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Running head: K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 1

K-6 Language Teachers Intercultural Competence in Korea

Hyejin Yoon

George Mason University

Spring, 2017

EDUC 850 001: The Study of Teaching


K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 2

Abstract

The worlds regions and countries have close ties with each other in most areas of human
activity such as politics, economics, society, culture, and education (Popkewitz et al., 2009;
Satyanath, 2006; Suarez-Orozco et al., 2004). To successfully cooperate and communicate with
one another, language is considered essential because it plays a crucial role for people to
exchange their perspectives, convictions and cultures (Seelye, 1993). The trend of teaching
culture in language classes is reflected in the curriculum of English language teaching in Korea.
In the 2009 revised National Curriculum, English was defined as an international language and
a part of a toolkit enabling effective communication among people with different cultural
backgrounds and languages. To accomplish this, intercultural competence (IC) is required.
Hence, this qualitative study is planned to assess how English language teachers in Korea
perceive and apply IC in their teaching practices.

Introduction

The worlds regions and countries have close ties with each other in most areas of human

activity such as politics, economics, society, culture, and education (Popkewitz et al., 2009;

Satyanath, 2006; Suarez-Orozco et al., 2004). To successfully cooperate and communicate with

one another, language is considered essential, because it plays a crucial role for people to

exchange their perspectives, convictions and cultures (Seelye, 1993). As a global language,

English is no longer only for people who are native speakers, rather it is an international

language used for communication between people from various languages and cultures (Crystal,

1997; McArthur, 2003; Pennycook, 1994; Tam, 2004). However, one of the serious obstacles to

more successful use of English for non-native speakers is a lack of adequately perceiving

communication partners cultures, which can cause misunderstandings and conflicts. Therefore,

teachers should encourage students to become active members of the international community,

and to do that, especially in a language class, it is necessary to integrate language and culture.
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 3

Globalization creates many challenges for teacher education, including the need for

training pre- and in-service language teachers to have intercultural competence (IC). To fulfill

new tasks in English education, the qualities of foreign language teaching professionals need to

be refreshed and refocused. Zhao (2010) argued that a new generation of teachers is required

which means that teachers should be able to act as global citizens, understand the global

system, and deliver a globally oriented education (p.429). Also, Levy and Fox (2015) contend

that on top of content knowledge, teachers should show their expertise in culturally pertinent

pedagogical skills and have a language proficiency, understanding linguistic diversity and

theories of second language acquisition. That is, English teachers should comprehend the nature

of international language so that they can impart IC to students. Moreover, Kramsch (2004)

defined a language teacher as a trans-cultural go-between who can lead more globally oriented

language education. In a similar meaning, language teachers are intercultural mediators who

acquired knowledge of how to interact with people from other cultures (Byram, 1997).

As a result, foreign language professionals need to have pertinent knowledge, skills, and

attitudes (Bennet, 2009) on cultures so as to carry out the role of trans-cultural go-betweens and

intercultural mediators. Teacher education organizations should train pre- and in-service

language teachers to be equipped with high sensitivity on cultural disparities and to be competent

in communication with heterogeneous people (Byram & Fleming, 1998; Sercu, 2006). As

intercultural mediators, language teachers have a responsibility to teach culture in class. By

virtue of culture education, students can experience penetration that occurs between individuals

at the interpersonal level as people from different backgrounds come together to collaborate in

the pursuit of a common goal (Cushner, 2015, p. 204). The trend of teaching culture in

language classes is reflected in the curriculum of English language teaching in Korea. In the
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 4

2009 revised the National Curriculum, English was defined as an international language and a

part of a toolkit enabling effective communication among people with different cultural

backgrounds and languages. The modified English language education curriculum is meaningful

in that it highlights the necessity of cultural education in developing communication strategies,

which is distinguished from traditional aspects of education in Korea. Thus, as Korean education

reforms are implemented, it will be important to assess how the English language teachers in

Korea perceive and apply IC in their teaching practices.

Literature Review

In the literature review section, I introduced the most commonly used definition of IC in

order to prevent the confusion that spring from the various tries to define IC. Next, I presented

theories, dimension of culture learning, process and developmental models of IC, and IC in

language classrooms which I will employ in the process of exploring the participants

comprehensions of IC. I also examined other studies carried out in other countries, European

countries, the USA, the UK, France, and China regarding language teachers knowledge,

attitudes and skills of IC.

