Defining and developing intercultural and international competence in an international relations English program: A program self-exploration

There is a clear need in today's world to develop students who are global citizens, who are interculturally competent, and who can interact with people from diverse backgrounds and societies (Huber, 2012, p. 5). Darla Deardorff argues that, "For schools, this may mean revisiting the overall curriculum in an effort to determine how to incorporate aspects of intercultural competence - such as other worldviews - into the whole of the curriculum" (2009, xiii-xiv). Bearing this in mind, one Colombian university's English for International Relations (IRE) program embarked on the process of defining and developing specific intercultural and international competences (ICCs) as a key component of its curriculum.

This paper will explain how the program used surveys based on Byram's model of intercultural competence (Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002), applied to both students and professors, as well as data collected from an internationalization study carried out at the host university, and results from a 2017 program self-study, to define the ICCs that best meet the professional and academic needs of International Relations students. In addition to presenting the ICCs defined for the program, clear examples of how they are currently being developed will also be detailed. By the end of the paper's presentation, the audience should have a clear example of a model process for how to define ICCs that can be modified and applied in their own context.

References

Byram, M., Gribkova, B, & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the Intercultural Dimension in Language Teacher: A Practical Introduction for Teachers. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Deardorff, D. (2009). The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence. California, USA: SAGE Publications.

Huber, J. (2012). Introduction. In Huber, J. (Ed.) Intercultural competence for all Preparation for living in a heterogeneous world (pp. 1-5). Council of Europe Pestalozzi Series, No. 2. Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe.