A research on culture intelligence in school

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EDE 6202
FOUNDATION OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
IN ESL CONTEXT
TOPIC: CULTURAL INTELLIGENCES
GROUP MEMBERS:
STUDY 1 : Cultural Intelligence Among Vocational College Learners in ESL classroom
WIDYAHAMIZA BINTI AHMAD HALIMI G1815472
ZAIDA BINTI YUSOP G1817238
NAME OF LECTURERS;
PROF. NOOR LIDE A. KASSIM
PROF. MOHAIDA MOHIN

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EDE 6202
FOUNDATION OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
IN ESL CONTEXT
TOPIC: CULTURAL INTELLIGENCES
GROUP MEMBERS:
STUDY 2: Cultural Intelligence among Secondary School Teachers in ESL Classroom.
FARIHAH MAZMI G1817084
FATIMAH FUKAIHA MOHSIN G1814260
NAME OF LECTURERS;
PROF. NOOR LIDE A. KASSIM
PROF. MOHAIDA MOHIN

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Introduction
In this proposal, there are two studies that will be elucidated under the topic ‘Cultural
Intelligence’ or CQ. The study of CQ among the stakeholders in Malaysian school is scarce
despite its importance for national unity among the diverse society members in this country.
Therefore, researchers initiated two different proposals under the topic of CQ.
In the first study, level of CQ among the students will be investigated. The samples chosen
will come from a selected vocational school. The second study will investigate the level of
CQ among the teachers. There will be 50 teachers from different schools in West Coast
Malaysia. Samples from both studies will be chosen using Purposive Sampling method. This
means that they will be chosen by referring to the criteria aligned by the researchers.
The context of both studies will be the ESL classroom experience of both teachers and
students. The main theoretical framework that will be used to govern the dynamics of the
studies is by Sternberg and Grigorenko (2006) and the survey questionnaire is adapted from
Johnson and Buko (2013). Study 1 will be using Quantitative Design of study by only using
survey whereas Study 2 will use Mixed Method: Explanatory Design in which survey will be
primarily used and the data will be complemented by one qualitative query in the survey.
Data from this single question will be analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis.
It is a hope that these proposals will benefit the different stakeholders in school and in the
context of this study, the stakeholders are teachers and students. The insights that will be
attained from this study will also benefit the curriculum developers and policy makers in
Ministry of Education to enhance Multicultural Education in Malaysia at all levels.

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Study 1: Cultural Intelligence Among Vocational College Learners in ESL classroom
Prepared by:
Widyahamiza binti Ahmad Halimi ( G1815472)
Zaida binti Yusop (G1817238)
Chapter 1: Introduction
This study is to investigate the level of cultural intelligence (CQ) among ESL learners in their
multicultural classroom at a vocational college. The diverse backgrounds of learners in
Malaysia’s education system requires citizens to understand others, respect their ethnics and
stay united in hope of creating a harmonious society. Hence, education plays a very important
role not only in sustaining and promoting racial harmony and national integration but also in
strengthening those elements for nation building. Through education, efforts have been taken
to produce a generation that is unified, open-minded and considerate in a truly various multi-
ethnic society. The data will be collected from a Google form created and the link will be
shared to the learners. The findings will be used in measuring how learners, between the ages
of 16 to 19 accepting the multicultural group of friends during their learning process every
day. From the findings, teachers will find the best approaches to solve problems detected, if
any and come out with few recommendation or solutions.
1.1 Background of the Study
CQ is well-defined as a person’s capability to adapt effectively to a new cultural environment
(Early and Nag, 2003). To function excellently, individuals need to be socially fitting in
deciding on the most appropriate behaviour in an intercultural interaction. Few researchers
(Zhenhui Rao, 2006: Xuesong Gao, 2005 and Ellen Yeh, 2011) stated that most learning
strategies is about listing and classifying language learners’ strategies used. While according
to Banks (2001) as the curriculum enforcer, teachers should have two skills in multicultural
teaching. Firstly, awareness and the complex sensitivity of the learners. This means that
teachers should alert to the diversity in the classroom, including self-awareness and second,
alertness to the others as cultured human, whether the diversity are in terms of religion,
culture, ethnicity, language or economic status of the learners and their background .