Conceptualization of IC

The word intercultural is combination of inter and cultural. Due to the prefix inter

indicating between, the term intercultural emphasizes relationships and interactions between

individuals of different cultures (Hill 2006; Pusch 2004). Believing that intercultural

competence was essential for people to acquire and promote to solve conflict sprang from

cultural disparities, over the last 30 years, many scholars used and defined the term intercultural

competence, but they could not reach a consensus on a single definition (Deardorff, 2006).
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 5

Lustig and Koester (2006) explain that intercultural competence requires knowledge, motivation,

skills in communication and germane behaviors. According to Byram (1997), intercultural

competence is comprised of five components, attitudes, knowledge, skills of interpreting and

relating, skills of discovery and interaction and critical awareness. However, in terms of the

commonalities between various definitions, a majority of theorists recognize that intercultural

competence is related to four dimensions, knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviors (Perry et al.,

2011).

Dimension of Culture Learning

Paige (2005) introduced five dimensions of culture learning: knowing the self as a

cultural being, knowing culture per se, knowing culture specifically, and knowing culture

generally, and knowing how to use communication strategies in intercultural settings. The

learning content is the self as a cultural being; learners will be aware of how the cultures they

were born and raised contributes to their individual identities. Cultural self-awareness enables

learners to understand cultural influences and to compare and contrast between cultures as the

foundation of intercultural competence. To be effective cultural learners, they should know what

culture is. Paiges (2005) definition is Culture refers to values, beliefs, attitudes, preferences,

customs, learning styles, communication styles, history/historical interpretations,

achievements/accomplishments, technology, the arts, literature, etc.the sum total of what a

particular group of people has created together, share, and transmit (Paige, 2006, p. 43).

Another learning content is the specific elements of the host culture. Culture-specific learning

enables learners to be more proficient in specific cultural settings. In terms of cultural-general

learning, learners experience cultural commonalities and disparities. In the learning process,

individuals experience phenomena such as intercultural adjustment, adaptation, culture shock,


K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 6

acculturation, and assimilation. Lastly, students learn about learning; they acquire strategies that

they can use in intercultural communicative situations. These five dimensions of culture learning

is a theoretical framework which serves as guidance for teaching and learning intercultural

competence in classrooms.

Process and Developmental Models of IC

While Paige (2005) presented the content of cultural learning, M. Bennett (1993)

conceptualized a developmental model of intercultural competence. The Developmental Model

of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) is used as a framework so as to understand cognitive

development, not attitudes and behavior, that learners come to experience in intercultural

situations. The assumption underlying the model of DMIS is that as the experiences of cultural

disparities become more sophisticated, ones intercultural competence increases. In the DMIS

model, there are total six stages along the continuum of intercultural sensitivity. The first three

stages, denial, defense, and minimization, are ethnocentric. People who are dominated by

ethnocentrism consider their own cultures as a center, so they tend to interpret phenomena based

on their own cultures. The rest three stages, acceptance, adaptation, and integration, are

ethnorelative. People who are oriented to ethnorelativism are inclined to understand their own

culture as it relates to other cultures and their behaviors are context-bound.


K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 7

Figure1. The Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. Adapted from Towards ethnorelativism: A
developmental model of intercultural sensitivity, by M. J. Bennett, (1993).

IC in Language Classrooms

Due to the applicability of DMISs core principles to not only cultural learning but also

language learning, the model can be beneficial for language teachers. When we see language

learning as a communication endeavor and as a humanistic enterprise, the development of an

intercultural mind from cultural learning of DMIS resonates with communicative proficiency-

related theories of language learning (Bennett et al., 2003). The model posits that in cultural

learning, people explore cultural self-awareness, and relate their first languages to a

second/foreign language. Moreover, the model focuses on how learners approach cultural

similarity and difference, centering cultural difference in the development of intercultural

awareness. The importance of similarity and difference exists in the language learning domain

as well.

The DMIS provides a guide for language teachers to match language proficiency levels to

developmental levels of intercultural sensitivity by collapsing the six stages of DMIS into three

stages; denial and defense into stage I, novice; minimization and acceptance into stage II,

intermediate; adaptation and integration into stage III, advanced. By dint of assessing the
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 8

learners stages of language and cultural learning, the teachers can adjust the level of cultural

complexity in curriculum and prepare relevant teaching and learning materials.

