Jins Final Paper BF

Exploring How South Korean English Language Teachers Perceive and Practice
Intercultural Competence in the Context of Teaching North Korean Refugee Adolescents
Hyejin Yoon
George Mason University
Spring, 2018
EDUC 879. 001: Language and Second Language Acquisition Research in International
Education
2
EXPLORING HOW SOUTH KOREAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS PERCEIVE AND
PRACTICE INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN THE CONTEXT OF TEACHING NORTH KOREAN
REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
Abstract
The world’s regions and countries have close ties with each other in most areas of human
activity, and the issues concerning intercultural communication become an integral part of life.
The trend of teaching culture in language classes is reflected in the curriculum of English
language teaching in Korea by defining English as an ‘international language’ and a part of a
toolkit enabling effective communication among people with different cultural backgrounds and
languages. Furthermore, Increasing the number of foreign migrant workers, international
marriages and North Korean refugees is transforming South Korea into a more diverse and
multicultural society. Globalization, and multilateralization involve the need for training pre- and
in-service teachers to have intercultural competence (IC). This study aims to investigate
intercultural competence of SK IL teachers who are working with NK refugee teens, and to
provide empirical research with regards to cultural disparities between teachers and students by Commented [RF1]: regard (in the singular)
means of listening an inner voice. Three areas of literature are reviewed; 1) Culture, 2)
Intercultural Competence, 3) Post-colonial perspective on language. Through this paper, I
explored and analyzed a SK IL teacher’s IC based the theories from literature and made
suggestions for the better teacher preparation or training programs.
Introduction
Globalization and Intercultural Communication
The world’s regions and countries have close ties with each other in most areas of human
activity such as politics, economics, society, culture, and education (Baylis et al., 2017; Beck,
2018; Knight, 2015; Pieterse, 2015; Popkewitz et al., 2009; Satyanath, 2006; Suarez-Orozco et
al., 2004). In this regard, the issues concerning intercultural communication become an integral
part of life both at the macro-level mankind as a whole, as well as at the micro-level—the
individual in a society (Bennett, 1998; Scollon et al., 2011). 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
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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
understanding the critical roles of cultural sensitivity/awareness in communication, 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 an English
Language (EL) class, it is necessary to integrate cultural elements in their teaching. Commented [RF2]: a nice openng -
Globalization and International Language Teachers’ Intercultural Competence
Globalization, especially English’s globalization creates a variety of challenges for IL
teacher education, including the need for training pre- and in-service teachers to have
intercultural competence (IC). IL teachers are required to educate students to master skills Commented [RF3]: in general, or are you here focusing
on Korea specifically?
needed in the 21st century such as cultural and civic literacy, communication and collaboration,
and curiosity and social and cultural awareness. (World Economic Forum, 2016). To fulfill new
tasks in the IL education, the qualities of IL teaching professionals need to be revisited 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, teachers should comprehend the nature of IL so that they can impart IC to
students. Moreover, Kramsch (2004) defined a language teacher as a ‘trans-cultural go-between’
(p. 40) who can lead more globally oriented language education. In a similar meaning, language
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teachers are ‘intercultural mediators’ who acquired knowledge of how to interact with people
from other cultures (Alred & Byram, 2002, p. 341).
As a result, IL 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’ (Kramsch,
2004, p. 40) and ‘intercultural mediators’ (Alred & Byram, 2002, p. 341). Teacher education
organizations should train pre- and in-service language teachers to be equipped with high Commented [RF4]: I do realize that countris areound the
world use the term "teacher training" but we have been
working toward the concept of teacher education to
sensitivity on cultural disparities and to be competent in communication with heterogeneous encompass both the pre-service and in-service work that we
must do.
people (Byram & Fleming, 1998; Sercu, 2006). As ‘intercultural mediators’ (Alred & Byram,
2002, p. 341), 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 2015, Korea revised the National Curriculum so that 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 IL teachers in Korea perceive and apply IC in their teaching
practices.
Korea and Multiculturalism

