Running head: FOUNDATIONAL AND 1

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE ESSAY

Foundational and Contemporary Literature Essay

Portfolio 2, Section 3

December 5, 2019

Tareque Mehdi

George Mason University

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LITERATURE ESSAY

Foundational and Contemporary Literature Essay

The gap between the skills people learn and the skills people need is becoming more

obvious nowadays as traditional learning falls short of equipping students with the knowledge,

skills, and attitude they need to thrive in this globally connected world (Soffel, 2016).

Bangladesh has achieved remarkable progress in developing its education sector and secured

gender parity in Education in the Millennium Development Goals. However, there are significant

challenges and gaps due to the obsolete curriculum, lack of teacher education, lack of

intercultural awareness in the landscape (Alam, 2019). Bouslama, A. and Benaissi, F. B. (2018)

stated that, in today's world, learners are expected to grow as cultural mediators equipped with a

set of skills rather than just a native-like proficient speaker but unfortunately teachers even lack

the theoretical understanding concerning intercultural competence (IC) and its objectives. As a

result, it negatively impacts teaching practices in the classroom and affects educational

outcomes. Over the next half-century, Bangladesh will go through rapid transformational shifts

in its industries. Therefore, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has the Perspective Plan 2041

which underpins that Bangladesh will be a developed country by 2041 (Alam, 2019). With this

plan in place, the government needs to transform and create an effective domestic education

agenda to develop globally competent citizenry who will need to communicate and perform tasks

with their peers around the world as Dervin, F., and Dirba, M. (2006) stated that people with IC

are adequately prepared to function in the present unstable, flexible times. With that in progress,

the country will be pursuing the vision of transforming itself into a developed economy with

sustainable growth. As it is evident in today's classroom, student diversity continues to rise and

the influences, values they bring to the classroom have the potential to add opportunities for

integrating perspectives and opportunities for developing intercultural competence. A different

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group of people also argue that if there is not much cultural diversity in a society, what is the

need for teachers to have an intercultural understanding? Álvarez Valdivia, I. M., and González

Montoto, I. (2018) in their mixed-method study, argued that, there is a reductionist and

compensatory tendency to see intercultural education linked only to the presence of culturally

diverse students; when in fact the actions in this regard should be directed to all students

consistent with the socialization and inclusive functions inherent to schools. However, different

culture indeed brings unfamiliarity to the table and if it is not addressed carefully and

appropriately, there are chances for conflict and confusion for others.

After looking up online for published literature on IC in the context of Bangladesh, little

information was found about in-service teachers' skills, knowledge, values, attitudes, beliefs, and

dispositions (Goodwin et al., 2014) and to what extent they see they implement their beliefs and

values about IC into their daily instructional practice (Loughran, 2014). These were my key

issues fro where my research interest developed. I realized further research is needed to expand

on IC to explore in Bangladesh context and how prepare is Bangladesh to achieve their

Perspective Goals by 2041. Cushner (2011) has reminded that those who can develop and

continue to develop IC are more effective in understanding diverse perspectives in making

decisions and acting. Additionally, teacher professional development is needed to understand

cultural differences, cultural beliefs, and the diverse student perceptions of learning (Yuen,

2010). Findings from Dervin, F., and Dirba, M.'s (2006) qualitative study suggests that skills and

attitudes are more essential than know while understanding interculturalism. As such, this

literature review addressed the published studies of mainstream education researchers and seven

empirical studies by developing a literature review matrix table (see Appendix A) to further the

knowledge in the in-service teachers' perception about IC, why is it important, and how they see
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they IC components in their classroom or instructional practice to connect it further with

Bangladesh context and my field of research interest. These studies have been searched by using

George Mason University Library and Google Scholar databases. Search terms used in this

review involved the following: intercultural education Bangladesh, intercultural development,

intercultural competence, intercultural training, IC in teacher education, teachers' belief about

intercultural competency. Since little qualitative research have been done on teachers' perception

and belief about IC and their effects on their classroom practices (Cheng, 2012) therefore, this

study may lead to a better understanding of in-service teachers' perception of IC and their self-

reported practices. It can also be beneficial for teachers who plan course works in teacher

education, design curriculum and plan the implementation of related content in Education. Using

the strategies for developing a concept map (Maxwell, 2013), I wrote down the key themes

teacher' perception about IC and IC in teaching practice which will be descriptive to the research

questions in my future field of research interest.