Competence Stage I Stage II Stage III


Stage Novice Intermediate Advanced
Novice

Language Level

College Intermediate
Language
Proficiency Language Level
Level

Advanced

Language Level

Developmental
Level of
Intercultural Denial/Defense Minimization/Acceptance Adaptation/Integration
Sensitivity
Ethnocentric Stages Ethnorelative Stages
Experience of Differences

Figure 2. Development of Intercultural sensitivity. Reprinted from Culture as the core, by Bennett, M. J.,
Bennett, M. J., & Allen, W. (2003).

Investigation into IC of Language Teachers

In European countries

Sercu (2006) investigated foreign language (FL) teachers beliefs on the cultural aspect of

their FL teaching practices and the teaching of intercultural competence. The research began

with the perception that there was a precondition to transform teachers convictions on IC and

alter their teaching practice, and the research began by diagnosing what teachers knew about IC,

how they taught IC and how they reacted to IC in their present circumstances. The researcher

collected data from 424 teachers from 7 countries. The questionnaire contained questions
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 9

regarding participants convictions on IC and language and cultural teaching practices. Thanks to

Sercus (2006) efforts, people could perceive FL teachers self-concepts and IC teaching

practices and the relationships between them. Sercu (2006) examined whether FL teachers

professional profiles were meeting the formal standards generated in the theoretical literature

regarding the foreign language and intercultural competency teacher. According to the

findings, FL teachers knowledge, skills, and attitude were still insufficient to satisfy the

standard.

In the USA, UK and France

Generally, integrating cultural elements into language learning and teaching is strongly

advocated in the theoretical and applied linguistic literature and in frameworks such as the

Council of Europes Common European framework of reference for languages. However,

Young and Sachdev (2010) noticed that there was little empirical research conducted with regard

to the extent to whether or how such an approach was operationalized. Hence the authors

investigated the beliefs and practice of in-service teachers in the USA, UK and France based on

the model of IC, Byrams language-pedagogical model of IC. They implemented mix method

techniques such as diaries, focus groups and questionnaire so as to collect data. Given the

findings, an apparent disparity between experienced teachers beliefs and attitudes on IC, and

their classroom performance appeared to exist. That is, most participants reported their general

consensus about teaching cultures in schools and supported the idea that good teacher and

learners are likely to reveal high intercultural competence. However, the participants proposed

that the problem was aggravated by a lack of support in testing, in textbooks, and in institutional

syllabi for cultural learning and interculturality.


K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 10

In China

In response to the current broad emphasis of globalization and internationalization, IC

development was emphasized for Chinese English teachers. Tian (2013) paid attention to

Chinese teachers of English in China and their intercultural competence, posing questions about

Chinese English teachers perception of IC in their teaching, the way they apply dimensions of

IC in their classrooms, and the connection between their beliefs on IC and their choices in

teaching culture. Tian collected data by using a mixed method. A total of 96 Chinese teachers of

English, and among them, a sample of 7-11 teachers was selected for class observations and one-

on-one interviews. The researcher found that the participants were inclined to focus on

developing students language skills based on textbook content; they presented a reluctant

attitude concerning the ambiguity of intercultural teaching. They also had a lack of interest in

guiding students to explore their cultural identity and cultural self-knowledge. In terms of

intercultural topics and activities that participants dealt with in classrooms, these were not a main

focus in most participating teachers classes, and the participants prepared extended factual

knowledge drawn from textbooks regarding culture, especially concerning English speaking

countries. The teachers acted as the knowledge provider in classrooms, so the classroom

interactions occurred to deliver the knowledge. Finally, Tian (2013) observed that Chinese

philosophy, institutional context, and personal background contributed to teachers beliefs and

practices with respect to IC. The lack of cultural knowledge and emphasis on teaching-to-the-

test, and curriculum requirements intervened in implementing the teachers beliefs.

Methodology
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 11

This study will collect data by implementing qualitative research methodologies,

interviews, observations and examining the participants syllabi and teaching materials. The

qualitative data will be collected to be able to conduct a detailed contextual analysis to:

1) explore what the English language teachers know about teaching culture;

2) investigate how the English language teachers educate IC in their classrooms; and

3) examine how the English language teachers theories compare to their teaching performances

regarding IC. This study is designed to seek generic ideas about the connection between English

language teachers knowledge and application of their IC through exploring their past and

present stories, and to discover new issues for future research.