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In Korea. Furthermore, South Korea is becoming a multicultural society. Since mid-
1990, in line with its economic growth, South Korea has been undergoing a change in its social
situation. Increasing the number of foreign migrant workers and international marriage is
transforming South Korea into a more diverse and multicultural society. According to the press
release of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs and National Statistical
Office, the total number of foreign residents living in Korea on November 1, 2015 was 1.71
million which is found to be 3.4% of the total population. This is the rate that has increased more
than three times compared with 2006, and it is continuing to accelerate. After 2020, the
population of multicultural families is expected to reach 5% of the whole population. (Korean
Ministry of Education, 2017). Commented [RF5]: thus, even in coutries such as Korea,
previously considered more monocultural are now changing
in demographic mix.
In addition, due to the continuous inflow of North Korean (NK) refugees, the cultural
diversity of residents in South Korea is been promoted further. It is because since the day when
the Korean war Armistice Agreement was signed, South and North Korea have been maintaining
different political stances and the political events destroyed the cultural and linguistic
homogeneity of people. The sharp difference in political philosophy has divided the Korean
peninsula into two parts along the 38th parallel so that North and South Korea have been in a
prolonged conflict, ceasing political, economic and cultural interchanges for over 67 years. As a
result, the two nations have formed dissimilar values and attitudes of life—the elements of little
‘c’ culture and have not experienced mutual exchanges until now. Among younger generations,
the cultural gap is significant. Due to the scarcity of food and harsh conditions, NK refugees
who had different cultures began to steadily increase in the mid-1990s. The number of refugees
totals 25,000 people by 2016 (Ministry of Unification, 2016). Commented [RF6]: this context will provide you with
quite an interesting ground for research in multiple ways.
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In schools. The ethnic diversity toward a multicultural society has led to changes in the
education/learner population. The increase in the number of multicultural families has begun to
make demands on the educational system in Korea. Eventually the social requirement to
ameliorate the condition of education as it relates to these new families and refugees is being
systematically addressed.
Multiculturalism and North Korean Refugee Students
According to the report of the Chungnam Association for Research on Unification
Education (2015), out of the NK refugees who arrived in South Korea by December 2015, the
number of people who were aged 6 – 20 years accounted for 16 % of the total refugees. Among
them, 2, 717 NK adolescents are enrolled in schools including full-time alternative schools as of
April 2015. Until the early 2000s, most of the NK refugee students were born in North Korea.
However, the number of NK refugee students who entered South Korea after the middle of the
2000s increased from the third country such as China. In fact, the number of NK refugee students
born in third countries in 2003 was 608 (36.2%), which is steadily increasing. As of 2015, the
figure is more than half of all NK refugee students. Although many private and non-profit
organizations and the government have supported refugee youths to help them adapt to new
school environments, many NK teenagers still struggle with unfamiliar situations. NK refugees
who were teachers in North Korea have been engaged in various educational support activities
such as after-school coordinating, academic mentoring, and developing and running cultural
experience programs. As a result, the school dropout rates have gradually decreased by about 80
percent since 2008, from 10.8% in 2008 to 2.2% in 2015. However, it is still an alarming level; it
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is still more than 5 times higher than the average for SK youths who have an average dropout
rate of less than 0.4%.
There are a variety of reasons why NK students have difficulty in adjusting to school life,
but the main reason for dropping out is the challenges related to differences of language,
lifestyle, and academic background. The result of the survey that the Korea Hana foundation Commented [RF7]: interesting!
performed for 744 NK refugee students showed that as the most difficult problems at school life
48.0% of students responded, ‘following curriculum,’ 17.6% ‘adapting cultures and language,’
9.7% ‘making friends,’ and 1.4% ‘developing good relations with teachers’ (Korea Hana
Foundation, 2014). Kim (2010) regarded NK young refugees’ low self-confidence and cultural
stress caused in the acculturation process as crucial factors which influence their adjustment to Commented [RF8]: huge factors!
the educational environments. In particular, unlike NK adult refugees, their children think that
they were forced to defect from their countries by their parents. Defecting from their country was
not a matter that NK teenagers themselves chose, so the willingness to live in Korea and their
efforts to learn new culture are inevitably low. In such a situation, the disconnect between their
language and social norms and SK students’ and the difference in socio-cultural experiences are
primary obstacles for them to forming a natural friendship in school. In addition, different
curriculum and learning contents, and the competitive learning atmosphere of South Korea make
their school life more challenging (Chungnam Association for Research on Unification
Education, 2015).
Owing partly to the influx of the NK refugees, the transformation of SK society to
multiculturalism makes people rethink the importance of teachers’ roles in society. Especially,
teachers’ IC is highlighted more than before; teachers who have positive beliefs regarding
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diversity are able to impart their IC to their students who bring different cultures into classrooms.
Despite the wealth of research findings on challenges NK refugee students experience and other
scholarly research to date, our understanding about SK teachers’ difficulties as they work with
NK refugee youths remains incomplete: I could not find any research with regard to the cultural
gap between SK teachers and NK students. Missing are descriptions of SK IL teachers’ actual
experiences with attempting to being ‘good/effective’ IL teachers in their instruction for NK
students. Given the huge gap of achievement in English between SK and NK students (Shin et Commented [RF9]: Some of this seems to point to an
important area for research. :-)
al., 2012), it is highly recommended that SK IL teachers be trained and prepared to serve this
different group of students. Hence, I argue that the current lack of research concerning SK IL
teachers’ perception and practices on IC prevent us from fully understanding the key issues at the
core of teachers’ professional development as a cultural-meditators. Commented [RF10]: in South Korea, yes?
Research Questions
This study aims to investigate intercultural competence of SK IL teacher who are working with Commented [RF11]: if singular, it would be good to
write, a SK IL teacher who is working . . . .
NK refugee teens, and to provide empirical research with regards to cultural disparities between Commented [RF12]: one or more?
teachers and students by means of listening an inner voice. In line with the purposes, the
following questions guided my research:
1. In what way does the SK EL teacher perceive and practice IC in their teaching fields
where NK refugee students are included?
1-1. How does the SK EL teacher perceive his/her culture and other cultures?
1-2. What are the SK EL teacher understandings about intercultural competence?

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1-3. How does the SK EL teacher embody intercultural competence in his/her classroom
performances?
Literature Review
Culture
Across many disciplines, scholars studied the subject of culture over a long period of
time. Due to the complex and ambiguous nature of culture, there are many different meanings
and definitions attached to the term. According to Brody (2003), there are hundreds of
definitions of culture at the beginning of 20 century.
The Origins of the Term ‘Culture’
The word “culture” is originated in the Latin “cultura” which means ‘care’. There are
many words which stem from the term ‘cultura’ such as ‘agriculture’. The word has meanings
related to ‘care’: cultivating, feeding, breeding, and raising. In Korean, we use the term
‘moonhwa 문화’, borrowing Chinese Characters 文化. 文 means ‘letters’ and 化 means ‘change’.
According to the meaning of the Korean word ‘문화’, it is closely connected human beings’
communication activities with languages, and it means through the interactions, members of
society can influence one another. Commented [RF13]: I love this!
Conceptualization of Culture
Among many cultural notions, it is meaningful to examine the one of Edward T. Hall
(1989), because he was an original thinker whom many scholars consider to be the founder of the
study of intercultural communication. He introduced a concept which he regarded as potentially
threatening to harmonious relationships among people. According to Hall (1989), mankind has
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been adding to their weaknesses by evolving various “extensions” (p. 25), cultural elements such
as languages, mechanical systems, and social structures that affect how one perceives one’s
culture. Humans are caught in a trap called “extension transference” (p. 28), thus culture is
becoming lived in an unconscious way. Hall used “extension transference” to explain the
phenomenon, underlining how one loses consciousness or awareness of one’s culture. Once the
extensions are internalized, the author explained, cultural influences on humans’ political acts,
decision-making, prioritizing and ways of thinking are not consciously understood. Culture
plays such a prominent part in every aspect of our lives and it is easy for us to be hoodwinked
into believing that our convictions are true and universal when in fact they are not.
As a result, human beings marginalize themselves and lose their ability to control their
culture. So long as direct conflicts do not occur in intercultural and interethnic encounters,
culture does not easily come up to the level of consciousness. It is in ‘background’ and is
extraordinarily subtle. Hall (1989) argued that through a process of rigorous analysis, “identity-
separation-growth” (Hall, 1989, p. 227), mankind should make efforts to find the original
identities that have been lost and marginalized. Hall’s argument supports and justifies the need
for Korean EL teachers who are in multicultural settings to develop their cultural sensitivities.
Dimensions of Culture
Culture is a multidimensional concept. Bennett (1998) identified culture as having two Commented [RF14]: indeed it is.
layers; Upper-Case Culture and Lower-Case culture. The first is “Culture writ large” with a
capital “C” (p. 2) such as social, economic, political and linguistic systems. By means of
understanding those objective cultures, people are able to increase their knowledge regarding the
cultures. On the other hand, the subjective culture, “culture writ small” with a small “c” (p. 2)
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can generate competence, because subjective culture refers to the psychological features such as
the patterns of beliefs and acts and values of people.
Intercultural Competence (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). Chen
and Starosta (1997) considered intercultural competence as a behavioral aspect for effective
intercultural interaction. Based on their argument, to interact with others in an effective manner
people need intercultural awareness (cognitive), intercultural sensitivity (affective), and
intercultural competence (behavioral) (Chen & Starosta, 1997). 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 savoirs; Savoir (knowledge), Savoir-etre (curious and opened attitudes), Savoir-comprendre
(skills of interpreting and relating), Savoir-apprendre/faire (skills of discovery and interaction)
and Savoir s’engager (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).
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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 for understanding cognitive
development, not attitudes and behavior, that learners come to experience in intercultural
situations. Teachers should carefully reflect on their perspectives to detect if unintentional and
subtle prejudice are promoted in their classes. DIMS could be an effective tool to understand a
teachers’ world view, because through the DMIS stages, the level of cultural competency and
sensitivity among teachers could be measured (Van Hook, 2000).
The assumption underlying the model of DMIS is that as the experiences of cultural
disparities become more sophisticated, one’s 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.

