IN-PERSON Prague Research & Teaching Conference
Abstract
Having a diverse university student body is insufficient for developing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) (e.g., Otten, 2003); students need facilitated intercultural learning (Jackson, 2017, 2018). At our Sino–foreign joint venture university in China, we observe the tendency for students (68% Chinese and 32% international) to self-segregate into familiar cultural and linguistic groups. To disrupt this tendency and facilitate intercultural learning, we seven English for academic purposes (EAP) and Chinese language (CSL) faculty designed a project requiring our students to collaborate in culturally/linguistically diverse groups on joint multimodal projects. Each group needed to identify a cultural issue on campus and create a short bilingual video to address the issue applying intercultural communication concepts learned in their courses. Additional products included an academic paper (EAP only), presentations (CSL only), and written reflections (all students). This project aimed to address three research questions, two of which we focus on in this presentation: 1. Can collaborative interdisciplinary assessment design foster greater integration of our international and domestic students? 2. Can this design foster greater intercultural awareness for our international and domestic students? This presentation will share results of our analysis of student products and focus group interviews. We used Deardorff’s (2006, 2011) process model of ICC to develop a framework for deductive coding (RQ1), and inductive thematic analysis (RQ2). We discuss preliminary findings indicating improved ICC resulting from participants’ opportunity to apply intercultural learning and language skills through collaboration in diverse groups of students, and implications for sustained facilitation of intercultural learning.
Kristin E. Hiller, Assistant Professor in the Language and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University, is the founding director of the Writing and Language Studio. She holds a PhD in linguistics (applied) and an MATESOL, and has extensive experience directing and working in transnational programs and institutions, most recently in China. Dr. Hiller is dedicated to developing programming for faculty and students to support undergraduate writing and translingualism. She researches language policy, intercultural learning, writing pedagogy, and writing program administration in TNHE contexts.
Kevin Sprague is a lecturer in the Language and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University (DKU), where he teaches EAP courses. He has extensive experience teaching in China, previously serving in an English Language Fellow sponsored by the US Department of State to support teacher development projects at Henan University and Northeastern University in Shenyang. He obtained his MA TESL from Pennsylvania State University with a focus on genre-based instruction and works in curriculum design and teacher development.
Laura J. Davies is a Senior Lecturer and Assistant Director of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at Duke Kunshan University (DKU). Her current research is centered on assessment literacy in higher education with a focus on validity, authenticity and inclusivity. She holds an MA in TESOL with Applied Linguistics, a DELTA specializing in higher education English language teaching management, and Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). She has extensive experience leading international degree programs in Sino-UK and Sino-US contexts.
Liying Feng is a lecturer of Chinese language in the Language and Culture Center at Duke Kunshan University (DKU). Her research focus is motivation and persistence for learning Chinese as a second/foreign language. She teaches Intermediate to advanced Chinese language courses for heritage and non-heritage speakers at Duke Kunshan. Feng has a B.A. in teaching Chinese as a second/foreign language from Sichuan International Studies University and an M.A. in Asian studies from Florida State University (FSU), where she started her Ph.D. in 2014. Before joining Duke Kunshan, she taught Chinese language courses across various proficiency levels, applied linguistics and cross-cultural communications for second/foreign language teachers at FSU.
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Thursday 12th June, 2025