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CQ is a system consisting of three interactive components - cultural knowledge, cross-
cultural skills and cultural metacognition. While these three components of CQ can be
developed in different ways, it´s important to note that they do not operate in isolation from
each other.
Learners’ Perceptions
Learner commitment and perceptions are important because they enhance the quality of their
learning experience. Learner engagement is defined as, “the quality and quantity of learners’
psychological, cognitive, emotional and behavioural reactions to the learning process as well
as to in-class or out-of-class academic and social activities to achieve successful learning
(Gunuc and Kuzu, 2014). This means that learner engagement includes not only the time
learners spend on academic tasks but also their willingness to take part in social activities on
campus
Vocational college learners
A unique characteristic of our secondary schools is that the learners are from three different
ethnic groups namely Malay, Chinese and Indian. These three dominant ethnic groups have
their own beliefs, culture, values and norms that will affects their behaviours and actions. It’s
a goal of Malaysian education and schooling practice to boost social integration among these
various ethnic groups beyond mere physical integration, and intends to remove social
prejudices and perception. In Malaysia, the objective of nation building and forging national
unity amongst the various ethnic groups ranks very high in the educational and political
agendas. In fact national unity and integration are the foundation of the education policy. It
was identified as our major goals of the national education policy as the following: ‘To
inculcate and nurture national consciousness through fostering common ideals, values,
aspiration and loyalties in order to mould national unity and national identity in a multi-ethnic
society’.
Vocational college learners are teenagers between the ages of 16 to 19 years old. “Vocational
schools provide practical training with few unrelated academic course requirements. They are
relevant for many kinds of learners. The education offered at vocational schools allows adults
to focus on the skills to enter a particular industry, with the option of not taking unrelated
general education courses required for an associate's degree at a community college.
Vocational schools also provide technology training or retraining for workers in their current

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occupations.” (MOE, 2013). Learner engagement is important because it enhances the quality
of the learner learning experience
A unique characteristic of our secondary schools is that the learners are from three different
ethnic groups namely Malay, Chinese and Indian. These three dominant ethnic groups have
their own beliefs, culture, values and norms that will affects their behaviours and actions. It’s
a goal of Malaysian education and schooling practice to boost social integration among these
various ethnic groups beyond mere physical integration, and intends to remove social
prejudices and perception. In Malaysia, the objective of nation building and forging national
unity amongst the various ethnic groups ranks very high in the educational and political
agendas. In fact national unity and integration are the foundation of the education policy. It
was identified as our major goals of the national education policy as the following: ‘To
inculcate and nurture national consciousness through fostering common ideals, values,
aspiration and loyalties in order to mould national unity and national identity in a multi-ethnic
society’.
Vocational college learners are teenagers between the ages of 16 to 19 years old. “Vocational
schools provide practical training with few unrelated academic course requirements. They are
relevant for many kinds of learners. The education offered at vocational schools allows adults
to focus on the skills to enter a particular industry, with the option of not taking unrelated
general education courses required for an associate's degree at a community college.
Vocational schools also provide technology training or retraining for workers in their current
occupations.” (MOE, 2013). Learner engagement is important because it enhances the quality
of the learner learning experience
ESL Classroom
English as a Second Language (ESL) is an English language study program for non-native
speakers. Learners study English and also participate in the cultural and social activities of
the school and community where they study.
The goal of an ESL is to improve the learners' level of English. ESL classes teach different
language skills, depending on learners' English abilities, interests, and needs. ESL teaching
and learning process includes conversational English, grammar, reading, listening
comprehension, writing, and vocabulary. The ability and skill full of many languages would
help learners in culture of people and nation.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem
National unity continues to be a challenging issue for our country though we had gained our
independence for so many years. There will always be clashes of interest between races for
everybody fights for his or her own rights. In Malaysia situation, the issues such as language,
culture, religious, citizenship and economics are often being the issue by the politicians for a
specific purpose. The way the politicians behave to manipulate the issues will give a negative
impact to the people. Therefore, every ethnic will protect their right to obtain an equitable
condition (Shamsuddin, K.A., Liaw, J.O.H., & Ridzuan, A.A., 2015). This situation will then
consequently create conflicts between the races which is not very healthy for our country’s
development. Hence, the government feels that it is high time to introduce multicultural
education in school for it can promote the instillation of cultural intelligence among those
who involved directly and indirectly with the education system. Previous studies have
explored widely about cultural education and levels of cultural intelligence in schools but
studies of CQ in the Malaysian context remain inadequate. Thus, we really need to examine
the level of cultural intelligence amongst the educational stakeholders, in our case are the
students, and what difficulties that they are facing are especially in the beginning of the
cultural intelligence learning process. English language classroom will be the cross cultural
education setting in this study since language can also be considered as cultural instruments
(Alliance, R. 2017).
1.3 ResearchObjectives
The purpose of this study is to identify the level of Cultural Intelligence among ESL learners
in Vocational Schools. Furthermore, it is also aimed to explore challenges faced by ESL
learners while learning in a multicultural classroom.
1.4 ResearchQuestions
This study attempts to answer the following research questions:
1. What is the level of Cultural Intelligence among ESL learners in the selected secondary
schools?
2. What are the challenges faced by ESL learning while learning in a multicultural
classroom?