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Figure1. The Development Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. Adapted from Towards ethnorelativism: A
developmental model of intercultural sensitivity, by M. J. Bennett, (1993).
Post-colonial perspective on language and IL teachers’ IC
English is regarded as a major language that all the world uses in the international
communication context such as international business, education, and multinational conferences
and events. Given the prominent role of English in all areas of human activity, it is
understandable and predictable that English is now taught as a second language in most countries
around the world.
Due to the power of the culture which English-speaking people possess, the dominance of
English has been observed in different areas, which has been constructed over a long period of
time. Donaldo Macedo (2000) debunked the value of the English Only movement by uncovering
the implicit assumption that English was a superior language and argued that the movement was
language-based racism in a class society. Macedo (2000) said, “the attempt to institute proper
and effective methods of educating non-English speaking students cannot be reduced simply to
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issues of language but rest on a full understanding of the ideological elements that generate and
sustain linguistic, cultural, and racial discrimination, which represent, in my view, vestiges of a
colonial legacy in our democracy” (p. 16). As the global language, English is no longer only for
people who live in English-speaking countries which occupy the Inner Circle of Kachuru’s
(1992) three-circle model, rather it is an international language used for communication between
people from various languages and cultures (Crystal, 1997; McArthur, 2003; Pennycook, 2017;
Trudgill et al., 2017).
Post-colonial perspectives on language impede teachers’ professional development of IC. Commented [RF15]: can
Which English should we teach in our classes? How can teachers guide students to have their
second language—English without any feeling of suppression of non-English-speaking cultures?
In what way should teachers increase their students’ cultural awareness so as to let them be
effective communicators in international/intercultural settings? McKay (2002) suggested
rethinking goals and perspectives of teaching English as an international language, mentioning
“the teaching and learning of an international language must be based on an entirely different set
of assumptions than the teaching and learning of any other second or foreign language” (p. 1).
The author claimed that once a language is internationalized, the language is “no longer linked to
a single culture or nation but serves both global and local needs as a language of wider
communication” (p. 24). Macedo (2000) warned that if people’s mind sets are hostage to the
neocolonialist language, they are likely to lose their own languages and cultures and it could be
related to the matter of losing dignity. In this sense, exploring to what extent IL teachers are
aware of linguistic imperialism and in what way they analyze and modify the text book which is
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the main teaching and learning resource based on critical perspectives would be an effective way
to gauge their IC. Commented [RF16]: well stated, Jin!
Methodology
This study collected data by implementing qualitative research methodology—one-on-
one interview. The qualitative data was collected to be able to conduct a detailed contextual
analysis to:
1) explore what the SK IL teacher knows about teaching culture; Commented [RF17]: expresses?
2) investigate how the SK IL teacher educates IC in her classrooms; and
3) examine how SK IL teacher’s theories are connected to their teaching performances regarding
IC.
This study was designed to explore the participant’s perception and performance of IC through
her past and present stories, and to discover new issues for future research.
Participant’s profile
SK EL teachers. Hanna (the participant’s name in the study is a pseudonym to protect the
teacher’s confidentiality), a 36-year-old female, has been teaching in the school for 4 years as a
full-time teacher. Before marriage, she lived with the students in the school dorm. She was a
cooperation department manager who acted as liaison to overseas schools as well as an English
language teacher. Born and raised in South Korea, the teacher had been in the US for about 10
years. In the US, she was in the TESOL program of a graduate school and achieved her Master
degree at the program.
Site Description
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Jangdaehyun School was founded in March 2014, with official recognition and approval for NK
refugee students who encountered difficulties adjusting to the SK public-school system. The
school is the first alternative to support NK teenagers living in SK outside of Seoul. There are 22
students in the school and the student body is divided into three groups based on the types of
family: students who have SK parents, students who were born in and came from North Korea,
and students who were born in China between Chinese father and NK mother. When it comes to
the second group of students, they usually have dispersed families, that is, some of family
members are left behind in North Korea. The students of the third group were usually born of
mothers who sold to Chines men by trafficking after escaping North Korea. All students are
living in the dormitory of the school.
Data Sources
The data sources for this research is a one-on-one interview. Before the individual Commented [RF18]: There are two primary data sources
used in this study: a one-on-one interview and a pre-
interview questionnaire.
interview, the participant completed questionnaire (see Appendix A). Through the questionnaire,
I collected demographic data and catch a glimpse at the participant’s cultural awareness.
Interview and summary sheet. I conducted one time interview. The purpose of the
interview was to probe personal and professional experiences concerning cultural sensitivity. The
interview questions in the interview protocol (see Appendix B) were designed to collect data and
was made up of three categories: the participant’s schema on culture and identity, their location
on the DMIS continuum, and intercultural competence including knowledge, attitude, and skills.
The interview data was gathered by means of an audio recorder and in the form of memos.
Following the interview, I asked additional questions via e-mail to clarify the meaning of her
answers.
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Immediately after the interview, a summary sheet was completed, including an overview
of the main points of the interview, initial thoughts, and follow-up questions that arose during the
interviews.
Findings
The purpose of this research was to explore the intercultural competence of teachers who Commented [RF19]: one teacher, yes?
were working for an alternative school for NK refugee students as English language teachers.
One interview was designed to examine aspects of intercultural competence in the participant.
The preliminary findings of this data analysis are presented according to the two overarching
research questions as follows:
• How do the participants perceive integrating cultural elements in their language classes? Commented [RF20]: ?
• How are the participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills of IC?
Research question one: How does the participant perceive integrating cultural elements in their
language classes?
The participant had Master’s degrees majoring in applied linguistics or TESOL. She said
that during their Master’s programs, they had learned about the roles of culture in the process of
language learning and they emphasized the importance of teaching culture in language classes.
Research question two: How are the participant’s knowledge, attitude, and skills of IC?
Knowledge. According to Byram’s (1997) description of IC in terms of knowledge,
interculturally competent language teachers are equipped with knowledge regarding culture per
se; what culture is and how influential culture is in our lives. Also, they should contact other
cultures not only frequently but also variously. In addition, a good understanding of one’s own
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culture and general traits of other cultures is required for them to help students to recognize and
understand similarities and differences between cultures. Also, teachers need to know
stereotypes that students possess and know how to address these in class. Teachers who have
intercultural competency know various ways to select pertinent learning content, activities and
teaching materials.
According to the findings (see Appendix D), the participant demonstrated her knowledge
of IC in detail. The participant had culturally immersive experiences and she perceived not only
“Big C” culture but also “Little c” culture. However, the participant suffered from the low self-
confidence with regards to the ideology “culture”. Due to the conceptual ambiguousness of Commented [RF21]: regard to
culture, during the interview, the participant’s responses related to culture were inconsistent: she
was easily focusing on “Big C” culture such as holidays, arts, and American educational
environments, excluding the invisible part of culture which is considered as the crucial
components of effective intercultural communications. She acknowledged the concept of IC as
an ability to interact successfully with others from different cultures and as knowledge
concerning other cultures. The participant also presented that she was teaching English as the
American language, rather as the International language because unconsciously she confined the
target culture related to the language that she was teaching to the one of America. The most
interesting finding to me was when the participant was asked about culture, she tended to focus
on not similarities but differences between cultures. Furthermore, she tried to prepare students to
understand their own cultures. However, she did not show enough understanding and interests on
cultural stereotypes that students might have. Her lack of awareness of the issue relative to
cultural bias could be associated with the absence of knowledge about it. Commented [RF22]: this is very intereting - I concur
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Skills. IL teachers should be able to address learners’ stereotypes, and aid them to make
connections between cultures. They also should be able to select pertinent teaching materials
and modify these material contents that interrupt achieving the goals of IC learning. Teachers
should employ experiential approach to cultural education.
Based on findings, as the participant confronted cultural conflict situations between her
students and herself, she used communication skills such as asking questions to overcome the
challenges. The participant self-reported that she mainly used the text book to teach culture, and
she implemented project-based learning named Welcome to Korea. Moreover, the teacher
attempted to guide her students to have hands-on experiences concerning “otherness” through the
Pen-pal Program. However, empathetic skills do not seem to be in her repertoire of IC skills to
narrow down the emotional distance cause by different cultural backgrounds.
Attitude. When it comes to teachers’ attitude of IC, they should be sensitive to the fact
that they need to value cultural dimensions in language learning. Also, the language teacher
should willingly take account of students’ convictions about and attitudes toward different
cultures and deal with pupils’ stereotypes in class.
The findings suggest that although the respondent was favorably disposed toward
teaching intercultural competence in her language classes and she seemed to be opened toward
different cultures, she inclined to bring visible components of culture into her classrooms. The
teacher demonstrated her sympathetic attitude toward student’s challenging situations by caring
for them, yet she could not reach to the level of empathy where she engaged the suffering by Commented [RF23]: appeared to not be able to . . yes?
feeling the emotions.

