The Use of Deardorff's Process Model of Intercultural Competences in Intercultural Training - an empirical investigation.

Abstract

The current world is more interconnected than ever before and multiple cultures are in contact with each other on a regular basis. Thus, intercultural competences are a key qualification, particularly in the international labor market. However, previous research and scholars could not yet settle on one definition of the term intercultural competences. This issue occurs when training intercultural competences as crucial skills in the labor market. This paper aims to investigate how theoretical models could be implemented in intercultural training to give a starting point for research-based training of intercultural competences. For this purpose, the process model of intercultural competences by Darla Deardorff (2006) was used. The model does not promote a linear, but circular development of intercultural competences and thus is the first model of this kind. The study investigates the application of the model in intercultural training via qualitative research, namely a combination of semi-structured interviews with six experts in the field of intercultural training and content analysis. The findings of this research show that linear models are widely used within intercultural training, whereas a circular model, such as Deardorff’s is not yet implemented. Nevertheless, the results showed that the majority of the components from Deardorff’s model are incorporated in the trainings, without the experts being aware of the alignment. Moreover, the study revealed that although most experts were not familiar with the model, they would implement it in their training, due to its unique approach of circularity.