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Abstract:
Purpose
The purpose of this research was to explore the impacts of two primary schools’ international exchange activities
(one Taiwanese Japanese and the other TaiwaneseSingaporean) on primary students’ cognitive competence of
intercultural communication.
Design/methodology/approach
Open-ended questionnaires (worksheets) and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data in this
research. The researcher designed the questionnaires which were completed by primary students participating in
exchange activities. The researcher also interviewed 40 participating primary exchange students.
Findings
This research derived four findings: 1. Regarding cultural knowledge, international exchange activities promoted the
primary students’ knowledge of exchange countries’ cultures, but they did not facilitate systematic understanding of
their cultural systems. 2. Concerning communication rules, the primary students’ perception of communication rules
was based on the concept of manners as emphasized by their teachers. However, the primary students’ perception of
the appropriateness of communication content was limited. 3. With respect to relating and comparison, international
exchange activities contributed to the primary students’ confirming what they had learned, eliminating stereotypes and
learning cultural similarities and differences. Nevertheless, the primary students exhibited little competence of comparing
in-depth cultural contents between different countries and demonstrated the fallacy of hasty generalisation. 4. Regarding
interpretation and cognitive flexibility, the accumulated experience and knowledge of other cultures through the process
of exchange facilitated the primary students’ employment of cognitive flexibility in interpretation. Generally, the primary
students’ interpretations were diverse but exhibited the problems of misattribution, a lack of meaning, and essentialism.
Originality/value
In previous research on primary students’ face-to-face international exchange activities, cognitive competence in
intercultural communication has been neglected. The present research is original in that it compensates this deficiency.
In addition, the analytical results and suggestions provided by this research on primary students’ cognitive competence
in intercultural communication can facilitate the design of primary schools’ international exchange activities and
intercultural communication training programmes.
Author:
Author Description:
Associate Professor, Department of International and Comparative Education, National Chi Nan University, Nantou, Taiwan.
Keywords:
APA:
Huang, W.-D. (2017). The Impacts of Taiwanese--Japanese and Taiwanese--Singaporean Exchange Activities on Primary Students’ Cognitive Competence in Intercultural Communication. Contemporary Educational Research Quarterly, 25(2), 1-41.
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