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Reflection/Limitations
Although I tried to prepare carefully, there were some unavoidable limitations. Due to the
geographical limitation, we were only able to meet each other via Skype so that the participant
and I did not have an opportunity to build a trusting relationship. Furthermore, the time
limitation led me to conduct a one-time 30 minutes interview. In the limited research
environments, I felt that the participant tried to offer ‘right answers’ to me. Thus, I needed to call Commented [RF24]: which in and of itself is a quite
cultural response, don't you think?
for specific responses and approached a same issue in various ways so as to appease her self-
defense.
In addition, I struggled with the limitation of my background knowledge concerning IC,
because I was a student researcher. At the data collection and analysis phases of this study, I
continuously needed to go back to the theories to check my understanding. Although it was a
time-consuming work, it was interesting at the same time due to the pleasure of discovery. Also,
the process of checking my knowledge concerning IC was a great opportunity for me to
internalize the theories. However, I still feel that I have lack of knowledge regarding the
ideology ‘identity’. I would like to explore more about it and connection between IC and
identity.
To sum up, this qualitative research required a lot of energy and was completed after a
long time. It was definitely a rigorous work. Nevertheless, through the meticulous process, I
could develop my knowledge concerning IC, analytic attitudes and skills with which researchers
should be equipped.
Recommendations
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For language teacher educators. According to the participant’s self-report, she seemed
to have knowledge of IC and fully recognized the importance of including and integrating IC in
language classrooms. However, I observed that the teacher had a weak and unstable knowledge
foundation of culture so that she failed to apply her knowledge and convictions on IC to her
classrooms in a consistent manner. When she said that she taught culture in her classes, I could
see that her teaching contents and methods were likely to be restricted to simple and visible
cultural elements. Hence, it seems to be necessary for language teacher educators to focus on
training pre- and in-service teachers to develop their abilities and skills rooted in solid theoretical
underpinnings.
The participant’s lack of awareness of cultural stereotypes would hinder her professional
development toward an interculturally competent IL teacher. Unless experiences, and emotions
are reflected upon by analyzing them, those are likely to be interpreted in a wrong way and
fossilized within one’s value system, finally those would be considered as the truth. Therefore,
teacher education program should be designed for people who hope to be ‘good’ teachers to be
critical thinkers.
For developers of curriculum and teaching materials. The finding revealed that current
textbooks are still insufficient in providing resources for cultural education. Language learning Commented [RF25]: did you do a partial textbook or
some type of document analysis or ?
textbooks should involve teaching and learning materials to guide student to think and
understand deeply about culture so that they can develop their IC.
References Commented [RF26]: You do have many references, and
many in SLA and from our 853, but I also looked for a
robust number from 879, such as perhaps Baker, Swain &
Alred, G., & Byram, M. (2002). Becoming an intercultural mediator: A longitudinal study of Deters, others that would support identity formation or
language and power, such as Jenkins. What are some of the
residence abroad. Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 23(5), 339-352. major points of out SLA readings that might be added here to
provide added perspective?
Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (Eds.). (2017). The globalization of world politics: an
introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press.
Beck, U. (2018). What is globalization?. Cambridge:Polity Press.
Bennet, J. M. (2009). Cultivating Intercultural Competence. In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE
handbook of intercultural competence (pp. 121-140). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications.
Bennett, M. J. (1998). Intercultural communication: A current perspective. Basic concepts of
intercultural communication: Selected readings, 1-34.
Bennett, M. J. (1998). Basic concepts of intercultural communication: Selected readings.
Yarmouth: Intercultural Press.
Brody, J. (2003). A linguistic anthropological perspective on language and culture in the second
language curriculum. In D.L. Lange & R. M. Paige (Eds.), Culture as the core:
Perspectives on culture in second language learning (pp. 37-51). Greenwich, CT:
Information Age Publishing.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural competence. Clevedon, UK:
Multilingual Matters.
Chen, G. M., & Starosta, W. J. (1997). A review of the concept of intercultural sensitivity.
Human Communication, 1, 1-16.
Chungnam Association for Research on Unification Education. (2015). Korea, We Must Know.
Crystal, D. (1997). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University.

