ENHANCING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE AND ORAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION: A TWO-PHASE IPA FRAMEWORK USING FILM-BASED CRITICAL INCIDENTS AND THEME-BASED ACTIVITIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v10i3.6215Keywords:
integrated performance assessment (IPA), critical incident technique (CIT), films, intercultural communicative competence (ICC)Abstract
This paper presents a method that combines the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) framework with critical incidents from films to enhance intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and language proficiency in oral cultural expression, addressing challenges in culture and language learning in EFL contexts. IPA's three communicative modes—interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal—integrate assessment, instruction, and learning. Films serve as a rich source of cultural examples, which are then analyzed using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) to explore cultural conflicts and resolution strategies. IPA thematic units based on the critical incidents discussed were designed to further reinforce and assess students’ communication skills throughout the process. The participants include 24 non-English majors who enrolled in the course Discussion of Cultural Issues. Quantitative data, including ICS scale scores and IPA rubric scores, analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test and qualitative data from reflective reports, film presentation content, and interviews, analyzed through thematic analysis, demonstrate significant improvements in ICC and oral proficiency in conveying cultural ideas. These findings effectively address the challenges in culture and language teaching. Qualitative feedback further supports the approach, and the paper concludes with recommendations for integrating it into language teaching practices.
Article visualizations:
References
ACTFL (2015). Word-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. Alexandria, VA. Retrieved from https://www.actfl.org/uploads/files/general/World-ReadinessStandardsforLearningLanguages.pdf
Adair-Hauck, B., Glisan, E. W., Koda, K., Swender, E. B., & Sandrock, P. (2006). The Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA): Connecting assessment to instruction and learning. Foreign Language Annals, 39(3), 359–382. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2006.tb02894.x
Adair-Hauck, B., Glisan, E. W., & Troyan, F. J. (2015). Implementing Integrated Performance Assessment. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED585795
Al-Shammari, A. H. (2021). Intercultural Communicative Competence in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era: Investigation of Pre-service English Teachers in Kuwait. The Asian EFL Journal. 28 (2), 219-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.35826/ijetsar.659
Bhawuk, D. P. S., & Brislin, R. W. (2000). Cross-cultural training: A review. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49(2), 163–191. https://doi.org/10.1111/1464-0597.00011
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (5th ed.). Pearson Education. Retrieved from https://gustavorubinoernesto.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/H-Douglas-Brown-Principles-of-Language-Learning-and-Teaching.pdf
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. https://spada.uns.ac.id/pluginfile.php/253332/mod_resource/content/1/ICC%20Byram.pdf
Byram, M. (2021). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence: Revisited. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410251
Chang, W-W. (2009). Schema adjustment in cross-cultural encounters: a study of expatriate international aid service workers. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33, 57–68. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.12.003
Chao, T. C. (2013). A diary study of university EFL learners’ intercultural learning through films. Culture and Curriculum, 26(3), 247–265. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2013.833936
Chao, T. C. (2014). The development and application of an intercultural communicative competence scale for university EFL learners. English Teaching & Learning, 38(4), 79–124. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304703291_The_Development_and_Application_of_an_Intercultural_Competence_Scale_for_University_EFL_Learners
Chao, T. (2021). Enhancing English learners’ critical cultural awareness through film-based reflective tasks. In Y. N. Leung (Ed.), Reflections on the English Language Teaching and Learning in the Global and Diversified World (pp. 1-29). Taipei: Crane Publisher. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356264241_Enhancing_English_Learners'_Critical_Cultural_Awareness_through_Film-based_Reflective_Tasks
Chen, Y-f., Tjosvold, D., & Su, S. F. (2005). Goal interdependence for working across cultural boundaries: Chinese employees with foreign managers. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29, 429–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.05.010
Chien, C. W. (2018). Analysis of six Taiwanese EFL student teachers’ professional learning from writing, discussing, and analyzing critical incidents. Teacher Development, 22(3), 339–354. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2017.1403368
Corbett, J. (2022). An Intercultural Approach to English Language Teaching. Multilingual Matters. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/29817095_An_Intercultural_Approach_to_English_Language_Teaching
Deardorff, D. K. (2006). Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Communicative Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241–266. Retrieved from https://www.mccc.edu/~lyncha/documents/Deardorff-identificationandassessmentofinterculturalcompetenceasanoutcomeofInternationalizat.pdf
Dela Cruz, K.C.K., Salzman, M.B., Brislin, R., & Losch, N. (2006). Hawaiian attributional perspectives on intercultural interactions in higher education: Development of an intercultural sensitizer. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 30, 119–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.08.008