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1.5 Theoretical Framework
Cultural Intelligence is conceptualized as a multi-dimensional construct based on
application of Robert Sternberg's integrative theoretical framework of different "loci" of
intelligence. The dimensions of Cultural Intelligence represent qualitatively different aspects
of the overall capability to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings.
Cultural Intelligence is a malleable capability that can be enhanced by multicultural
experiences, training and self-awareness programs, travel and education. Cultural
Intelligence is distinct from stable individual differences such as personality, which describe
what a person typically does across time and across situations. Cultural Intelligence is also
different from emotional intelligence because it focuses specifically on capabilities in
multicultural contexts. Cultural Intelligence has predictive validity over and above
demographic characteristics, personality, general mental ability, emotional intelligence,
cross-cultural adaptability inventory, rhetorical sensitivity, cross-cultural experience, and
social desirability. The Cultural Intelligence Scale has excellent psychometric properties:
Published scholarly research demonstrates the factor structure of the scale is stable across
samples, across time, and across cultures. In addition, self-rated scores are positively
correlated with observer-rated scores, and multi-trait multimethod analysis supports the
convergent and discriminant validity of the scale. Reliabilities of the four factors and sub-
dimensions exceed the standard cut-off of .70. Most important, research demonstrates that

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cultural intelligence predicts adjustment, well-being, cultural judgment and decision-making,
and task performance in culturally diverse settings.
Sternberg’s (1986) integrative framework proposed different “loci” of intelligence
within the person. Metacognition, cognition, and motivation are mental capabilities that
reside within the head, while overt actions are behavioural capabilities. Metacognitive
intelligence refers to control of cognition: the processes individuals use to acquire and
understand knowledge. Cognitive intelligence refers to knowledge structures and is Cultural
Intelligence 6 consistent with Ackerman’s (1996) intelligence-as-knowledge concept, which
argues for the importance of knowledge as part of intellect. Motivational intelligence refers to
the mental capacity to direct and sustain energy on a particular task or situation and recognize
that motivational capabilities are critical to “real-world” problem-solving (Ceci, 1996).
Behavioural intelligence refers to outward manifestations or overt actions: what people do
rather than what they think (Sternberg, 1986, p. 6).
1.6 Significance of The Study
It is important that this study be carried out because it will provide some insights on how the
vocational college students’ level of cultural intelligence could be improved. Consequently,
this will help to promote a positive multicultural ESL learning environment. Furthermore,
the findings of the study will help these students to be aware of their level of CQ and the
important elements that constitute CQ to communicate effectively in within the school
multicultural community. Apart from that, the findings of the study will also provide insights
on how educators may improve their classroom lessons in order to inculcate cultural
intelligence among the students.
1.7 Delimitations
There are several delimitations to this study. Firstly, the study is only confined to a small
group of vocational college students. Therefore, the findings might not represent the best
analysis of the students’ level of cultural intelligence among the whole community of
vocational college students in Malaysia.
In addition to that, the students or the subjects might not be focused and truthful during the
questionnaire answering session. Due to the fact that this is their first experience answering
questionnaire online, it may affect their concentration and influence their responses while
answering the questionnaire provided.

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1.8 Definition of Term
Cultural Intelligence
Cultural intelligence is defined as the capability to function effectively in culturally diverse
contexts (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008). It is also regarded as essential for effective business and
successful engagement in any environment or social setting (Ang, Van Dyne, Koh, Ng,
Templer, Tay, & Chandrasekar, 2007). Therefore, knowledge of one’s cultural intelligence
provides insights into one’s capability to cope with multicultural situations.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Review of Analysis
As we should know from the previous chapter, this study was designed to investigate
the level of cultural intelligence among ESL Vocational College learners. The study also
likes to identify the challenges faced by the vocational college ESL learners while learning in
a multicultural classroom. This chapter will review 3 areas of related literature, which
includes:
1) Cultural intelligence in general
2) The Importance of Cultural intelligence among ESL learners.
2.2 Cultural Intelligence in General
Cultural intelligence, defined as an individual’s capability to function and manage
effectively in culturally diverse settings (Eraly & Ang, 2003), was first introduced by Earley
and Ang (2003). Cultural intelligence is composed of four dimensions: metacognitive,
cognitive, motivational and behavioural. Metacognitive cultural intelligence refers to the
processes that people apply to learn about and understand other people’s culture. Cognitive
cultural intelligence refers to the knowledge of norms, practices and conventions in various
cultures obtained through education and personal experiences. While motivational cultural
intelligence deals with the ability to direct attention and energy toward learning about and
functioning in situations which are characterized by cultural differences. The last dimension
of cultural intelligence is behavioural cultural which concerns with the ability to show
appropriate verbal and nonverbal actions in interaction with people from different cultures
(Ang et al, 2007).
2.3 The Importance of Cultural Intelligence among ESL learners
People who possess high metacognitive cultural intelligence are consciously aware of
other people’s cultural preferences and adjust their mental models during interactions with
them. People who possess high cognitive cultural intelligence are able to understand the
similarities and differences across cultures. While, high motivational culture intelligence
people are those who are able to direct attention and energy toward cross-cultural situations
based on intrinsic interest and confidence in their cross-cultural effectiveness. Finally, people
who have high behavioural cultural intelligence show situationally appropriate behaviours