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Cushner, K. (2015). Development and assessment of intercultural competence. In Hayden, M.,
Levy, J., & Thompson, J. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Research in International
Education (pp. 200-216). London: SAGE.
Deardoff, D. K. (2006). Assessing intercultural competence in study abroad students, In M.
Byram and A. Feng (Eds.) Living and studying abroad: Research and practice (pp. 232-
256). Clevendon: Multilingual Matter.
Hall, E. (1989). Beyond culture. New York: Anchor Books.
Hill, I. (2006). Student types, scholl types and their combined influence on the development of
intercultural understanding. Journal of Research in Intercultural Education, 5(1), 5-33.
Kim, Y. (2010). The pathway of school dropout of North Korean refugee students. Korean
Youth Research,21(1),33-65.
Knight, J. (2015). Updated definition of internationalization. International higher education,
(33).
Korea Ministry of Education. (2017). Multicultural Support Plan.
Korea Hana Foundation. (2014).
Kramsch, C. (2004). The language teacher as go-between. UTBILDNING & DEMOKRATI,
13(3), 37-60.
Levy, J. & Fox, R. (2015). Pre-service teacher preparation for international settings. In Hayden,
M., Levy, J., & Thompson, J. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Research in International
Education (pp. 200-216). London: SAGE.
Lusting, M. W. and Koester, J. (2006). Intercultural competence: interpersonal communication
across cultures. Boston, MA: Pearson.

24
REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
Macedo, D. (2000). The colonialism of the English only movement. Educational Researcher,
29(3), 15-24.
McArthur, T. (2003). Oxford guide to world English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McKay, S. L. (2002). Teaching English As An International Language: Rethinking Goals and
Perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London:
Longman.
Perry, L. B., & Southwell, L. (2011). Developing intercultural understanding and skills: Models
and approaches. Intercultural Education, 22(6), 453-466. doi:
10.1080/14675986.2011.644948
Paige, R. M. (2005). Culture learning dimensions. In J. Bennett & R. M. Paige (Eds.), Workshop
manual: Training design for international and multicultural programs. Portland, OR:
Intercultural Communication Institute.
Pieterse, J. N. (2015). Globalization and culture: Global mélange. London:Rowman &
Littlefield.
Popkewitz, T. S., Rizvi, F. (2009). Globalization and the study of education. Chicago: NSSE.
Pusch, M. D. (2004). Intercultural training in historical perspective. In Landis, D., Bennett, J. M.,
& Bennett, M. J. (Eds.), Handbook of intercultural training (pp. 13-36). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Satyanath, S. (2006). Globalization, politics and financial turmoil: Asia’s banking crisis.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. H. (2011). Intercultural communication: A discourse
approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Seelye, H. (1993). Teaching culture: Strategies for intercultural communication (3rd ed.).
Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.
Sercu, L. (2006). The foreign langue and intercultural competence teacher: the acquisition of a
new professional identity. Intercultural Education, 17, 55-71.
Shin, J., Kim, K., Par, S., Kim, Y., Lee, J., Cho, Y., Kim, H., Lee, Y., & Choi, S. (2012).
Analysis of academic performance of multicultural and NK refugee students based on the
results of National Academic Achievement Test. KICE Research Report RRE 2012-13.
Suarez-Orozco, M. M., & Qin-Hilliard, D. (2004). Globalization: culture and education in the
new Millennium. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tam, K. (2004). English(es) in global and local perspectives. In K. Tam, & T. Weiss (Ed.),
English and globalization: Perspectives from Hong Kong and China (pp. 1-22). Hong
Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Trudgill, P., & Hannah, J. (2017). International English: A Guide to Varieties of English Around
the World. Taylor & Francis.
Van Hook, C. W. (2000). Preparing Teachers for the Diverse Classroom: A Developmental
Model of Intercultural Sensitivity.
Zhao, Y. (2010). Preparing globally competent teachers: A new imperative for teacher education.
Journal of Teacher Education, 61, 422-431.