Participants

The research participants will be under 12 English language (EL) teachers who are

teaching English to Korean students. They might have English as their second or foreign

language and work for K-6 schools. They will be in different ages, genders and they will have

different levels of teaching experiences. To find participants, I will employ the convenience and

snowball sampling by using personal connections; asking my friends who are EL teachers at

elementary schools for introductions to their friends who are EL teachers as well. Also, I will

invite participants by dint of sending recruitment e-mails (see Appendix A) to elementary

schools.

Data Sources

Class observations and field memos. The data collected through class observations will

be saved in the form of memos and audio recordings. The classroom observation will take 45

minutes on average for each class; it will be one time for each participant. While observing, I
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 12

will record the conversations that will occur between the teachers and the students to see their

attitude and skills of IC. The recordings will be transcribed, and analyzed.

While recording the classroom conversations, I will sit in the corner of the classrooms as

a passive observer, and create field memos that will be kept in a three-column grid. In the left

side column, I will record the time to match the audio-recording. In the middle column, I will

write down what will get the attentions of me, but the participants will take for granted in the

way they will act, by using a low inference vocabulary. For example, when I might hear a

teacher raise her voice, I write down volume of her voice and then in the right side column, I

will write the interpretive element like as if angry.

Teachers curriculum and teaching materials. I will collect teachers syllabi and

teaching materials; their lesson aims and detailed plans such as classroom activities, and extra

sources that teachers will prepare before classes. Through analyzing these data, I will understand

teachers capabilities and intentions to apply their knowledge regarding IC to their classroom

performance.

Interview and summary sheet. I will conduct three timed interviews for each participant;

one 30-minutes and two 10-minutes interviews. The first interview will be conducted at the first

stage of the data collection. The purpose of the interview will be to probe personal and

professional experiences concerning cultural awareness and the level of IC. The interview

questions in the interview protocol (see Appendix B) were designed to collect data and were

made up of three categories: participants schema on culture, their location on the DMIS

continuum, and intercultural competence including knowledge, attitude, and skills. Investigating

the participants syllabi and classroom materials will be followed by a final interview. In the

interview, I will explore the extent of applicability of IC theories that the participants have.
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 13

Right after classroom observations, I would like to listen to the teachers self-reflections about

the classroom conversations for 10 minutes. All interview data will be gathered by means of an

audio recorder and in the form of memos. Following each interview, there will be also the

possibility to ask additional questions via phone or e-mail to clarify the meaning of their

answers.

Immediately after each interview, a summary sheet will be completed, including an

overview of the main points of the interview, initial thoughts, and follow-up questions that will

arise during the interviews.

Procedures

The data collection procedure is represented below:

Activity Note
asking friends for introducing their friends teachers
Recruiting participants
sending recruitment emails to elementary schools
sending pre-interview questionnaires and informed
consent form to the participants
Interviewing for 30 minutes investigating the participants IC
Examining syllabus and materials investigating the participants lesson plan focusing on
IC
Interviewing for 10 minutes listening to the participants purposes and reasons
regarding his/her lesson plan
Observing a class exploring the participants performances focusing on IC
Interviewing for 10 minutes listening to the participants self-reflections regarding
his/her classroom performances focusing on IC

The recruitment email will inform the rational of the research and the interview protocol for the

one-on-one interview (see Appendix B). Once the participants have been decided, they will be

given a pre-interview questionnaire (see Appendix C) and an informed consent from (see
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 14

Appendix D). Teachers who agree to take part in the study will return the pre-interview

questionnaires in the form of electronic files and their signed informed consent from in the form

on scanned electronic files to me via e-mail. Then, I will coordinate with the participants to

determine the time, date and location for the first interview. The participants will receive a

reminder e-mail at least one week before the one-on-one interview.

Data Analysis

Coding. Carspecken (1996) introduced the most fundamental analytic techniques and

suggested that the analytic procedure that researchers made speculations regarding the meanings

of interaction recorded and repeated during an entire qualitative study. As Carspeckens (1996)

procedure of data analysis, I will read through those several times to be familiar with them,

trying to understand the holistic meanings and getting an impression of the field. Then, taking

context into consideration, in some cases there will seem to be mixed messages. I will conduct

meaning fields by virtue of articulating the range of meanings from the view of the first person.

