technologies and the 
interconnection with a variety of people from different cultural backgrounds” (Ullrich, 
2013, p.66).  
 
Triple-intercultural mediated classroom collaboration vs. traditional mediated 
intercultural classroom collaboration 
 

Mediated intercultural classroom collaboration allows students to experience other 
cultures without leaving home. Paired with a class from another culture, students can 
work either 1:1 with their respective cultural partners or as whole-classes (WC) 
working together. Many classrooms around the world are engaging in ‘dual- 
intercultural collaboration’—two classrooms, two cultures. A new concept for 
consideration is ‘triple-intercultural collaboration’, bringing three classrooms and three 
cultures together. The benefits of using this model are multifaceted as students in a 
triple-intercultural collaborative environment are able to learn about two cultures 
simultaneously, acquiring, strengthening and using intercultural communication skills 
among an even more diverse group of students. As with the dual-intercultural model, 
professors from three classes can choose which pairings (individual or WC) would be 
most beneficial for particular assignments.  The addition of a third class, does make 
structuring the course more challenging, but careful preparation (see Process below) 
provides for smooth execution. The benefits of involving three classrooms are two-
fold:  
 
1. Student ICC development takes on a more multi-cultural focus, allowing for 

engagement with a myriad of cultural dimensions, and 
  
2. WC discussions are made richer with additional multi-cultural perspectives. WC 

discussions using common materials such as texts and films as prompts, allow 
students to share how they all perceive social issues, traditions and beliefs in real-

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

61 

 

time. Whether 1:1 or WC, the exchanges offer students an experiential opportunity 
to understand and learn about others’ cultures.  

 

Triple-intercultural classroom collaboration experience review 
 

During the Fall Semester 2013, in an effort to pilot a triple-intercultural experience for 
students enrolled in Intercultural Communication at Emerson College, United States, 
I partnered with two professors, one at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji and the 
other at Petroleum-Gas University, Romania. This partnership amongst the three of 
us required much collaboration to create assignments and activities that would be 
beneficial for all 105 students involved (35 per class). Our academic disciplines were 
not the same, but there was an overlap in the desire to foster greater ICC amongst our 
students. This commonality proved to be the incentive for all three of us to work 
collaboratively. 
 
As intercultural communication expert Darla K. Deardorff states, “It is through impactful 
experiences, where people are challenged to make sense of their new environment 
and accommodate to the differences, where they ultimately gain more sophisticated 
knowledge about other people and a feeling of being at home in a new context” 
(Deardorff, 2009, p.16). As previously described, mobility to travel abroad is not an 
option for all, and most of the students involved in these three classes had little 
opportunity for this. Thus, this virtual triple-intercultural exchange opportunity was 
attractive to these professors and their students.  
  
The following outlines the steps followed to create the triple-cross-cultural classroom 
collaboration: 
 
Step 1. Development of Triple-Intercultural Collaboration Partnerships 
 

i. Initiated a Query. Located two professors outside of the United States with 
whom to form a collaborative partnership. Utilized LinkedIn to obtain these 
partners. LinkedIn, the Google+ Community Cross-Cultural Higher Education 
Collaboration and/or professional organizations are available to search for 
professors with whom to collaborate. Each respondent was interviewed to 
confirm common interests, student enrollment numbers and coordination of 
semester dates. Ultimately two professors, one from Romania and one from Fiji 
were selected. 

 
ii. Began collaborating with the two other professors two months prior to the start 

of the semester to create assignments/projects and develop a timeline that 
worked for all classes. We utilized Google Documents, a shared online 
document platform and met online using Google Hangout to establish a working 
relationship. We divided the development of the assignments/projects between 
us and allowed feedback to be shared. We agreed on collaborative 
assignments for our students and additionally decided that we would: 

 
a. Require that each student create and maintain a Communication 

Journal, “The process of exploring how journals assist their writers learn 
is commonly described in terms of how they can enhance reflection and 
reflective practice. Reflection has been described as a process of turning 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109753426577930168409
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/109753426577930168409


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

62 

 

experience into learning. That is, of exploring experience in order to 
learn new things from it” (Boud, 2001, p.2). 

 
b. Schedule time in our classrooms to share and discuss collaborative 

experiences. 
 
c. Create a survey to elicit formal feedback requiring students to reflect on 

challenges and successes of their cross-cultural collaboration 
experience. 

 
iii. Created Student Cultural Partner Pairs (Figure 1) 

  
Each of the three classes were divided in half, forming groups A and B. 