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Appendix A
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. Please provide an overview of key responsibilities or attach a job description.
(a) How long have you been in your current position?
(b) What are your responsibilities?
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
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definition will be the context that is referred to in your one-on-one interview.
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Appendix B
Interview Protocol
Participant: I will interview one South Korean English-language teacher who are working with
North Korean refugee youths at the alternative school, Jangdaehyun school. She should fit to my
research interest on English-language teachers’ intercultural competence.
Domain: Intercultural competence
Leadoff question: Tell me about your first day of teaching at the Jangdaehyun school. How did
you approach to students? What did you do to break the ice or get to know your students? Did
you feel that students felt part of a community of learners? After class, how did you feel? Did
you feel you get to know the students?
Articulation of covert categories of interest:

1) Teacher’s perception of culture and identity
2) Teacher’s perception of one’s own culture and identity
3) Teacher’s perception of different cultures
4) Teacher’s knowledge of intercultural competence in class
5) Teacher’s attitudes of intercultural competence in class
6) Teacher’s skills of intercultural competence in class
Possible questions:
[Investigating the participant’s perception on culture, her own culture and identity, and different
culture through her experiences]
1. Tell me about how you identify culture and identity?
2. 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.
3. Tell me about memorable or challenging moments when you taught your students who had
different cultures.
3.1. How did you navigate it?
3.2. How did your students react to your handling?
[Investigating the participant’s knowledge of IC and attitudes of IC]

4. Tell me about the most recent experience other cultures?
5. What do you want your students to know regarding culture?
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5.1. Tell me about the most recent cultural topic that you dealt with in class?
5.2. How did students react to different cultures?
5.3. When you found students relying on or referencing stereotypes, how did you deal with
them?
[Investigating the participant’s skills of IC]

6. Tell me about a time when you felt that you have changed your style to teach NK refugee
students.
7. Tell me about your teaching materials on culture.
7.1. Describe the process of preparing recent teaching materials related to cultures.
What resources do you use in order to raise your students’ IC? Why did you choose and how
did you use them? Where did you find them?
Appendix C
Participant Interview Transcripts
Interviewee: Hanna Choi (False Name)

Interviewer: Hyejin Yoon, George Mason University, hyoon12@gmu.edu
Date of interview: April 13, 2018
Modality of Interview: via Skype
HANNA: SK EL teacher (Participant, interviewee), ME: Hyejin Yoon (interviewer)
(Start of Interview)
ME: Could you tell me about your understanding on IC.