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based on their wide range of verbal and nonverbal abilities, such as exhibiting culturally
appropriate words, tone, gestures and facial expressions (Ang et al. 2007). All these show
that cultural intelligence (CQ) is supposed to be very vital to the development of pragmatic
comprehension as individuals with a higher CQ can more easily navigate and understand
unfamiliar cultures and adjust their behaviours to perform effectively in culturally diverse
situations. Hence, language learners such as ESL learners with high cultural intelligence are
able to function and manage effectively according to target language culture and are more
successful in appropriate comprehension of target language culture. Therefore, it is advisable
for the language learners who are on an educational sojourn to interestingly explore target
language culture and communicate with target language speakers in a multicultural classroom
in order to develop and master target language pragmatic competence.
2.4 Empirical Research
Researches and studies on level of cultural intelligence have been done in many
countries in the world. This topic of research is very well-known and interesting due to its
ability to explain the effects and importance of cultural intelligence in the development of
students’ language learning namely English language in a multicultural classroom. The
findings of these researches and studies have helped and assisted the educators especially the
English Language teachers to further improve their teaching techniques, strategies and
approaches.
A study on understanding Chinese students’ use of language learning strategies from
cultural and educational perspectives was done by Zhenhui Rao in Journal of multilingual
and multicultural development in 2006. This study investigated Chinese students’ use of
language learning strategies sand then interpreted the data from cultural and educational
perspectives. Rao used strategy inventory for Language Learning and discovered some
common features in their learning strategies. These features linked to 3 factors concerning
their cultural and educational background: cultural beliefs and values, traditional Chinese
educational pattern and English as second language setting.
In 2014, Ellen Yeh in her paper validate some methods on how to enhance second
language (L2) learners’ linguistic and cultural competencies through the use of the Multiple
Intelligences Film Teaching (MIFT) model. The author created the MIFT model based on the
theoretical frameworks in terms of interactive feedback, noticing the gap, and Multiple
Intelligence. Researcher uses few types of RQ to obtain the feedbacks. The designing of the

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MIFT model, based on seven practical examples of MI activities is to show how the model
can: (1) enhance L2 learners’ linguistic and cultural competencies by integrating films into an
ESL/EFL curriculum, (2) enhance L2 learners’ motivation and engagement in target language
activities, (3) demonstrate how to design lesson plans based on the concept of Gardner’s
(1983) MI, and (4) demonstrate practical examples of MI activities such as reader’s theatre.
The author claims differences in learning and cognitive styles of L2 learners have led
numbers of researchers and teachers to apply MI theory to ESL/EFL curriculum as well.
The author uses “Musical” as a part of his study to observe the usage of L2 as students’
capabilities of learning. However, from his observations, researches and reading, the attempt
to put learners into boxes and trying to only give them material that matches their “style”
isn’t going to make them retain information any better. Most people benefit from a range of
teaching techniques, and applying different learning methods can actually improve learners’
adaptability.
In 2015, a study on the relationship between cultural intelligence and pragmatic
comprehension was done by Vahid Rafieyan, Hassan Golerazeghi and Maryam Orang. The
findings of the study shows that CQ or cultural intelligence and pragmatic comprehension
have a very strong relationship due to the fact that CQ is significant to the development of
pragmatic comprehension because people with a higher CQ can more easily traverse and
understand unfamiliar cultures and calibrate their behaviours to perform effectively in
culturally variegated situation.
Adding to that, Batoul Soltani and Mahmoud Keyvanara had done a study on cultural
intelligence and social adaptability between Iranian and Non-Iranian dormitory students of
Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Both of these researchers agreed that a positive
relationship between CQ and social adaptability will be beneficial for the authorities in
planning strategies and approaches for increasing cultural intelligence and social adaptability
of the students.
Whereas, another study was done in 2017 to investigate the effects of cultural
intelligence on international students’ engagement. This study which was carried out by H.
Hartini, Sabariah Yaakub, Asmat-Nizam Abdul Talib and Mohamad Basir Saud discussed on
the role of cultural intelligence in developing the students’ apprenticing. Based on their
findings and results, these authors had concluded that cultural intelligence in very essential in
promoting cross-cultural competence development among the students. Consequently, with