In order to reconstruct initial meaning, I will build up relatively low and high levels of inference.

Sometimes I will construct hermeneutic inferences by putting words describing on meaning of

participants tones, hesitations and the length of pauses.

After coding, I will divide the data into meaningful analytic units. Identifying

meaningful segments from transcriptions, I will conduct the process of marking segmented data

with theme names. All participants responses will be compared to find similarities and

differences.

Trustworthiness. In order to avoid a researchers bias which is a potential threat to the

validity of data and uncertainty, there are important and effective strategies that can help
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 15

researchers establish high qualitative research trustworthiness. Koro-Ljungberg (2010)

addressed how validity can be established with researchers responsibility and in the process of

decision-making, saying responsible researchers could strive for ongoing and disruptive

dialogues with study participants and collaborative communities thus opening spaces for

themselves and others to challenge the authorities of oppressors, to allow margins to speak and to

dislocate decolonizing privilege (p. 608). Therefore, among many approaches to construct

trustworthiness, I will allow the interpretations of two groups of people, my peers and the

participants. To examine if my theoretical interpretations fit the data, I will employ the peer-

debriefing technique by discussing the interpretations with my two peers. Also, to investigate if

the degree that I accurately portray the meanings given by the participants, I will obtain

participants feedback. Triangulation will be sought by using multiple sources of data;

observations, interviews, and some documents such as syllabi and materials.

Limitations

Although I will try to prepare carefully, there will be some unavoidable limitations. This

research will be conducted with only a small size of population, under 12 participants and

furthermore, the samples will be all volunteers. Therefore, it is hard to expect for the

participants to represent English language teachers IC in Korea. Because I will transcribe all

audio-recordings from one classroom observation, three different interviews for each participant,

it could be rigorous time consuming works so that it may be more difficult for me to maintain a

consistent passion and attitude. Finally, due to the power relationship between the researcher

and participants which is often unavoidable in qualitative research, the participants responses

could be affected by my presence during data gathering.


K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 16

Ethical considerations

According to Punch (2000), social researchers should consider ethical issues, as this type

of research is closely connected to people. Therefore, firstly I will obtain the approval of IRB to

insure that this study will adhere to ethical standards. Then, the informed consent form (see

Appendix D) will be provided. The participants will be informed that they will be free to

withdraw from the study whenever they want to without any penalty. Participants

confidentiality and anonymity will be guaranteed by not revealing the identity for the

participants to anyone other than me and my committee members.

Potential significance

This study will be conducted to explore K-6 English language teachers understanding of

IC and practices of the theories of IC in their classrooms in Korea. This exploratory research

could be meaningful to teacher educators when they adapt or develop IC training programs for

teachers, to policy makers when they enact language education policy considering the aspects of

IC, and to developers of curriculum and teaching materials when they incorporate a cultural

framework in the curriculum and provide cultural content and instructional pedagogies. The

findings of this study will show some aspects of the current situation of in-service teachers IC

development by dint of investigating the stakeholders real stories deeply.


K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 17

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Running head: K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 21

Appendix A
Recruitment E-mail

Dear XXX,

My name is XXX and I am a PhD student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia,
USA, where I am studying Teaching and Teacher Education.

I am conducting a study for my dissertation on English language (EL) teachers intercultural


competence. In particular, Im interested in interviewing and observing classrooms of EL
teachers and learning about their definition and development of intercultural competence and
how their knowledge of IC is related to their practices in class.

Given your position at XXX elementary school, would you be willing to participate in my study?
Your participant would be voluntary and your responses would be kept confidential.

Time commitment/responsibilities: I anticipate the time commitment will be roughly 2


hours. This includes: completing a short pre-interview questionnaire and informed
consent form (10 minutes); participating in a 30-minute interview and two 10-minute
interviews; 45-minute classroom observation; reviewing the interview transcript in case
you would like to clarify any of your statements/intents (15-20 minutes).

Dates: I can be flexible on the time and date depending on your availability.

Location: As I will be recording the interview and observation, it may work best to meet
in your office and classroom, but if you prefer another location for the interview, just let
me know.