HANNA: I understand that IC is the ability ... for example, in a school context, the ability to
communicate students who came from other cultures or had other languages and the ability to
understand them.
ME: Tell me about how you identify ‘culture’? How do you understand ‘culture’?
HANNA: Uh… I think that it is such a broad concept. I should say about culture that I feel when
I teach students in school. Am I right? Am I answering in a right way? (she hesitated to reply to
the question. she seemed not to be confident about her understanding on culture)
ME: Yes, yes.
HANNA: Umm… Then, it is about students’ backgrounds, uh… hometowns, linguistic habits,
social status, and education … I think that all of these are their cultures itself.
ME: Ok, then… how about ‘identity’? Could you tell me about ‘identity’?
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HANNA: Identity ... my answer will overlap with the one of culture. There is an identity that a
person brings from his/her past, but … there is a self-image that a person will have in the future.
Both forms are the identity of a person.
ME: Got it. Tell me about your first experience when you visited another country and met people
who had different culture. Can you remember? How did you feel at that time?
HANNA: It was long time ago. … When I was 4 years old, I visited the US. So, I can’t remember
well. I came back to the US when I was a middle schooler. I was 13 years old. At that time, I just
knew English alphabet but I was sent to a school. I can vividly remember other cultures. I
experienced different languages, and life styles.
ME: How did you feel?
HANNA: Um… At first, I was excited a little bit. I was with my family. My parents, my older
sister, and I experienced new things together.
ME: Yes..
HANNA: But, when I started to go to school, I was out of fear every day. It was because I
couldn’t understand what they said, and they knew that I couldn’t understand them. I was afraid
of the situation that I couldn’t communicate with others... making friends… I lost my nerve in
making friends in English. One day, I was sick, so I ended up leaving school early during school
hours.
ME: Were you stressed out?
HANNA: Right.
ME: Did you overcome the challenge?
HANNA: After 6 months, I started to talk, because … I think.. I was young, only 13 years old, I
joined a nice ESL program, and teachers were supportive. And there were some students who
had same difficulties in adjusting. About one year later, I thought that living in the US was fun,
and I started to think I could handle these challenges.
ME: Ok. Could you tell me about your experience when you felt cultural difference between your
students’ and yours?
HANNA: Cultural differences…. When the school opened, I might have experienced distinctive
cultural difference. Because it was not too long for students, especially NK refugee students, to
come to the South Korea. It was only from 3 months to one year. Hence, they brought their North
Korean culture into classrooms. I could have recognized there were language differences
between us. When I said something in a certain way, but they interpreted it in a different way.
And they loved different songs and had different emotions.
ME: Different emotions? Could you tell me more specifically?
HANNA: Yes, for example, they had and still have strong feelings on their family. It is
understandable… they don’t have many acquaintances here. So, they ended up having strong
desires to make friends. Or they missed family and friends who were living in the North Korea. I
couldn’t share the emotions with them, because I’ve never been in that kind of situation in my
life. They had to leave their houses, hometowns, family and friends in North Kore.
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REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
ME: Hmm..
HANNA: I feel that there is a limit for me to sympathize or understand with their experience…
of course I’d love to, but I can’t. And… they’re in the process of adapting SK culture. They
needed to know how to use the public transportation, the internet, and open email accounts.
Those were all cultural differences, I think.
ME: You mentioned that you experienced language differences. You and NK refugee students
have same language—Korean. Could you tell me more about it?
HANNA: I used some words that NK refugee students were not familiar with and vice versa.
ME: Be more specific please.
HANNA: For example, they said “선생님, 이거 건사해주세요.” I couldn’t understand what they
meant exactly, of course I could guess the meaning contextually.
ME: What it means?
HANNA: it means “선생님, 이거 맡아주세요 (teacher, take care of this please).” And.. when I used
the loanwords such as email, and take-out, they couldn’t understand me. In here, the loanwords
are commonly used, but they don’t know. I understand that the most challenging part of their
adjustment process is learning many loanwords. (Usually some words were adopted from
English and some were the Korean version of English—Konglish.)
ME: Then, when you experience miscommunications with your students, what have you done to
overcome the situation?
HANNA: We resolved the challenging situation by asking for clarifications or by guessing
contextually. And students told me that in North Korea, people said something more directly, but
here, in South Korea, people tended to beat around the bush. So, after I was aware of the
different ways of speech, I tried to tell them as directly as possible. But the students are getting
used to the SK culture over time, I feel the cultural gap is getting narrow. Now they are the same
as regular SK students so that it is not easy to distinguish which one is a NK student and which
one is a SK student. (subtractive schooling)
Me: Oh, they quickly adopted SK culture.
HANNA: Yes, because they are young students, so they are quick to adapt themselves to it.
(subtractive schooling)
ME: Yes, they are young... Well, do you use teaching material related to culture?
HANNA: In classes … I often choose teaching materials related to culture. Especially, when I
teach conversation English, I let students listen and speak a lot. We talked about American
holidays such as Christmas Day, Easter Day, Thanksgiving Day. And I selected some Hollywood
movies and American online-news as teaching materials. And I used board games which are
referred as American culture.
ME: What do you want your students to know regarding culture? What do you want to teach?
HANNA: I believe that my students can learn English when they are introduced other cultures.
Furthermore, at some point, they should introduce our culture to others in English, because we
8
REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
have many guests from abroad and we have English native teachers. They need to know our
culture to communicate with them. And in school we have the pen-pal program. All students are
exchanging letters with students of an American high school. I feel that they need the ability to
introduce our culture to them.
ME: Then, tell me about the most recent cultural topic that you dealt with in yout class.
HANNA: The most recent topic … We have the ‘Welcome to Korea’ project. Every student has a
pen-pal friend. They imagine that their pen-pal friends visit Korea, and they create the PPT
about where they wanna take him/her, what they wanna do with him/her, what they wanna teach
him/her, and they present.
ME: Oh, you are practicing the project-based teaching. When you found students relying on or
refereeing stereotypes, how did you deal with them?
HANNA: Stereotypes… uh… I couldn’t find they have stereotypes on other cultures, but… for
example, when they were in North Korea, they were educated so that they had bad impressions
toward Americans. But they seem to realize that it is not true, and what they learned is not all by
meeting with many American visitors and having good relationships with American EL teachers.
ME: Hmmm..
HANNA: When I taught them … bias…( 2-3 seconds pause) uh… I didn’t feel they had bias
toward a certain group of people. It is because they hadn’t had a lot of information about other
cultures.
ME: Then, what about sexism, and racism? Do you think your students are not biased toward
people who are different from them? How about a homosexual?
HANNA: I think it depends on the criteria that distinguish which is biased and which is not.
Since North Koreas are the very conservative nation, they might have negative opinions toward
people who have different skin colors, and the heterosexuality. As South Korea is not opened yet
to “otherness” such as homo- or trans-sexuality … and so am I… conservative attitudes we
have, … in other countries, people might consider those kinds of attitudes as stereotypes, but in
this country they don’t think they have stereotypes on it.
ME: Hmm.. You mean since the assumptions that the students possess are corresponding to the
cross-societal value system, you and your students might not perceive that as biased views. Am I
right?
HANNA: Yes… I think so.
ME: Thank you for your honest respond. You mentioned before, you had experiences of
miscommunications with your NK refugee students due to the disparities of languages. And you
said there is a limit that you can’t sympathize with their broken-family experiences.
HANNA: In addition, the pains that they suffer from are still going on and on. Unless North and
South Korea unify and they reunion with their dispersed family members, they can’t get rid of the
nagging pain. I’m not able to understand them perfectly.
ME: Then…, have you ever educated about how to manage the situations?
9
REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
HANNA: I don’t think that I have been educated regarding ways to support NK refugee youths,
but the principal who is a founder of this school and a human right activist sometimes told
teachers the stories about NK refugees and those were helpful for us (teachers) to understand the
parents of my students. Even though we (the teachers) didn’t have opportunities to be trained to
teach and support them in an appropriate way, we have heard a lot and have lots of information
about NK refugee youths.
ME: Do you mean you haven’t been trained officially?
HANNA: Officially… teacher seminar. Teacher seminars were not frequently held, but if we had
we got together and discussed challenges that we experienced in teaching the students in the
seminar.
ME: Ok, now … tell me about a time when you felt that you have changed your teaching styles,
curriculum, and materials to teach NK refugee students.
HANNA: um.. I don’t modify my teaching style and curriculum reflecting students’ North Korea
and Chinese cultures. But I adjusted them in line with their English proficiency. Beginner,
intermediate, advanced… especially students of NK refugees from China, they didn’t understand
me when I used Korean and English. At that time, I used Chinese-English dictionary to explain
meanings of English vocabularies. (giggling) I didn’t change much .. I used a text book .. if I
found some elements which were not appropriate for my students’ family backgrounds from the
text book, for example the direction, ‘Write about your mother’, I deleted it for students who
didn’t have their mothers.
ME: I understood. Well, I’ve heard that it is necessary for all students to live in the school
dormitory. Isn’t there any exception?
HANNA: There’s only one exception. Only one student who is an adult and in the high school
curriculum commutes to school. Other than her, all students should live in the dorm.
ME: Do you have special reasons?
HANNA: You should ask to the principal. Based on my understanding, NK refugee students, as I
mentioned before, have broken families. So mostly it was possible for them to be abandoned, that
is, their parents were likely not to take care of them. The students needed someone who looked
after and places where they could stay.
ME: You mean their parents are not available to take care of them?
HANNA: Yes, even though they are supported from the government, they don’t have nothing
such as education, social status and human-network. Some parents remarry here.
ME: Got it. Thank you so much. You answered all my questions. Thank you for your time and
your volunteer.
HANNA: You’re welcome. I learned so much during the interview. Thank you.
Appendix D
Data Analysis
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REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
Theme Sub-theme Quote
Knowledge The participants are it is about students’ backgrounds, uh… hometowns,
aware of invisible linguistic habits, social status, and education … I think
culture that all of these are their culture itself.
The participants are I came back to the US when I was a middle schooler. I was
aware of cultural 13 years old. At that time, I just knew English alphabet and
differences. went to school. I vividly remember other cultures. I
experienced difference the language, and life styles.
Cultural differences…. When the school opened firstly, I

might have experienced distinctive cultural difference.
Because it was not too long for students, especially NK
refugee students to come to the South Korea. It was only
from 3 months to one year. Hence, they had North Korean
culture. There were language differences. When I said
something in a certain way, but they interpreted what I
said in a different way of they couldn’t understand what I
said. And they loved different songs and had different
emotions.
for example, they had and still have strong feelings on

their family. But it is understandable… they don’t have
many acquaintances here. So, they ended up having strong
desires to make friends. Or they missed family and friends
who were living in the North Korea. I couldn’t share the
emotions with them, because I’ve never been in that kind of
situation in my life. They had to leave their houses,
hometowns, family and friends in NK.
I feel that there is a limit so that I couldn’t sympathized…

of course I’d love to but I couldn’t. And… they’re in the
process of adapting NK culture. They needed to know how
to use the public transportation, the internet, and open
email accounts. Those were all cultural differences, I think.
I used some words that NK refugee students were not

familiar with and vice versa.
11
REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
For example, they said “선생님, 이거 건사해주세요.” I
couldn’t understand what they meant exactly, of course I
could guess the meaning contextually.
it means “선생님, 이거 맡아주세요 (teacher, take care of

this please).” And.. when I used the loanwords such as
email, and take-out, they couldn’t understand me. In SK,
the loanwords are used commonly, but they don’t know. I
understand that the most challenging part of their
adjustment process is learning many loanwords. (Usually
some were derived from American English and some were
coined by Koreans so those were called Korean English.)
Experiences of I have almost 10 years overseas experience.