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cultural intelligence, these students then can effectively engage in academic and non-
academic matters.

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Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 ResearchDesign
This study is an inferential survey study in which the sample was elected by
means of purposive sampling. An ESL learners’ perception about cultural
intelligence survey questionnaire is used as a method of collecting data.
3.2 Population and sample
The total of 100 respondents takes part in this study. They are vocational
college school ESL students from West Coast of Malaysia. They are students from
mixed level of proficiency in English. The respondents come from different racial,
socioeconomic and family background,
3.3 Sampling Techniques/Procedure
The sampling techniques used in this study are purposive sampling technique
in which the samples are taken purposively. Using these sampling techniques, the
researchers will solely rely on their own judgment when choosing members of
population to participate in the study. These respondents then are given the
questionnaire based on their perceptions about cultural intelligence.
3.4 Instruments
In this section, research instruments are described. Quantitative data are
obtained through a questionnaire that was adapted from several that had been used in
previous research. The language of the questionnaire was modified earlier to suit the
level of language proficiency of ESL learners in public secondary school. It was
structured based on the four factor model of cultural intelligence developed by Robert
J. Sternberg.
The questionnaire consists of two sections, A and B. In section A, nine
questions are asked on the secondary school ESL learners’ perception about Cultural
Intelligence based on the four factors which are cognitive, metacognitive,
motivational and behavioural. There are two questions deals with cognitive factor,
two questions on behavioural factor, and two questions on motivational and the other
three questions will be based on the metacognitive factor. While in section B, four

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types of demographic question are given on the students’ background. The link of the
questionnaire is as given below:
https://docs.goole.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDP3EP_E_ILQPAdelKidk1SrTMoSys_CjBTvrjhNx
iRdN-BA/viewform?usp=sf_link
3.5 ResearchProcedures
- Data Collection
As for the data collection process, the researchers will politely request
permission of the school authority especially the respondents’ parents and the
school’s principal to distribute the questionnaire to the students.
- Data Analysis
The data collected will be analysed by using four types of data analysis tests
and they are Independent T-test, Correlation test and Chi-square test.
Based on the results of these tests, the researchers will come out with the
discussion and the conclusion of the study done.

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References
Alliance, R. (2017) Language Is Power and An Instrument of Culture. Medium. Nov. 17.
Ang, L. D., & Liamputtong, P. (2007). "Out of the circle": Reflection on Conducting
Research Into The Views of International Learners From Mainland China Towards The Use
Of University Counselling Services. Journal of Australian and New Zealand Learner Services
Association,
Banks, J. A (2001). Cultural Diversity and Education: Foundations, Curriculum, and
Teaching. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
Early, P.C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions across Cultures.
Palo Alto, Calif: Stanford University Press.
Ellen Yeh,2014, Teaching Culture and Language through the Multiple Intelligences Film
Teaching Model in the ESL/EFL Classroom , Ohio University, Athens
Hartini, H., Yaakub, S., Abdul-Talib, A., & Saud, M. B., (2017) The Effects of Cultural
Intelligence On International Students’ Engagement. International Journal of Business,
Economics and Law, Vol. 12, Issue 2 (April).
Kumar, S.,& Murugaiah, P. (2017) Social Interaction Among Multi-ethnic Pupils in
Malaysian Vision Schools, USM,Malaysia
Omar, N. et al. (2015) Multicultural education practice in Malaysia, National University of
Malaysia
Rafieyan, V., Golerazeghi, H. & Orang, M. (2015). Relationship Between Cultural
Intelligence and Pragmatic Comprehension. Journal of Language Teaching and Research,
Vol. 6.
Rao, Z. (2006) Understanding Chinese Learners’ Use of Language Learning strategies from
Cultural and Educational Perspectives, Jiangxi Normal University, China
Soltani, B. & Keyvanara, M. (2008). Cultural Intelligence and Social Adaptability: A
Comparison between Iranian and Non-Iranian Dormitory Students of Isfahan University of
Medical Sciences.
Shamsuddin, K. A., Liaw, J.O.H., & Ridzuan, A.A. (2015) Malaysia: Ethnic Issues and
National Security. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Faculty of

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Defence Studies and Management, National Defence University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.