Teachers' Perception about Intercultural Competence

Globally, IC has become an essential element of preparation for all teachers and students

for this interconnected world. However, it is common for developing countries as a perception

that intercultural education means ignoring own cultures, but it is not true rather IC addresses the

importance of others as well as oneself. It is a bilateral learning process that nurtures own

maturity and in turn contributes to respect and appreciation for the presence of others (Cheng,

2012). Additionally, Cheng in his qualitative study pursued in Taiwan followed a naturalist

interpretive paradigm to understand teachers' belief about IC and his findings suggest that,

although many teachers recognize the importance of IC their understanding did not influence

their pedagogical practice as many teachers think IC is a phenomenon that develops naturally
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(2012). In this case, teachers need special sensitivity and to be exemplars of the intercultural

model to recognize differences and intercultural competences to be able to support the personal

and academic growth of diverse students and prepare them for the global workforce (Zhao,

2010). The discussion around the importance of teaching IC is there since the 1980s (Sercu,

2006). IC is the ability to use both linguistic proficiency and cultural knowledge to interact,

communicate and empathize effectively with others from a different cultural background (Van

Houten, 2012). In a more generic sense, IC is to have a sense of being able to ‘read’ people while

in their contextual location. When talking about IC, there is always a topic of discussion that a

group of people thinks IC as a negative influence on their own culture (denial) and this is a

Western approach. There is a comparative study by Polat, S. and Ogay Barka, T. (2014) which

followed a descriptive survey model addressed this issue by comparing the diversity in two

countries like Switzerland and Turkey. Finding demonstrates that variables in nationality

significantly differed in teachers' perceptions of IC because teachers in Switzerland had an IC

component in their teacher education materials whereas in Turkey did not have those

components. They followed Geert Hofstede's (1986) IC that provided quantifiable results to

observe differences among cultures. This situation is very similar in the context of Bangladesh

too. Sercu (2005) suggests that it is not possible to just change the student standards and

expectations without properly preparing teachers to do the same and continuous professional

development is required for this intercultural development. Teachers are the leaders and

exemplars in the classroom to model IC. Due to globalization, there have been new changes and

competencies for teachers and students to acquire, it is important to investigate teachers' existing

perception around IC to benefit them, keep them up to date with the dynamics. Teachers have to

be interculturally competent and know their learning about their heritage culture. Hofstede
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(1986) suggests that teachers must possess the awareness to be able to reflect on their own

beliefs and consider a different point of view of different people from different cultural

backgrounds and what they value within their culture. Valdivia and Montoto (2018) in their

mixed-method research found that there is a tendency in teachers to emphasize similarities in all

cultures which minimizes the cultural difference or does not address in the classrooms. In this

study, the researchers collected two sets of individual's actual and perceived IDI test scores and

placed them into the DMIS spectrum to see in which spectrum the participants stand. There were

also focus group discussion to see how teachers assess their skills and educational experiences

when they face cultural diversity in the class. This study revealed that methodologically mixed

method design is an effective means of developing and accessing IC. It has been found in the

study that, teachers often overestimate their level of IC regardless of the presence of student

diversity into the classroom however, translating that understanding of IC discourses into

practice is lacking. The study also suggests that we need to understand the myriad ways that IC

can be developed- what works best for whom. The method of the study was helpful for a deeper

understanding of this complex educational context. Hofstede (1986) adds that many Eastern

cultures revere the teacher as the authority and central figure in the classroom holding all

knowledge which is not very common in the Western country world. This represents another

dimension in the context for Bangladesh and the importance of teachers' perception of IC.

Through this foundation and contemporary literature essay, I found the major thinkers of IC that

is my research interest. When I address and see and look for globally competent teachers and

research on these topics I see scholarly works of Bennet (1994), Byram (1997), Heyward (2002,

2004), Deardorff (2006), Sercu (2005, 2006), Hill (2007, 2012) and Cushner (2008, 2011)
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coming to the forefront of the search result and creating the understanding on the topic of my

research interest-IC.

Intercultural Competence in Teaching Practice

Having IC taught in the school advantages students in the competitive globalized job

industry because the job market has turned to more outsourcing, and students need to be more

competitive in their qualities (Zhao, 2010). Therefore, it brings teachers with the responsibility

of preparing students not only in language proficiency but for global competence and

interculturality which is defined as “ the ability to interact effectively with people who speak

different languages, believe in different religions, and hold different values has become essential

for all workers” (as cited in Zhao, 2010, p. 425). Sercu (2005) also points out that “teachers are

required to teach intercultural communicative competence instead of a mere communicative

competence” (p. 87) but we often see that, educational landscape in many countries faces

difficulty to incorporate IC into teaching practices. It is maybe due to the lack of teachers'

insufficient knowledge on the topic. Bouslama, A. and Benaissi, F. B. (2018) in their qualitative

study tried to investigate the EFL teachers' academic knowledge, perception, and readiness in

effectively incorporating IC in the classroom by following a semi-structured interview protocol.

They then analyzed data thematically. Participants were provided time and left to express

themselves with the least interruption which avoided the researcher bias. The findings

specifically showed the importance of specific courses for educational professionals (teachers) in

teaching or in professional development about IC studies and its pedagogical application in the

class to provide them with a practical methodology to effectively integrate IC into teaching. It

also emphasized on the self-interest of teachers in pursuing IC in practice as self-reflection can

help raise self-awareness about IC issues. The data of Sercu’s (2005) study show that teachers
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are concerned about how to integrate culture in their instructional practice where they have time

constraints and limited materials to assist students. This is true in the South Asian cultural

context as in most cases teachers are willing to support the objectives of IC but have not yet

changed their teaching practice to reflect these outcomes. In the current context in Bangladesh,

this is an unfortunate reality is that a majority of the school students lack knowledge about other

cultures, religions, and languages and are not prepared to work in a competitive global