If you are willing and available to participate in this study, please respond to this email by
returning a completed pre-interview questionnaire and informed consent form (both attached).
Ive also included a copy of the 30-minute interview protocol so you can see the interview
procedures and interview questions. Two 10-minute interviews will be open-ended structured
about your teaching practice, and syllabus and materials.

If you have any questions, please dont hesitate to contact me at this email, XXX@gmu.edu, or
by phone, XXX-XXX-XXXX. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration and I look
forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
XXX

Appendix B
Interview Protocol

Interviewer:
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 22

Interviewee:
Date:
Location:
Time of Interview:

Leadoff question: Tell me about your first day of teaching in a culturally diverse class. How did
you approach to students?

Articulation of covert categories of interest:


1) Teachers conception of culture
2) Teachers conception of ones own culture
3) Teachers conception of different cultures
4) Teachers position on the continuum of intercultural sensitivity
5) Teachers knowledge of intercultural competence in class
6) Teachers attitudes concerning intercultural competence in class
7) Teachers skills in intercultural competence in class

Possible questions:
1) What do you believe intercultural competence is?
1-1) How do you strive for it in your classes?

2) Have you ever traveled or lived in different countries? Tell me about your first experience
when you visited another country and met the local people
2-1) Describe cultural differences of which you were aware.
2-2) If you did both, could you explain the differences between them?

3) Tell me about a memorable moment when you taught students who came from different
cultures.

4) Tell me about a time when you felt like a student struggled with cultural differences in your
class?
4-1) Describe the situation and the way that you dealt with it.
4-2) How did the students react to your management?

5) Have you ever encountered an uncomfortable situation caused by cultural differences between
your and others
5-1) How did you handle the situation/emotion?

6) Tell me about the most interesting or challenging incident or event that occurred when you
were teaching about cultures in a language class.

7) Tell me about the most recent experience with other cultures?

8) What do you want your students to know regarding culture?


8-1) Tell me about the most recent cultural topic that you dealt with in class?
8-2) How did students react to different cultures?
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 23

8-3) When you found students relying on or referencing stereotypes, how did you deal with
them?

9) Tell me about a time when you felt that you have changed your style to teach students from
different backgrounds.

10) Tell me about your teaching materials on culture.


10-1) Describe the process of preparing recent teaching materials related to cultures.
10-2) What resources do you use in order to teach cultures? Why did you choose and how did
you use them? Where did you find them?

Appendix C
Pre-Interview Questionnaire

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Your responses will be kept
confidential and any references to your responses will be masked to protect your identity.

1. Name: 2. Gender: 3. Age:

4. Ethnicity: 5. Country(ies) of citizenship:

6. Native language(s):

7. Additional language(s) spoken:

8. Education and field of study:

Bachelors: Doctorate:
Masters:

9. Have you participated in:


_____ Study Abroad
_____ Peace Corps
_____ Worked in another culture
_____ Lived in another culture (for reasons not associated with the items listed above)

10. How many years have you been in the field of Language Education?

11. (a) How long have you been in your current position? (b) What are your responsibilities?
(Please provide an overview of key responsibilities or attach a job description.)
K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN KOREA 3

12. How do you define intercultural competence? (Note: this question is not to assess your
definition, but rather to give you a few minutes to reflect upon and provide your definition. Your
definition will be the context that is referred to in your one-on-one interview.

Appendix D
Informed Consent Form

Dear XXX,

Thank you for your interest in this pilot study. The following information is provided to
help you decide whether you wish to participate in this study. Your participation in this study is
completely voluntary and you are free to withdraw at any time without it affecting your
relationship with this department, individual, or the University.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the development and application of
intercultural competence in international educators. Data will be collected using a classroom
observation and three one-on-one interviews, with an estimated time burden of 2 hours (total).
Data will be collected in XXX, 20XX. Please do not hesitate to ask questions about the study
before participating or during the study. I would be happy to share the findings with you after the
research is completed.
Your personal information and responses are strictly confidential and will be used solely
for academic research purposes. Your identity will not be published with written responses
without written consent. Data from this research will only be reported in the aggregate, unless
otherwise specified. There are no known risks and/or discomforts associated with this study.
Please sign and date this consent form. You are signing it will full knowledge of the
nature and purpose of the procedures. A copy of this form will be given to you to keep. Thank
you.

____________________________________ ___________________________
Signature Date
Running head: Korean K-6 LANGUAGE TEACHERS INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

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