Exploring and Assessing Intercultural Competence - Center for ...

A. General
Exploring and Assessing Intercultural Competence
The project design and plan were initially informed by a review of the intercultural literature
coupled with our own empirical experience. A search and analysis of other relevant assessment
tools provided further basis for creating the survey questionnaire form used in this study. The
inclusion of open-ended questions gave respondents an opportunity to contribute additional
insights from their experiences and to identify other issues. Finally, personal interviews of
selected respondents generated additional data.
A combination of structured and open-ended processes resulted in producing quantitative and
qualitative data regarding program participants in three MOs – Ecuador, Great Britain, and
Switzerland. Identifying outcomes that converged or diverged regarding the development of
participant intercultural competencies and how these experiences affected their lives beyond the
program, provided further indicators regarding the furtherance of FEIL’s vision and mission. To
summarize, this study focused on the following goals:
1) to further refine our notion of intercultural competence – definition, essential traits and
characteristics, components and their interconnections, and developmental levels;
2) to investigate the role of host language proficiency and its effects on ICC
development;
3) to advance work on an assessment instrument to monitor and measure ICC
development, based on our revised conceptualization;
4) to pilot the instrument in three MOs,
5) to learn about the impact of this experience on alumni, volunteers and hosts;
6) to compile and analyze survey findings from this pilot survey;
7) to finalize the test instrument for future use;
8) and finally, to disseminate the results and make the instrument available for use by
others
We were especially keen to learn more about the impact of intercultural contact on sojourners and
hosts in terms of how it affected their lifestyle choices, values, work choices as well as how their
experience of intercultural contact affected others (the multiplier effect) – all outcomes which
contribute to and further the Federation’s Mission. These efforts are consistent with the
movement towards outcomes assessment emerging over the past two decades.
B. Timeline and Stages
This Project was designed to fit within the work schedules of participating MOs to ensure
maximum cooperation and minimal interference of their office routines. The hiring of a Research
Assistant (RA) in each office was planned to avoid placing additional burden on already busy and
dedicated staff. The timeline, therefore, was based on administration of questionnaires at critical
stages in their program cycles plus time to complete data compilation and summary reports at the
end.
The project took place from July 2005 through December 2006 in a series of four stages. A fifth
stage of initial dissemination was included in preparation for stages 6 and 7, which contemplate
further dissemination beyond the (funded) research effort itself. These stages involved the
following activities:
Center for Social Development
Washington University in St. Louis
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