Presentation to the Gonzaga University Writing Center Staff

1. Developing Intercultural Competence
By Kelli Collins
Gonzaga University
COML 598
March 6, 2018
A presentation to
the Gonzaga
University Writing
Center Staff

2. The objectives of this presentation are:
 To inform Writing Center staff about issues of intercultural competence in the interests of making the Writing
Center a more culturally inclusive environment
 To help staff grasp the importance of understanding and accepting different cultures in our work as Writing
Center tutors
 To teach staff to communicate more effectively and appropriately with people of other cultures

3. Intercultural Communication
 Intercultural communication “occurs when you interact with someone
from a different cultural background from your own” (Caputo et al.,
2002, p. 289).
 Because we interact with clients of different cultures every day as Writing
Center tutors, it is important that our communication styles are culturally
sensitive, or interculturally competent.

4. We should promote intercultural competence at
the Writing Center because:
 The Writing Center serves people of
various cultures including many
non-white individuals, immigrants,
and/or English Language Learners
(ELLs).
 It is important to foster a
culturally sensitive and inclusive
atmosphere for those clients so that
they can learn in a safe and
supportive environment.
 Intercultural competence falls in line
with Gonzaga’s mission statement,
which is important for our services
to uphold.
Gonzaga’s Diversity Scores Compared with National Averages
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/gonzaga-university/student-life/diversity/chart-overall-diversity.html

5. Gonzaga’s Diversity and Inclusion Mission
Statement
 as a Gonzaga University service, it’s the Writing
Center’s duty to promote Gonzaga’s Diversity and
Inclusion mission statement which is:
“to promote the Jesuit and
Catholic ideals of social justice
and service by nurturing the
dignity of all people in creating
an inclusive and generative
multicultural academic
community" (Diversity &
Inclusion). https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values/diversity-inclusion

6. Gonzaga Student Nationalities
At least 24 countries are
represented on the
Gonzaga campus. The
countries with the largest
on-campus communities
are Saudi Arabia, Canada,
and China (How Diverse is
Gonzaga, 2018).
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/gonzaga-university/student-life/international/chart-international.html
Gonzaga University International Students by Home Country

7. Gonzaga’s Demographics Contd.
Since the Gonzaga Writing
Center staff is primarily white
and serves a community made
up of over 25% non-white
students including many
English Language Learners,
the need for intercultural
competence at the Writing
Center is clear; but what is
intercultural competence?
https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/gonzaga-university/student-life/diversity/chart-ethnic-diversity.html
Gonzaga’s Undergraduate Ethnic Diversity Breakdown

8. Intercultural Competence means:
“The ability to communicate effectively in cross-
cultural situations and to relate appropriately in a
variety of cultural contexts” (Bennett & Bennett,
2004, p.149).

9. How Do We Practice Intercultural
Competence in an Academic Setting?
 engage difference with sensitivity and an
open mind.
 recognize the complexity of differences
present in interactions with all clients
 prioritize learners’ own culture over your
own, as “learners’ cognitive ability
develops in their own cultural contexts”
(Uddin, 2017, p. 8).
 communicate respectfully across divisive
cultural boundaries (Bennett, 2015)

10. Communicating across cultural difference
 In order to communicate effectively in cross-cultural situations, you must
have:
Motivation:
Knowledge:
Skills:
The desire to communicate with those
who are different from you
An understanding of what is necessary to
communicate appropriately
Examples: develop empathy, encourage
feedback, seek commonalities (Caputo et
al., 2002)

11. Identifying and Eliminating Bias
 Empathy is crucial to eliminating bias,
but many of us don’t realize that we
are biased against particular cultures in
the first place
 The most common form of bias,
unconscious bias, is bias that you’re
unaware of having (Bennett, 2015).
 In order to identify unconscious bias,
we must become culturally aware of
our own and other people’s culture.
https://medium.com/@laurahelendouglas/ai-is-not-just-learning-our-biases-it-is-
amplifying-them-4d0dee75931d

12. Developing Cultural Awareness
To develop cultural awareness, you must not only attain an
awareness of other cultures, but also that of your own.
This means recognizing your own “hidden culture” in
addition to the cultural differences or similarities you
perceive in those you tutor (Lázár, et al., 2007)

13. Cultural Power & Privilege
 Dominant groups (like white
Americans) have more economic and
cultural power than non-dominant
groups (like immigrant English
Language Learners) (Allen, 2011).
 As many of us are white Americans, it’s
our responsibility as tutors to be aware
of the cultural power we hold such that
it does not create an unequitable
dynamic in our interactions with clients.
http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/not-fan-term-white-privilege

14. The Risk of Eurocentrism in ELL Tutoring
 Culture is central to language,
and if we’re not careful, our
privilege as white Americans
can cause Eurocentrism to
interfere with our tutoring of
immigrant ELLs (Uddin, 2017).
Eurocentrism: emphasizing
the values of western culture
to the exclusion of others
(Caputo et al., 2002, p. 291). http://www.nycenglishtutor.com

15. How to Avoid Eurocentrism in Tutoring
 Cater the interaction to the client’s native culture
Ex: Research suggests that many Saudi
Arabian students prefer their English
curriculum to be contextualized within their
native culture; that is, they want educators to
teach them to be bilingual, but not bi-
cultural (Uddin, 2017).
You can help ELLs use the English language
to express issues relevant to their native
culture instead of imposing your own culture
upon the interaction. http://myaroundworld.blogspot.com/2016/09/saudi-arabias-music-and-traditional.html

16. Takeaway Strategies
Cater intercultural
tutoring sessions
to the client’s
native culture
Strive to expose
yourself to new
cultures in the
interests of
building tolerance
and cultural
knowledge
Cultivate empathy
to forge effective
intercultural
communication
Be aware of bias
and relative
cultural power in
tutoring sessions

17. References
Allen, B. (2011). Difference matters : Communicating social identity (2nd ed.). Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press.
Bennett, M. J., & Bennett, J. (2004). Developing intercultural sensitivity: An integrative approach to global and
domestic diversity. In D. Landis Handbook of intercultural training (3rd ed., pp. 147- 165). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
Bennett, J. (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Intercultural Competence. Los Angeles: SAGE Reference.
Caputo, J.S. Hazel, H.C., McMahon, C. and Darnels, D. (2002). Communicating effectively: Linking thought and
expression (3rd. Ed.) Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall-Hunt Publishing. Chapter 12: “Interpersonal Communication in the
Global Village: Issues of Culture and Gender.”
Diversity & inclusion. Retrieved from https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values/diversity-inclusion
How diverse is Gonzaga University? (2018). Retrieved from https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/gonzaga-
university/student-life/diversity/#chart- ethnic- diversity
Kojour, M. K. (2016). Intercultural Communicative Competence: A Brief Review of Current Thinking and
Literature. International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies, 4(4), 12-20.
Lázár, I., Huber-Kriegler, M., Lussier, D., Matei, G. S., Peck, C. (eds.) (2007). Developing and assessing intercultural
communicative competence: A guide for language teachers and teacher educators. European Centre for Modern
Languages: Council of Europe Publishing.
Uddin, N. (2017). Culture in Teaching EFL in Saudi Arabia from Learners’ Perspective. Journal of Arts and
Humanities, 6(3), 08-17.