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Toward intercultural competence : intercultural training for Japanese students in the United States

Author

Tomoko Harpster, University of the Pacific

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Intercultural Relations

First Advisor

Janet Bennett

First Committee Member

Kazuko Ikeda

Second Committee Member

Kent Warren

Third Committee Member

Laura Bathurst

Abstract

This thesis project explored how study abroad program administrators can help Japanese students develop intercultural competence through predeparture and ongoing intercultural training so as to improve their capacity to adapt effectively to American cultural norms. The ultimate purpose of this thesis project was to help Japanese students who were studying in the U.S. balance their involvement with their peer group from Japan and build relationships with people in the U.S. in order to fully experience American culture. To provide a context for this study, a review of the literature was conducted regarding the challenges faced by Japanese students while studying in the United States. It also examined literature concerned with elements relevant to the experience of Japanese students as well as literature on the intercultural training that I put together at the end of this project; those elements included: cultural issues, intercultural competence, training design, transformative learning, and intercultural training.

Interviews were conducted with international education professionals who work with Japanese students in study abroad programs to find out how their Japanese students adapted their Japanese cultural norms while in the U.S. Based on the literature, some existing intercultural training programs, and the interviews, I designed an intercultural training program for a group of Japanese students who will attend a ten-month study abroad program in the northwest part of the U.S. The training program includes the following elements: learning about ones own culture and other cultures, observing and experiencing switching cultural behaviors, and reflecting critically on the interactions with peer Japanese students as well as American students during the study abroad.

Pages

143

Recommended Citation

Harpster, Tomoko. (2010). Toward intercultural competence : intercultural training for Japanese students in the United States. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/761