Promoting Intercultural Competence by means of International Voluntary Service

Journal title PSICOLOGIA DI COMUNITA’
Author/s Anna Maria Meneghini
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2014/2
Language Italian Pages 11 P. 97-107 File size 65 KB
DOI 10.3280/PSC2014-002008
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

International volunteers report that they gain a lot from their experiences abroad in terms of social and relational competences, especially when they are called on to interact in multicultural environments. This study involved 69 volunteers who had returned from overseas placements. The aim was to analyze to what extent the conditions that are supposed to foster Copyright © FrancoAngeli N.B: Copia ad uso personale. È vietata la riproduzione (totale o parziale) dell’opera con qualsiasi mezzo effettuata e la sua messa a disposizione di terzi, sia in forma gratuita sia a pagamento. 127 intercultural competence (degree of immersion in the host community, guided reflection, contact reciprocity and institutional support) contributed to the participants’ individual perception of the degree of competence they had gained. The data suggest that some of these conditions might be taken into particular account by sending organizations when they plan International Voluntary Service programs since these aspects influence the development of intercultural competence.

Keywords: International volunteering, intercultural competence, immersion, guided reflection, contact reciprocity.

  1. Guilherme M. (2007). English as a global language and education for cosmopolitan citizenship. Language and Intercultural communication, 7: 72-90. DOI: 10.2167/laic184.
  2. Allard R. and Landry R. (1992). Ethnolinguistic vitality beliefs and language maintenance and loss. In W. Fase, K. Jaspaert e S. Kroon, editors, Maintenance and loss of minority languages (pp. 171-195), Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  3. Allport G.W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Anheier H.K. and Salamon L.M. (1999). Volunteering in cross-national perspective: Initial comparison. Law and Contemporary Problems, 62(4): 43-65. DOI: 10.2307/119226
  4. Balcazar F.E., Suarez- Balcazar Y. and Taylor-Ritzler T. (2009). Cultural competence: Development of a conceptual framework. Disability and Rehabilitation, 20: 1-8. DOI: 10.1080/0963828090277375
  5. Behrnd V. and Porzelt S. (2012). Intercultural competence and training outcomes of students with experiences abroad. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36: 213-223. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.04.00
  6. Bennet J.M., Bennet M.J. and Allen W. (1999). Developing intercultural competence in the language classroom. In: R.M. Paige, D.L. Lange e Y.A. Yershova, editors, Culture as the core: Integrating culture into the language curriculum. Carla working paper, 15 (pp. 13-45), Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition.
  7. Berry J.W. (1992). Acculturation and adaptation in a new society, International Migration, 30: 69-84. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2435.1992.tb00776.
  8. Byram M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
  9. Cook S.W. (1962). The systematic analysis of socially significant events: a strategy for social research. Journal of Social Issues, 18: 66-84. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1962.tb02201.
  10. Deardorff D.K. (2006). Identification and Assessment of Intercultural Competence as a Student Outcome of Internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3): 241-266. DOI: 10.1177/102831530628700
  11. Fee A. and Gray S.J. (2011). Fast-tracking expatriate development: the unique learning environments of international volunteer placements. The International Journal of human resource Management, 22(3): 530-522. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2011.54363
  12. Fee A. and Gray S.J. (2013). Transformational learning experiences of international development volunteers in the Asia-Pacific: The case of a multinational NGO. Journal of World Business, 48: 196-208. DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2012.07.00
  13. Holmes P. and O’Neill G. (2012). Developing and evaluating intercultural competence: Ethnographies of intercultural encounters. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36: 707-718. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2012.04.01
  14. Hudson S. and Inkson K. (2006). Volunteer overseas development workers: the hero’s adventure and personal transformation. Career Development International, 11(4): 304-320.
  15. Hunter B., White G.P. and Godbey G.C. (2006). What does it mean to be globally competent? Journal of Studies in International Education, 10: 267-285. DOI: 10.1177/102831530628693
  16. Jones A. (2005). Assessing international youth service programmes in two low income countries. Voluntary Action, 7(2): 87-100.
  17. Leigh R. (2005). The evolving nature of the international service through the United Nations Volunteers. International Service and Volunteering: Developments, Impact and Challenges, 7(2): 27-34.
  18. Lewis D. (2006). Globalization and international service: A developmental perspective. Voluntary Action, 7(2): 13-26.
  19. Lough B.J. (2009). Principles of effective practice in international social work field placements. Journal of Social Work Education, 45(3): 467-480. DOI: 10.5175/JSWE.2009.20080008
  20. Lough B.J. (2011). International volunteers’ perceptions of intercultural competence. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35: 452-464.
  21. Machin J. (2008). The impact of returned international volunteers on the UK: a scoping review. London: Institute for Volunteering Research.
  22. McBride A.M. and Lough B.J. (2010). Access to International Volunteering. Nonprofit Management e Leadership, 21(2): 195-208. DOI: 10.1002/nml.2002
  23. McBride A.M., Lough B.J. and Sherraden M.S. (2012). International Service and the Perceived Impact on Volunteers. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(6): 969-990. DOI: 10.1177/089976401142153
  24. Navas M., Rojas A.J., Garcia M. and Pumares P. (2007). Acculturation strategies and attitude according to the Relative Acculturation Extended Model (RAEM): The perspective of natives versus immigrants. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31: 67-86. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2006.08.00
  25. Ogberg K. (1960). Cultural shock: adjustment to new cultural environments. Practical Anthropology, 7: 177-182.
  26. Pettigrew T.F. (1998). Intergroup contact theory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49: 65-85. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.6
  27. Pettigrew T.F. and Tropp L.R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90(5): 751-783. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.75
  28. Sherraden M.S., Lough B.J. and McBride A.M. (2008). Effects of International Volunteering and Service: Individual and Institutional Predictors. Voluntas, 19: 395-421. DOI: 10.1007/s11266-008-9072-
  29. Sherraden M.S., Stingham J., Sow S.C. and McBride A.M. (2006). The Forms and Structure of International Voluntary Service. Voluntas, 17: 163-180. DOI: 10.1007/s11266-006-9011-
  30. Simon C.A. and Wang C. (2002). The impact of Americorps Service on volunteer participants: Results from a 2-year study in four Western States. Administration & Society, 34: 522-540. DOI: 10.1177/00953990223727
  31. Suarez- Balcazar Y.E. and Rodakowski J. (2007). Becoming a cultural competent occupational therapy practioner. OT Practice, 12(17): 14-17.
  32. Thomas G. (2001). Human Traffic: Skills, Employers and International Volunteers. London: Demos.
  33. Turner J.C. (1982). Towards a cognitive redefinition of the social group. In: H. Tajfel, editor, Social identity and intergroup relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  34. Unstead-Joss R. (2008). An analysis of volunteer motivation: implication for international development. Voluntary Action, 9(1): 3-20.
  35. Yashima T. (2010). The effects of international volunteer work experiences on intercultural competence of Japanese youth. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34: 268-282. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.12.00

Anna Maria Meneghini, Promuovere competenza interculturale attraverso il Servizio Volontario Internazionale in "PSICOLOGIA DI COMUNITA’" 2/2014, pp 97-107, DOI: 10.3280/PSC2014-002008