Exploring and Assessing Intercultural Competence - Center for ...

Exploring and Assessing Intercultural Competence
Table 9: Contrastive Alumni IC Competency at Beginning and End of Service
Component |T| Std. Error
Knowledge 12.518* 1.92
Attitude 5.155* 3.96
Skill 6.034* 2.97
Awareness 6.369* 5.26
Intercultural Competency (ICC) 7.750* 3.09
Source: Alumni Survey 2006
* significant at p < 0.05
When a dependent variable is measured repeatedly at different time points (e.g., before and after
treatment) for all sample members across a set of conditions, the design is called “within-groups”
or “repeated measures ANOVA.” The purpose of repeated measures design is to test the same
group of subjects at each category of the independent variable (cf. Levin, Irwin P. 1999). This, of
course applied in the present study. Thus, one-way ANOVA is generally regarded as an extension
of t-test. This study only reports the eta squares values in order to document the variation in ICC
and its dimensions associated with exposure to a new culture (see Table 10 below).
Table 10: Measuring Effect Size of Intercultural Competency and Its Components
Dimension Eta
Η
Center for Social Development
Washington University in St. Louis
Squared
η 2 p
Knowledge 0.862 0.744
Attitude 0.574 0.330
Skill 0.635 0.403
Awareness 0.656 0.430
Intercultural Competency (ICC) 0.726 0.527
Source: Alumni Survey 2006
The effects of intercultural exposure at the end of service were further examined by using the
analysis of variance to compute partial etas. Etas (η 2 p) show the percentage of variation explained
in each of the dependent variables due to a treatment factor (independent factor). In this case, η 2 p
shows the effect of having been exposed to a new culture. These effects on each dependent
variable are reflected in the reported eta squared values. The effect of exposure to a new culture
accounts for 74.4% variation in the knowledge component. Similarly, 52.7% of the variation in
ICC is associated with intercultural exposure.
Another important assumption of this study is that participation in an intercultural service
experience enhances language proficiency. Table 11 illustrates the levels of Spanish language
competency at the beginning and end of service. The majority of alumni reported “no ability”
(46.4) or claimed they “were not functional” in spoken Spanish language (28.6) in the beginning.
At the end of service, however, significant improvement was reported by the majority of
respondents, ranging from “satisfying social and work needs” to “have sufficient accuracy,” as
indicated in Table 11 and graphically illustrated once again in Figure 3 below.
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