environment. Due to the quality of education, most are not aware of the world languages as

foreign language instructions are not up to the mark to become proficient and communicate with

the modern world. There are also challenges associated with teacher IC because culture does not

always bring people together, it also separates them through differences. A pre-existing

perception of IC as means of changing one’s own culture can really be problematic whereas it

should be adopted that this is rather opening one’s perceptions and allowing other cultural

viewpoints to be expressed without conflict and to be able to communicate with the world

population with more confidence (Byram & Feng, 2005). Teachers need to be sensitive to the

cultural backgrounds of students as they approach teaching IC as many factors may influence

their perceptions, such as funds of knowledge, families, communities, the role of home culture,

language connections, identity (Zhao, 2010, p. 427). Teachers should approach teaching IC with

culturally responsive teaching practices. Teaching for IC involves being knowledgeable of the 3

Ps of culture- products, practices, and perspectives. Teachers also need to be reflective by asking

"Why?" to their daily activities.

Merz (2015) stated that, defining and assessing interculturalism is complex. It will be

more beneficial if educators to operate a similar framework to ensure IC is adequately addressed.

Zhao (2010) sees IC as very similar to global competence and teachers need to be models of the
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competence themselves. If the teachers are expected to move towards the change and

development and teach intercultural competence, they are to be provided with professional

development opportunities and advocacy for IC. Teaching should be a profession where the

teacher is to be perceived as a global person rather than a local identity. Zhao (2010) concluded

in this way - In this globalized world, we have our children live peacefully. However, we need to

empower them with appropriate knowledge, skills, and experience so that they can thrive in the

global competition (p. 429). And this change can be brought by preparing the teachers

interculturally competent and an education system that emphasized on the globalization. Teacher

perspectives of IC and its development play an important role in the decision teachers make in

their classroom and teaching practices. Few researchers have investigated teachers’ IC or their

understandings of the concept in relation to their classroom instruction (Byram & Feng, 2004).

Lack of IC affects educational outcomes. In Education we see increasingly diverse classrooms,

as a result, some teaching strategies may not engage all students as fully as possible. Also, in

business-with increasing globalization, worldwide interaction is becoming commonplace. When

people receive intercultural education and awareness it aids them in acquiring the skills that can

help them navigate new cultures successfully, as well as helps them to recognize and understand

their own cultural beliefs and values. However, the conversation does not end here, as teachers

also need to ensure they are developmentally ready to facilitate intercultural development. Many

teachers argue that teaching for IC is not an explicit part of their curriculum because it is not

tested (Young & Sachdev, 2011), although the standards for students to develop global

competencies are present in recent updates of curricula across the globe (e.g., IB Learner

Profile). Merz (2015) in her qualitative inquiry (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003) with a mixed-

method component, investigated 10 teacher educators' understanding of interculturalism.

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Although the study did not connect IDI scores with teachers' thought process rather it shows how

teacher educators see them practicing IC in their classroom. IDI scores were analyzed by

implying Green's (2007) dialectical approach that allowed the data to engage in conversation

with each other. This helped to integrate numeric data with the verbal and text data and caused

significance enhancement (Collins et al., 2006). It is an interesting mixing that allowed to see if

their TEs' intercultural understanding (IDI score) influenced their teaching and incorporating IC

into their curriculum. Data source being semi-structured interviews, course syllabi, course

rubrics and reflections and, descriptive data sources were IDI scores, the IC value rubric helped

the study findings that interculturalism is a developmental model where individuals become

aware and recognize their self, others and differences through creating and building authentic

relationships. To have IC developed teachers need both professional and personal experience

combined and thus our teachers will be able to move our generation forward towards the global

world.

Concluding Thoughts

I have first come across the concept of intercultural competence (IC) and sort of had the

call for this topic when I took the "EDUC 853: World Perspectives of Teacher Education" course

in the fall 2018 session. Imagining myself coming to the table not knowing anything about IC -

Dr. Fox, the intriguing readings and discussions in the class were successful in planting a seed of

interest in me about this topic. Reflecting on my own experience as an international student and

thinking about the making of myself through a multifaceted education system in Bangladesh was

a small seed of interest which grew to a big plant over time. I wanted to explore more about the

status of IC in Education in Bangladesh moreover, how different education stakeholders perceive

IC. Further research is required on how teachers connect their skills of IC into their teaching
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practice (Atay, Kurt, Çamlibel, Ersin, & Kaslioglu, 2009; McNeal, 2005; Westrick & Yuen,

2007). For my interest in this area, I have done several literature reviews in International

Education and Teacher Education courses and found out the major thinkers believes teachers' IC

in their teaching practice requires more attention and there is a disconnect between teachers'

knowledge about pedagogy and their practice (Sercu, 2006). Although, in most cases, studies on

teachers' IC reports have followed quantitative measurement tools, such as the IDI field experts

suggest of IC including both quantitative and qualitative measures (Deardorff, 2004). I also

believe a mixed-method approach has deeper analyses and findings in IC, however, I also see a

limited consideration toward using qualitative methods in this regard in a belief that qualitative

data is subjective to one's opinion, but I would like to further my understanding on how to

increase the quality of qualitative research.

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