Donato, R. (2000). Sociocultural contributions to understanding the foreign and second language classroom. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 27–50). Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313163732_Sociocultural_contributions_to_understanding_the_foreign_and_second_language_classroom
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://alad.enallt.unam.mx/modulo7/unidad1/documentos/CLT_EllisTBLT.pdf
Estaji, M. & Savarabadi, M. F. (2020). English as an International Language: Reconstructing EFL teachers’ cultural awareness and perception of teaching culture. The journal of English as an international language. 15(1), 82-99. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1259912.pdf
Fantini, A. (2006). Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. Retrieved June 8,2014, from http://www.sit.edu/publications/docs/feil_research_report.pdf
Finch, A. (2010). Critical incidents and language learning: Sensitivity to initial conditions. System, 38(3), 422–431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2010.05.004
Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51(4), 327–358. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0061470
Ismaili, M. (2013). The effectiveness of using movies in the EFL classroom - A Study Conducted at South East European University. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2, 121–132. http://dx.doi.org/10.5901/ajis.2012.v2n4p121
Kabooha, R. H. (2016). Using movies in EFL classrooms: A study conducted at the English Language Institute (ELI), King Abdul-Aziz University. English Language Teaching, 9, 248. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v9n3p248
Kachru, B. (1985). Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: English language in the outer circle. In R. Quirk and H. Widowson (Eds.), English in the world: Teaching and learning the language and literatures (p. 11–36). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10993-007-9060-9
Kurniawan, I., Sabaruddin, S., & Lubis, A. A. (2022). The implementation of the integrated performance assessment (IPA) model to improve English students’ speaking skills. JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 7(2), 432–443. https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v7i2.20860
Lin, S.W. (2024). Engaging with Global Englishes and cultures through movies: A bottom-up curricular initiative. Language Teaching and Learning. 14 (1), 147–162. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378174446_Engaging_with_Global_Englishes_and_cultures_through_movies_A_bottom-up_curricular_initiative
Lingley, D. (2006) Apologies Across Cultures: An Analysis of Intercultural Communication Problems Raised in the Ehime Maru Incident. The Asian EFL Journal. 8(1), 97-122. Retrieved from https://dms-at-du.livejournal.com/11152.html
Liu, K. L. (2021). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC): Experience with Student-authored Critical Incidents. Taiwan Journal of TESOL.18(1), 1–27. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1288991
Mirzaee, A., & Aliakbari, M. (2018). “They now respect me and send me to the best schools!”: Identity construction of an Iranian EFL teacher. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 15(1), 21–42. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2017.1327794
Plengkham, B. & Wasanasomsithi, P. (2023). Effects of integrated performance assessment modules on English speaking ability of Thai EFL undergraduate students. LEARN Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 16(1), 448–472. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1380968.pdf
Portera, A. (2020). Has multiculturalism failed? Let’s start the era of interculturalism for facing diversity issues. Intercultural Education, 31(4), 390–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1765285
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ro/books/about/Approaches_and_Methods_in_Language_Teach.html?id=HrhkAwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
Roell, C. (2010). Intercultural training with films. English Teaching Forum, 48(2), 2–15. Retrieved from https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/48_2-etf-intercultural-training-with-films.pdf
Shapira-Lishchinsky, O. (2011). Teachers’ critical incidents: Ethical dilemmas in teaching practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(3), 648–656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.11.003
Stakhnevich, J. (2002). Using critical incidents to teach cross-cultural sensitivity. Internet TESL Journal, 8(3). http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Stakhnevich-Critical
Straffon, D. A. (2003). Assessing the intercultural sensitivity of high school students attending an international school. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27 (5), 487–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(03)00041-5
Summerfield, E. (1993). Crossing Cultures Through Film. Intercultural Press, Inc., Yarmouth, Maine, U.S.A. Retrieved from https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/crossing-cultures-through-film_ellen-summerfield/610646/?srsltid=AfmBOoqRwnNWfo5yKbSB8yDnoatbYaG92vfxtCg4VkRvgyO9TDb3uJZ3#edition=57399923
Tambunan, R. W., & Kurniawan, H. (2024). An implementation of integrated performance assessment model in vocational English for communication learning. JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 9(1), 167–181. https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v9i1.30876
Tomalin, B., & Stempleski, S. (1993). Cultural awareness. Oxford: OUP. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ls/books?id=sPGdBgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Wight, A. R. (1995). The critical incident as a training tool. In S. M. Fowler (ed.), Intercultural sourcebook: Cross-cultural training methods (Vol. 1, pp. 127–140). Intercultural Press. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/interculturalsou0001unse
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).


