Intercultural competence as an aspect of the communicative ...
Intercultural competence as an aspect of the communicative ...
Intercultural competence as an aspect of the communicative ...
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<strong>the</strong>se re<strong>as</strong>ons <strong>the</strong> culture <strong>as</strong>similator for <strong>the</strong> present study did include <strong>the</strong>se <strong>the</strong>oretical<br />
considerations.<br />
Those critical incidents used for <strong>the</strong> interviews are presented in this section, while<br />
<strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> culture <strong>as</strong>similator, where each critical incident is followed by a multiple<br />
choice <strong>an</strong>d a rationale, generated after <strong>the</strong> inital interviews with <strong>the</strong> native speakers <strong>an</strong>d<br />
<strong>the</strong> interviews with <strong>the</strong> students, is presented in Appendix 9 32 .<br />
Critical incident 1. At <strong>an</strong> informal party <strong>the</strong>re is a group <strong>of</strong> Americ<strong>an</strong>s who<br />
are in Serbia on a study program. Mil<strong>an</strong> is trying to get to know one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m,<br />
Mat<strong>the</strong>w, a bit better. Mil<strong>an</strong> is <strong>an</strong> e<strong>as</strong>y-going sociable guy, <strong>an</strong>d h<strong>as</strong> no<br />
problems starting a conversation. They exch<strong>an</strong>ge a few questions, about <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
home towns, age, girlfriends, but Mil<strong>an</strong> h<strong>as</strong> problems staying close to<br />
Mat<strong>the</strong>w. Every time he gets closer, Mat<strong>the</strong>w takes a few steps back. Why<br />
might this be?<br />
Critical incident 2. Marija is <strong>as</strong>ked <strong>as</strong> <strong>an</strong> international student at one US<br />
college to meet with <strong>an</strong> Americ<strong>an</strong> student in order to help <strong>the</strong> student work on<br />
<strong>the</strong> project about world cultures. Marija meets Julie after cl<strong>as</strong>s, <strong>an</strong>d <strong>the</strong>y try to<br />
get to know each o<strong>the</strong>r better <strong>an</strong>d to schedule a next meeting. However, Julie<br />
does not stop staring at Marija directly in <strong>the</strong> eyes, <strong>an</strong>d it makes Marija feel<br />
uncomfortable. She starts wondering if she h<strong>as</strong> something on her forehead.<br />
She expects this to stop after a while, but during <strong>the</strong> whole conversation it’s<br />
<strong>the</strong> same. Why might this be?<br />
Critical incident 3. Vuk is attending a course with o<strong>the</strong>r Americ<strong>an</strong> students.<br />
He’s already had few cl<strong>as</strong>ses, <strong>an</strong>d now knows most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> his<br />
cl<strong>as</strong>smates. But, he w<strong>an</strong>ts to get to know <strong>the</strong>m even better, so he suggests<br />
going out<br />
Vuk: OK, maybe we c<strong>an</strong> meet sometime soon.<br />
John:. Yeah, we should.<br />
Vuk: What do you think, Nicole? For c<strong>of</strong>fee?<br />
Nicole: Sure, definitely! See ya soon.<br />
But, even after <strong>the</strong>y have had a few more cl<strong>as</strong>ses, <strong>the</strong>y always talk about<br />
going out <strong>an</strong>d never actually go out, why might this be?<br />
Critical incident 4. Marko arrived at <strong>an</strong> Americ<strong>an</strong> university <strong>an</strong>d started going<br />
to cl<strong>as</strong>ses. However, he w<strong>as</strong> very disappointed to see <strong>the</strong> way students<br />
behaved in cl<strong>as</strong>s. They would take <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong>ir shoes, put up <strong>the</strong>ir feet on <strong>the</strong> seat<br />
in front <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m, would be laid back. What surprised Marko even more is <strong>the</strong><br />
fact that teachers didn’t mind this at all. There w<strong>as</strong> one inst<strong>an</strong>ce that a young<br />
m<strong>an</strong>, sitting back, with his feet up, raised his h<strong>an</strong>d <strong>an</strong>d <strong>as</strong>ked for a<br />
clarification, <strong>an</strong>d <strong>the</strong> teacher calmly provided one. Marko couldn’t underst<strong>an</strong>d<br />
this at all. What might be <strong>the</strong> re<strong>as</strong>on for this situation?<br />
32 Even though <strong>the</strong> culture <strong>as</strong>similator w<strong>as</strong> created for <strong>the</strong> purposes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> present study, it c<strong>an</strong> be used <strong>as</strong> a<br />
teaching <strong>an</strong>d <strong>as</strong>sessment tool in EFL teaching, since it c<strong>an</strong> provide a b<strong>as</strong>is for fur<strong>the</strong>r work on linguistic<br />
<strong>competence</strong> in terms <strong>of</strong> vocabulary, structures <strong>an</strong>d functional l<strong>an</strong>guage<br />
141