  

 

       
 
 
Formed Student 1:1 Cultural Partner Pairs (SCPP) (Figure 2)  
 

To pair students, half of each class was paired with half of one of the other classes. 
 

       

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

63 

 

iv. Created a list of the SCPPs on our shared document platform and inserted 
email addresses for each student. These email addresses were provided to 
students when actual student collaboration began. 

 
Step 2. Introducing Triple-Intercultural Collaboration in the Classroom 
 

i. Administered the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) as an 
intercultural competence pre-assessment test to the U.S. students to assess 
their baseline ICC prior to the start of the triple-intercultural collaboration. This 
allowed for the  assessment of learning outcomes at the end of the semester. 

         
ii. Introduced the Triple-Intercultural Partnership concept to students; purpose, 

upcoming collaborative assignments, expectations, and discussed briefly which 
countries/cultures the class would be collaborating with. Instructed students 
how to create and format their Communication Journals in which they would 
record an entry each time they attempted to contact their Student Cultural 
Partner (SCP) or received a message from their SCP. Considerations for 
journal entries included – modes of communication used, dates/time between 
messages sent and responses received, reflections of challenges and 
successes, needs for clarification (content and context), language, gender 
issues, religious issues, and general thoughts about their interactions. 

 
iii. On the predetermined start date, provided each student with the email address 

of their SCP and instructed students to initiate contact with their SCPs by 
introducing themselves.  Allowed two weeks before providing the first 
assignment for students to get to know one another. In addition, allowed 
students to decide independently, with their SCP how they would prefer to 
contact one another for future interactions—choices usually included email or 
Facebook. Time zone differences created a challenge for students, but as this 
is part of negotiating ICC, students were left to navigate this independently.  

 
iv. Provided students with their first assignment. The first assignment, an interview 

detailing life-cycle practices and their corresponding cultural significance 
allowed 1:1 interaction between SCPs and encouraged SCPs to learn about 
each other’s cultures. The assignment had a due date that all students (in all 
three classes) were expected to adhere to and they were explicitly told that they 
were to be active communicators in this process. Collected the assignments 
and graded them accordingly. Collected the Communication Journals at this 
time as well as part of the assignment. 

 
v. Provided students with their second assignment. This assignment allowed 

students to interact as WCs. Students from all three classes entered into a 
group discussion about the documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell (Roco 
Films Educational), viewed by all the same week. The interactions were free 
flowing and remained open for a period of three weeks to allow time for 
development. The online platform, a private Facebook Group, was created and 
utilized for this discussion, as it was a platform available to all students. NOTE: 
Students in China do not have access to Facebook, therefore if partnering with 
classes in China, a joint Google Document or the creation of a private Google+ 
Community could be used instead. 

http://www.gpejournal.org/


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

64 

 

 
vi. Once all assignments/projects concluded, an online survey was posted for 

students to complete.  
 
vii. Administered the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) as a post-

intercultural competence assessment to ascertain learning outcomes for the 
U.S. students.  

            
Discussion of ICC Learning Outcomes and Limitations of the Triple-Intercultural 
Collaboration  
 
The purpose of this study was to discover whether mediated intercultural collaboration 
between students from three diverse cultures could affect the development of 
intercultural communication competence as much as students traveling abroad to 
study. The inspiration for the concept was based on the frequent lack of mobility most 
students encounter in regard to the ability to study abroad. As described in this paper, 
students from the United States, Romania and Fiji collaborated throughout a semester 
via mediated means to unite in studying. Common assignments were used by the 
three professors from each of the three institutions of higher education. The 
assignments focused on discovery of the other cultures’ traditions, beliefs and values 
whilst encouraging the students to become acquainted on a personal level. Each 
student maintained a communication journal that outlined their intercultural 
communication experiences detailing the challenges and successes of their 
interactions. These journals provided context to the experiences and were submitted 
to the professors with the assignments. The evaluation of this experience as a 
comparable means to engage students interculturally to improve ICC was measured 
using the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®).  
 