immersion in other
cultures. Um… At first, I was excited a little bit. I was with my
family. My parents, my older sister, and I experience new
things.
But, when I started to go to school, I was out of fear every

day. It was because I couldn’t understand what they said,
and others knew that I couldn’t understand them. I was
afraid of the situation that I couldn’t communicate with
others… This is a middle school issue ... making friends… I
lost my nerve in making friends in English. One day, I was
sick, so I left school early during school hours.
After 6 months later, I started to talk, because I think.. I

was young, only 13 years old, I joined a nice ESL program,
and teachers were supportive. And there were some
students who had same difficulties in adjusting. About one
year later, I thought that living in the US was fun, and I
started to think I could handle these changes.
Integrating cultural I often choose teaching materials related to culture.

elements in
language classes
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REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS
Attitude Being favorable We resolved the challenge by asking for clarifications or
modifying her own by guessing contextually. And students told me that in
culture North Korea, people said something more directly, but
here, in South Korea people tended to beat around the
bush. So after I was aware of the different ways to speak, if
possible, I tried to tell them in a direct way.
Skills Using appropriate In classes … I often choose teaching materials related to

teaching materials culture. Especially, when I teach conversation English, I
and techniques let students listen and speak a lot. We talked about
American holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Thanks
giving days. And I selected some Hollywood movies and
news as teaching materials. I used board games which are
American culture.
I believe that my students can learn English when they are

introduced other cultures. Furthermore, at some point,
they should introduce our culture to others in English,
because we have many guests from abroad and we have
English native teachers. They need to know our culture to
communicate with them. And in school we have the pen-pal
program. All students are exchanging letters with students
of an American high school. I feel that they need the ability
to introduce our culture to them.
We have the ‘Welcome to Korea’ project. Every student

has a pen-pal friend. They imagine that their pen-pal
friends visit Korea, and they create the PPT about where
they wanna take him/her, what they wanna do with
him/her, what they wanna teach him/her, and they present.
Using … after I was aware of the different ways of speech, I tried

communication to tell them as directly as possible.
skills
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REFUGEE ADOLESCENTS

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Exploring How South Korean English Language Teachers Perceive and Practice

Intercultural Competence in the Context of Teaching North Korean Refugee Adolescents

George Mason University

Globalization and Intercultural Communication

understanding the critical roles of cultural sensitivity/awareness in communication, which can

active members of the international community, and to do that, especially in an English

Globalization and International Language Teachers’ Intercultural Competence

Globalization, especially English’s globalization creates a variety of challenges for IL

students. Moreover, Kramsch (2004) defined a language teacher as a ‘trans-cultural go-between’

from other cultures (Alred & Byram, 2002, p. 341).

As a result, IL professionals need to have pertinent knowledge, skills, and attitudes

pursuit of a common goal” (Cushner, 2015, p. 204).

defined as an ‘international language’ and a part of a toolkit enabling effective communication

language education curriculum is meaningful in that it highlights the necessity of cultural

education in developing communication strategies, which is distinguished from traditional

Korea and Multiculturalism

population of multicultural families is expected to reach 5% of the whole population. (Korean

Multiculturalism and North Korean Refugee Students

According to the report of the Chungnam Association for Research on Unification

rate of less than 0.4%.

Owing partly to the influx of the NK refugees, the transformation of SK society to

experiences with attempting to being ‘good/effective’ IL teachers in their instruction for NK

following questions guided my research:

where NK refugee students are included?

1-2. What are the SK EL teacher understandings about intercultural competence?

definitions of culture at the beginning of 20 century.

The Origins of the Term ‘Culture’

society can influence one another. Commented [RF13]: I love this!

study of intercultural communication. He introduced a concept which he regarded as potentially

the patterns of beliefs and acts and values of people.

Intercultural Competence (IC)

people need intercultural awareness (cognitive), intercultural sensitivity (affective), and

explain that intercultural competence requires knowledge, motivation, skills in communication

and germane behaviors. According to Byram (1997), intercultural competence is comprised of

(skills of interpreting and relating), Savoir-apprendre/faire (skills of discovery and interaction)

various definitions, a majority of theorists recognize that intercultural competence is related to

conceptualized a developmental model of intercultural competence. The Developmental Model

of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) is used as a framework for understanding cognitive

sensitivity among teachers could be measured (Van Hook, 2000).

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

Post-colonial perspective on language and IL teachers’ IC

communication context such as international business, education, and multinational conferences

around the world.

Trudgill et al., 2017).

second language—English without any feeling of suppression of non-English-speaking cultures?

effective communicators in international/intercultural settings? McKay (2002) suggested

rethinking goals and perspectives of teaching English as an international language, mentioning

to gauge their IC. Commented [RF16]: well stated, Jin!

This study collected data by implementing qualitative research methodology—one-on-

2) investigate how the SK IL teacher educates IC in her classrooms; and

degree at the program.

living in the dormitory of the school.

research questions as follows:

• How are the participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills of IC?

Knowledge. According to Byram’s (1997) description of IC in terms of knowledge,

components of effective intercultural communications. She acknowledged the concept of IC as

should employ experiential approach to cultural education.

narrow down the emotional distance cause by different cultural backgrounds.

cultures and deal with pupils’ stereotypes in class.

feeling the emotions.

limitation led me to conduct a one-time 30 minutes interview. In the limited research

In addition, I struggled with the limitation of my background knowledge concerning IC,

continuously needed to go back to the theories to check my understanding. Although it was a