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Study 2: Cultural Intelligence among Secondary School Teachers in ESL Classroom.
Prepared by;
Farihah Bt Mazmi (G1817084)
Fatimah Fukaiha Binti Mohsin (G1814260)
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Cultural Intelligence is important for teachers as they are cultural agents who shoulder the
responsibility to ensure the success of lesson and interaction of a multicultural classroom. As
language also comes along with its culture (Cutler & Mallaburn, 2019), ESL classrooms will
be the locale of this study in identifying how the teachers view their CQ and the challenges
that they faced while conducting their ESL lessons. The dynamic of this study will be
governed by theories adapted from Sternberg (2006) and Thomas (2006). The dimensions
that will be looked into are; Metacognitive, Cognitive, Motivational and Behavioural.
1.1 Background of the Study
After 62 years of independence, national unity continues to be a struggle for the Malaysian
citizens, when every little difference are argued and consensus can hardly be attained in every
occurrence. For instance, the issue of opening canteen for the non-Muslims during fasting
month, inequality that occurs in school that cause students flocking to national-type schools,
the Jawi-Khat implementation by the ministry of education which has sparked an uproar of
Islamization and many more (Mok, 2013; Malaysia Today, 2017; Baharom, 2019).Among
the efforts that can be done to curb racial tension is by inculcating Cultural Intelligence
among the citizen through education (Thomas, 2006).
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) among teachers is important to ensure that the outreach of their
classroom lesson and communication caters the students of all sorts. CQ is not only important
for the teachers but also every individual that desires to be successful in Global Economy
(Bele & Hebalkar, 2019). Therefore it is important not only for the teachers to develop their
own CQ but also to impart this to the students at every level before they embark into the
working world.

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1.2 Statement to The Problem
Previous studies have discussed about cultural education and levels of cultural intelligence in
schools but studies of CQ in the Malaysian context remain scarce. Therefore, there is a need
to look into the level of CQ amongst the stakeholders in within the education setting and what
are the difficulties that they are facing beginning from the learning environment itself. In the
case of our study, the stakeholders are teachers and students.
1.3 ResearchObjectives
1. To identify the level of Cultural Intelligence among ESL teachers in conducting their
classroom lesson.
2. To explore the challenges faced by ESL teachers in conducting their classroom lesson.
1.4 ResearchQuestions
1. What is the level of Cultural Intelligence among ESL teachers in conducting their
classroom lesson?
2. What are the challenges faced by ESL teachers in conducting their classroom lesson?
1.5 Theoretical Framework
Figure 1: Adapted from Theory of Cultural Intelligence (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2006)

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In figure 1, it can be seen that there are 4 elements that constitute the build of CQ in a person.
Metacognitive CQ involves subconscious mind that is aware of cultural differences in the
classroom, Cognitive CQ is the knowledge about the different culture that is obtained through
education and not assumption, Behavioral CQ shows how a person adapt or react to a person
or group of people from a different culture. This was also explained in Cutler and Mallaburn
(2019) that teachers’ behaviour towards students from different cultural background will also
determine their success and failure in school. Lastly, Motivational CQ. This type of CQ
involve the feeling of comfort, ease and eagerness to communicate and learn about another
culture. Teachers’ motivation is important to encourage lifelong and independent learning
that will increase the cultural competency of a teacher (Kang & Kim, 2019).
The instrument that will be used for this study was adapted from (Johnson & Buko, 2013). To
further understand the level of teachers’ Cultural Intelligence in this study, Figure 2 as above
by Thomas (2006) has illustrated the different Levels of Cultural Intelligence. This will also
be explored in this study. The dynamic will be further elaborated in the methodology section.
Figure 2: Level of Cultural Intelligence (Thomas, 2006)
1.6 Significance of the Study
Findings of the study will help both teachers and students to be aware of their level of CQ
and the important elements that constitute CQ to communicate effectively in within the
school multicultural community. It will also provide insights on how educators may improve
their classroom lessons in order to inculcate cultural intelligence among the students.