To establish learning outcomes among students in the Emerson College course 
(n=35), the Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) was administered as a pre-
assessment at the start of the Fall semester and again at the end of the semester as 
a post-assessment. I, Cathryn Edelstein have obtained a license to use the IDI® from 
IDI, LLC. “The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) is a statistically reliable, 
cross-culturally valid measure of intercultural competence adapted from the 
Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity” (Hammer, 2011). The Pre-
Assessment IDI® Group Profile reflected Perceived Orientation (PO) in the range of 
Acceptance 122.28, Developmental Orientation (DO) in the range of Minimization 
95.46 and a Cultural Disengagement Resolved score of 4.10. The Post-Assessment 
IDI® Group Profile reflected Perceived Orientation (PO) in the range of Acceptance 
125.38, Developmental Orientation (DO) in the range of Minimization 102.19 and a 
Cultural Disengagement Resolved score of 4.27. (visit www.idiinventory.com for more 
information regarding the IDI® Assessment) The results show an impressive group 
growth of 6.73 (DO) points in the students’ overall intercultural competence. The 
evidenced increase of 6.73 points in one semester of the group’s DO is quite 
meaningful when compared to a 2-point increase that was realized among students 
who participated in an AFS 10-month study abroad program living with host families 
(Hammer, 2005). According to that study by Hammer in 2005 for the AFS Study 
Abroad Experience, “The AFS students as a group improved their DS [Developmental 
Score] by 2 points” (Hammer, 2005).  

 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
http://www.idiinventory.com/


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

65 

 

Conclusion 
 
Changes in attitude and improvement of ICC skills occur over time through practice 
and experience. It is imperative that intercultural communication experiences become 
a part of ICC pedagogy, and it is the responsibility of teachers to create curriculum for 
this to occur. Faculty is most often the innovator of curriculum and most certainly the 
group responsible for delivering curriculum to students. As put forth in this paper, the 
opportunity to create a triple-intercultural collaboration initiative can be made available 
to students in any classroom, anywhere internet access and a common language exist 
between the participants. The collaboration is essentially cost-free (except for internet 
access), straightforward in its design, and uncomplicated to execute. Approval by 
administrators should be fairly effortless as the gain in ICC and the rich experience for 
students are primary considerations for any successful curricular endeavor. 
 
Finally, it should be higher education’s mission to educate students to enter the world 
prepared and engaged intellectually, culturally and mindfully.  With 
technology/mediation as a viable vehicle to engage with cultures across the globe, 
lack of access to mobility is no longer justifiable as a reason for students not to 
collaborate cross-culturally. “Global learning is the combination of global reach, 
achieved through the use of modern technologies, and global perspectives, arising 
from the interaction of students and faculty living in different countries, to produce a 
global graduate for a global workforce” (Rimmington, 2003, p.1). The workforce of the 
future needs people with strong ICC skills. For this to occur, it is faculty who must 
create pedagogy to accomplish this. “Taking advantage of the affordances of 
networking technologies that are cross borders, teachers have more opportunities to 
establish a cross-cultural online learning environment” (Wang, 2011, p.244). Utilization 
of the triple-intercultural collaboration model provides an appropriate, supportive and 
explorative structure for students’ ICC skills to grow through mediated real-time 
communication.  

 
Limitations 
 
The triple-intercultural collaboration initiative described in this article was a portion of 
the overall pedagogy, which additionally included research assignments with 
presentations, assigned readings, viewing of multiple videos and documentaries, 
presentations by visitors from other cultures and in-class exercises and lectures 
unrelated to the collaboration.  With this in mind, the changes in the IDI® results cannot 
be attributed solely to the triple-intercultural collaborative experiences. Past 
semesters, during which triple-intercultural collaboration was not part of the pedagogy, 
the IDI® was not administered, thus data that shows the impact of the triple-
intercultural collaboration on IDI® outcomes is not available. 
 

References 
 

Boud, D. (2001). Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice. New Directions 
for Adult and Continuing Education, 90, 9-18. Retrieved from: 
http://pdf.aminer.org/000/244/712/using_technology_to_enhance_creative_actio
ns_in_decision_making.pdf 

Deardorff, Darla K. (2009) The Sage handbook of intercultural competence. Thousand 
Oaks, CA: Sage. 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
http://pdf.aminer.org/000/244/712/using_technology_to_enhance_creative_actions_in_decision_making.pdf
http://pdf.aminer.org/000/244/712/using_technology_to_enhance_creative_actions_in_decision_making.pdf


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

66 

 

Disney, A. E., Reticker, G., Fork Films., Roco Films Educational (Firm), & Columbia 
University. (2008). Pray the devil back to hell. Sausalito, Calif: Distributed by Roco 
Films Educational. 

