Exploring and Assessing Intercultural Competence - Center for ...

Exploring and Assessing Intercultural Competence
challenging moments. It gives them pleasure in “becoming” like their hosts and “becoming” part
of their society and culture – certainly not a disposition shared by all who enter other cultures.
They undergo voluntary acculturation and welcome efforts by their hosts to “assimilate” them.
The result, at whatever their level of attainment, is a satisfying, rewarding, and enriching
experience in which the positive aspects far outweigh the negative, as they perceive them. They
seek to move beyond the “etic” and into an “emic” posture insofar as possible. They transcend
and transform their native paradigm as they seek to grasp another. This is probably the height of
that experience one commonly hears about from such individuals returning from an intercultural
journey: They learned a lot about their hosts and the host culture, and they learned even more
about their own.
These are all reasons successful intercultural sojourners seek to perpetuate and extend this
significant, provocative, and “life-altering” experience even after it has ended and they return
home. They reflect these sentiments through their own words and actions. After re-entry, 6 of the
8 British volunteers spoke of the positive nature of their experience, 6 continued to study
Spanish, 8 developed new intercultural friendships, 3 now work in related fields, 5 continued to
use their intercultural abilities, and 7 maintained ongoing contact with hosts in various ways.
And, after returning home, all 20 Swiss volunteers spoke of their experience in positive terms, 10
continued to study another language (7 in Spanish), 7 pursued a related field of study, 19
developed new intercultural relationships, 6 now work in a related field, 19 continued to use their
intercultural abilities, and 19 maintained contact with hosts in various ways – by letter or email
(19), occasional phone conversations (12), exchanging gifts (6), return visits (4), and receiving
their hosts as visitors in Switzerland (2).
Assertion No. 5
All parties in intercultural contact are affected to some degree and in various ways
Discussion
From survey responses and comments made in interviews, it became apparent how civic service
volunteers were affected by their intercultural experience. They described the experience as lifechanging
– they learned more about others, about the world, and about themselves. They
developed new knowledge, skills, positive attitudes, and awareness (cf. Part VII). This was
obvious in the section above and carries over into this area as well. Comments like those below
reflect the on-going nature of the experience even after the program has long since ended:
- I will be in touch with my hosts for many years to come
- I returned to Ecuador with husband
- I maintain regular contact with my host family
- I am still in contact with hosts even after 5 years
- host family also visited them in the UK
Summary
How volunteers were affected is abundantly clear from the comments cited here and those above.
How mentors (and other hosts) were also affected will become apparent in later sections that deal
with responses obtained from the Mentor survey forms.
Center for Social Development
Washington University in St. Louis
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