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1.7 Delimitations
This study will only focus on teachers from secondary school. Therefore, it might not be
generalizable to other teachers or educators from primary or tertiary level. Findings of this
study will be based on quantitative data obtained from survey questionnaire. Therefore,
researchers will not be able to get an in- depth understanding on the level of the teachers’ CQ
and the challenges that they faced while conducting the research. This can be an area to be
covered in future research.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Cultural Intelligence
The term ‘Cultural Intelligence’ in this study refers to the process of cultural knowledge
acquisition and improvement through social experience (Thomas, 2006). In this study, the
social experience that will be looked into evolves around the school context.It also refers to a
person adaptability to a multicultural environment (Early & Ang, 2003 in Bele & Hebalkar,
2019)
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Importance of Cultural Intelligence for Stakeholders in School: Teachers and
Students
According to Watkins (2016), unity in a diverse society should start from school where every
races from different cultures and background gather and learn together in the same school
compound. This is because school is a training ground before entering the real world.
Therefore, it is highly important to instil Cultural Intelligence (CQ) among the students,
especially of those who are learning in a Multicultural classroom. This is also in agreement
with a study done by Suharli. Supriatna, Maryani and Komalasari (2018). From the findings
in Suharli et.al (2018), it was stated that the students have to be equipped with awareness and
knowledge on cultural diversity and adaptability to be able to function as an effective
member of society. Among the strategies that can be used are, giving examples, exhibition in
schools, discussion and many more. The strategies can be done directly or indirectly while
having conversation or reading a literature piece (Cutler & Mallaburn, 2019). In some lessons,
indirect association with real life experiences and illustration will grow the students’ interest
to learn more about other culture (Omar, Aderi, Noh, Isa, & Abdul, 2015). To implement

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these strategies, teachers need to play dominant roles and they themselves need to be aware
of their own Cultural Intelligence (Bele & Hebalkar, 2019; Lopes and Murphy, 2016; Petrovi,
2014).
However , it is argued that the current implementation of Multicultural Education in school
did not satisfy the need to curb the density of dispute that occurs in the world today(Kang &
Kim, 2019; Watkins & Noble, 2016). Continuous discourse is needed with, not only the
students but also the parents from the different cultural background to gain in depth
understanding of the students’ learning needs (Watkins & Noble, 2016) . A key factor in
serving students and families with diverse cultural backgrounds is a teacher’s CQ and those
with the highest initial CQ will find it easier to adjust to their new life. (Keung, 2013). To be
able to do so, teachers need to develop their CQ to communicate effectively in the education
setting. Conversely in different studies, teachers and educators reported a lack of training
from the university in Multicultural Education and this has affected both their proficiency to
communicate with their colleagues and students (Bele & Hebalkar, 2019; Kang & Kim, 2019;
Lopes & Murphy, 2016; Petrovi, 2014). Keung and Rockinson (2013) asserted that for
Multicultural Education Training to be impactful, it requires a long time (six to nine months)
and teachers need to get their training first-hand in a Multicultural setting.(K. Keung & J.
Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2013)
2.2 Culturally Intelligent Teachers
Due to variety different life experiences, each with their own unique cultural qualities, some
people will have a naturally higher CQ than others. However, the big difference between CQ
and other common measurements for intelligence such as IQ is that anyone can improve their
CQ. CQ drive, knowledge, strategy and action are all competencies that any person can boost.
There is no limit to what you can accomplish when it comes to CQ(Keung & Rockinson,
2013). This shall elucidate that, much of the teachers’ learning will be driven by experiences,
like moving to a new place, city or country, being transfered to a new workplace and meeting
different background of students. Hence, there is no ceiling for the growth of CQ amongst the
teachers.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, there are four different domains that constitute CQ ;
Metacognitive, Cognitive, Behavioural and Motivational (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2006).
These dimensions have been discussed in some studies as essential for teachers to be aware

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of because it will affect their classroom conduct (Kang & Kim, 2019; Omar et al., 2015).
Both study agreed that a teacher with high level of CQ would be comfortable to teach
students from other background, keen to gain additional knowledge about the students,
imposing high adaptability to differences through behaviour and have sufficient knowldge
about other culture that will enable them to impart the knowledge to the students, directly or
indirectly. Keung & Rockinson (2013) mentioned that a teacher with a high CQ is capable or
empowering students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using referents to
impart knowledge, skills and attitudes. Whether you are teaching at home or abroad, cultural
intelligence is a growing necessity for the teachers.
It can be seen from the above review that Cultural Intelligence among teachers has emerge as
a prominent subject to be discussed with accord to the importance that it shoulders. It is also
shown that it is important for the teachers to be aware of their level of CQ in order to become
and effective teacher in a Multicultural classroom. Nevertheless, the research of CQ among
teachers in Malaysian context is yet to be found. Therefore, there is a need to explore how
Malaysian teachers perceive their own CQ and the difficulties that they faced while
conducting their Multicultural classroom.
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 ResearchDesign
This study is a mixed-method study that employs Explanatory Design. This design is suitable
for this study because the findings from the quantitative data will be given higher priority as
compared to the qualitative data. Yet, the data attained from both sources will complement
and enhance one another (Fraekel, Norman E. Wallen, & Helen H. Hyun, 2012; Teddlie &
Tashakkori, 2009).The dominant method will be the survey questionnaire and the
complementary method is the single open-ended question in the survey questionnaire in
which the data will be analyzed qualitatively.
3.2 Paradigm of the research
The paradigm of the research is Positivism. This is because the study will be primarily
quantitative and the values of inquiry will be controlled by the scale chosen by the researcher.
The nature of reality in this study is understood imperfectly and probabilistically. The causes
will also be identified in a probabilistic sense that changes over time (Teddlie & Tashakkori,
2009)