Fantini, A. (2005). About intercultural communicative competence: A construct. 
Retrieved from http://federationeil.org/documents/AppendixE.pdf  

Hammer, M. R. (2005). Assessment of the impact of the AFS study abroad experience. 
Retrieved from https://idiinventory.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/02/afs_study.pdf  

Hammer, M. R. (2011). Additional cross-cultural validity testing of the Intercultural 
Development Inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 474-
487. 

Institute of International Education. (2013). Open Doors Data U.S. Study Abroad: 
Student Profile, 2001/02-2011/12  Open Doors Report on International 
Educational Exchange. Retrieved from http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-
Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Student-Profile/2001-12 

Johnson, V. (2013, March 18). Why don’t more Americans study in Europe? NAFSA 
blog. Retrieved from http://blog.nafsa.org/2013/03/18/why-dont-more-americans-
study-in-europe/ 

NAFSA. (2013). Trends in U.S. study abroad. Retrieved from 
http://www.nafsa.org/Explore_International_Education/Advocacy_And_Public_P
olicy/Study_Abroad/Trends_in_U_S__Study_Abroad/   

Rimmington, G. (2002-2003). Global Learning Annual Report 2002-2003. Retrieved 
from 
http://api.ning.com/files/hrP0HmqajLchEQR5pN32BbaWeZXS8SG*MUIzz4YYs2
M_/AnnualReport0203.pdf 

Spitzberg, B. H., & Changnon, G. (2009). Conceptualizing intercultural competence. 
In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The Sage handbook of intercultural competence (pp. 2-
52). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 

Ullrich, K. (2013). Internationalization of college education – the role of new 
technologies. Global Partners in Education Journal, 3, 57-69. Retrieved from 
http://www.gpejournal.org/index.php/GPEJ/article/viewFile/54/pdf  

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). (2014). Global Flow of Tertiary-Level Students. 
Retrieved from http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/international-student-
flow-viz.aspx  

Wang, C. M. (2011). Instructional design for cross-cultural online collaboration: 
Grouping strategies and assignment design. Australasian Journal of Educational 
Technology, 27, 243-258. Retrieved from 
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet27/wang.html  

 
 

Acknowledgements 
 
I wish to thank my colleagues, Sky Marsen PhD, University of the South Pacific, Fiji 
/Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and Ionela Neagu, PhD, Petroleum-
Gas University of Ploiesti, Romania for their participation in this collaboration.  
 
 
 
 
 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
http://federationeil.org/documents/AppendixE.pdf
https://idiinventory.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/afs_study.pdf
https://idiinventory.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/afs_study.pdf
http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Student-Profile/2001-12
http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Student-Profile/2001-12
http://blog.nafsa.org/2013/03/18/why-dont-more-americans-study-in-europe/
http://blog.nafsa.org/2013/03/18/why-dont-more-americans-study-in-europe/
http://www.nafsa.org/Explore_International_Education/Advocacy_And_Public_Policy/Study_Abroad/Trends_in_U_S__Study_Abroad/
http://www.nafsa.org/Explore_International_Education/Advocacy_And_Public_Policy/Study_Abroad/Trends_in_U_S__Study_Abroad/
http://api.ning.com/files/hrP0HmqajLchEQR5pN32BbaWeZXS8SG*MUIzz4YYs2M_/AnnualReport0203.pdf
http://api.ning.com/files/hrP0HmqajLchEQR5pN32BbaWeZXS8SG*MUIzz4YYs2M_/AnnualReport0203.pdf
http://www.gpejournal.org/index.php/GPEJ/article/viewFile/54/pdf
http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/international-student-flow-viz.aspx
http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/international-student-flow-viz.aspx
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet27/wang.html


Global Partners in Education Journal                                                                                                           June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 58-67  

http://www.gpejournal.org/                                                                                                                                                         ISSN 2163-758X 

 

67 

 

 
 
About the Author 
 
Cathryn Cushner Edelstein is a Senior Scholar-in-Residence, Communication 
Studies Department, Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She earned a 
B.S. in Speech Pathology and Audiology from Boston University and an M.A. in 
Speech Communication from New York University. She is the author of the 
book, Excuse Me, Can You Repeat That?: How to Communicate in the U.S. as an 
International Student, (2012, Five Star Publications, AZ) and has presented at 
conferences on the subjects of intercultural communication and supporting 
international students in U.S. college classrooms.  At Emerson College since 2005, 
Professor Edelstein has taught intercultural communication, public speaking and 
professional communication courses for international graduate students. She can be 
reached at Cathryn_Edelstein@emerson.edu. 
 
 

http://www.gpejournal.org/
mailto:Cathryn_Edelstein@emerson.edu