25. EditedVersion
3.3 Sampling Technique and Procedure
The sampling technique that will be used in this study is Purposive Sampling technique. This
sampling technique is suitable for this study because the researcher requires samples that can
provide lucid information on the phenomenon that will be look into in this study(Fraekel et
al., 2012, p.100). The phenomenon that will be looked into in this study is Cultural
Intelligence among Teachers in ESL classroom. Samples will be selected based on certain
criteria aligned by the researcher. The criteria are as below
No Criteria Purpose
1 English Language Secondary
School Teachers
 This is because secondary school ESL
teachers teach the literature component and
different compulsory texts that involve
different cultural background.
 Students from secondary school classroom
are adolescents and this might enable
researchers to depict a better description of
feeling from the teachers while dealing
with student from Multicultural
background
2 Teach in government school, in
which the classes consist of
students from Multicultural
background
 This is to ensure that the self-report
experience about teaching in an ESL
Multicultural classroom is more vivid.
3 A permanent or confirmed
teacher (not trainees or those
under probation)
 This is because the teachers will have more
than 3 years of experience and they could
provide information about their experience
teaching in a Multicultural classroom that
might have changed through times.
4 Malaysian  This is to ensure that the reference for
cultural background only evolve around the
different cultures in Malaysian context.
Perspective from an expat might differ due

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to the different cultural reference.
Fifty respondents will be selected based on the criteria as stated above. They will also
represent teachers from different races to ensure that the researcher will be able to attain
robust perspectives attained from the teachers from different races.
3.5 Instrument
The instrument that will be used in this study is a research questionnaire adapted from
Johnson and Buko (2013). The domains that will be explained in this study are adapted from
Strenberg and Grigorenko (2006) which are; Metacognitive, Cognitive, Behavioral and
Motivational. To avoid the slipup from the participants while answering the survey, a 5-likert
scale has been chosen and not more or less than that to ensure that the data attained will still
provide rich information and not a lesser amount of self-report experience that is close to
their personal perception (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009)
There will be twelve close-ended questions and a single open-ended questions. The survey
questionnaire will be divided into four sections. Section A shall cover the teachers’
demographic data, Section B will inquire the Metacognitive CQ of the teachers in choosing
materials for the lesson and lastly Section C will inquire the Motivational, Behavioral and
Cognitive CQ of the samples while conducting their lessons in an ESL classroom. The last
section which is Section D will include one open-ended question. These twelve questions will
assist the researcher to answer the first research question: What is the level of Cultural
Intelligence among ESL teachers in conducting their classroom lesson?The second research
question is ‘What are the challenges faced by ESL teachers in conducting their classroom
lesson?’ This will be answered through the one question in Section D.
3.6 Ethical Considerations
Teachers who will be selected as samples of this study shall come from different government
secondary schools in Malaysia. Therefore, researchers will ensure that the school authorities
will grant permission before the questionnaires are distributed. Researchers will also ensure
that informed consent is attained from the teachers that will be involved in this study. This is
to confirm the confidentiality of the data will be protected at all times.

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3.7 ResearchProcedures
3.7.1 Data Collection
The survey will be distributed using hard-copy and also online google forms. This is to
ensure that the mode of answering the survey is most convenient for the samples as the
feeling of discomfort might affect the response they will give on the survey (Fraekel et al.,
2012).
3.7.2 Data Analysis
The data analysis employed will depend largely on the quantitative data and complemented
by the qualitative data attained from the open-ended question. To answer the first RQ, the
quantitative data collected will be analyzed using, Descriptive Statistics, Independent T-Test
and Correlation T-Test. To answer the second RQ, responses from the single open ended
question will be analyzed using thematic data analysis to identify common emerging themes
that will complement the quantitative data (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2009). The data will be
triangulated and the results will be discussed in the next chapter.

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