Ảnh hưởng của việc tham gia các chương trình trao đổi tại asean đối với độ nhạy cảm văn hoá và sự phát triển cá nhân của sinh viên việt nam

The research aims to seek investigation into two main areas: the manifestation of intercultural sensitivity and the changes regarding personal growth experienced by Vietnamese university students doing shortterm exchange in ASEAN countries. In order to achieve the established targets, qualitive approach was adopted for data collection and analysis. Specifically, the researcher utilized three data collection instruments namely questionnaire, interview and documents analysis. Data obtained through these methods were closely examined using content analysis approach. In the end, the researcher was able to generate several conclusions based on the analyzed data. In terms of intercultural sensitivity, students showed a transition from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism throughout their exchange as they started from stereotypes and lack of understanding about host countries to development of appreciative attitude and willingness to integrate into the host community. However, despite reaching different stages in the ethnorelative category, the students still expressed ethnocentric attitude towards certain aspects of host countries such as food or religious habits. As for personal growth, the data revealed that after exchange, students experienced improvement regarding emotional resilience, openness flexibility, perceptual acuity and personal autonomy. Specifically, they were able to handle different emotional issues, became more acceptant towards cultural differences and attentive to their international friends. Most importantly, several students reflected on their recognition of their self identity and increased pride in being an ASEAN citizen after going on exchange The research aims to seek investigation into two main areas: the manifestation of intercultural sensitivity and the changes regarding personal growth experienced by Vietnamese university students doing shortterm exchange in ASEAN countries. In order to achieve the established targets, qualitive approach was adopted for data collection and analysis. Specifically, the researcher utilized three data collection instruments namely questionnaire, interview and documents analysis. Data obtained through these methods were closely examined using content analysis approach. In the end, the researcher was able to generate several conclusions based on the analyzed data. In terms of intercultural sensitivity, students showed a transition from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism throughout their exchange as they started from stereotypes and lack of understanding about host countries to development of appreciative attitude and willingness to integrate into the host community. However, despite reaching different stages in the ethnorelative category, the students still expressed ethnocentric attitude towards certain aspects of host countries such as food or religious habits. As for personal growth, the data revealed that after exchange, students experienced improvement regarding emotional resilience, openness flexibility, perceptual acuity and personal autonomy. Specifically, they were able to handle different emotional issues, became more acceptant towards cultural differences and attentive to their international friends. Most importantly, several students reflected on their recognition of their self identity and increased pride in being an ASEAN citizen after going on exchange

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS AND CULTURES OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING

COUNTRIES

GRADUATION PAPER

INTERCULTURAL SENSITIVITY AND

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT OF VIETNAMESE STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN SHORT-TERM EXCHANGE COURSES IN ASEAN COUNTRIES

Supervisor: Đỗ Thị Mai Thanh, M.A Student: Nguyễn Phúc Cẩm Nhi Course: QH2015.F1.E1

HANOI – 2019

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA NGÔN NGỮ VÀ VĂN HOÁ CÁC NƯỚC NÓI TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VIỆC THAM GIA CÁC

CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TRAO ĐỔI TẠI ASEAN ĐỐI VỚI

ĐỘ NHẠY CẢM VĂN HOÁ VÀ SỰ PHÁT TRIỂN

CÁ NHÂN CỦA SINH VIÊN VIỆT NAM

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Th.S Đỗ Thị Mai Thanh

Sinh viên: Nguyễn Phúc Cẩm Nhi Khóa: QH2015.F1.E1

HÀ NỘI – 2019

Signature of Approval:

Supervisor’s Comments & Suggestions

ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Nguyen Phuc Cam Nhi, class QH.2015.F1.E1, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, English Language Teacher Education, Honors Program, accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Date

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As a novice researcher, I find writing this research paper a long, arduous, yet intriguing and rewarding experience In retrospect, I am extremely thankful for the abundant assistance that I have received, without which this paper would have never been completed

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my wonderful supervisor, Ms Do Thi Mai Thanh As my teacher and supervisor, through intriguing lessons and motivational sharing, she has sparked my interest in the field

of intercultural communication, thus motivated me to conduct this research Her attentive care, guidance and continuous support have always been tremendous sources of encouragement for me to overcome all difficulties in completing my graduation paper

I also want to send my deepest gratitude to all the participants of this study including 15 Vietnamese students from different universities and regions Not only did they provide valuable information, which acted as crucial source of data for this paper, but they also shared with me intriguing stories about themselves and gave me warm wishes for our research

Last but not least, I have been forever indebted to my family, my friends and my three endearing cats They have always been amazing emotional backup, who have always loved, sympathized and supported me in every stage of doing this research Without them, the past couples of months would have been more stressful and challenging

ABSTRACT

The research aims to seek investigation into two main areas: the manifestation of intercultural sensitivity and the changes regarding personal growth experienced by Vietnamese university students doing short-term exchange in ASEAN countries

In order to achieve the established targets, qualitive approach was adopted for data collection and analysis Specifically, the researcher utilized three data collection instruments namely questionnaire, interview and documents analysis Data obtained through these methods were closely examined using content analysis approach

In the end, the researcher was able to generate several conclusions based on the analyzed data In terms of intercultural sensitivity, students showed a transition from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism throughout their exchange as they started from stereotypes and lack of understanding about host countries to development

of appreciative attitude and willingness to integrate into the host community However, despite reaching different stages in the ethnorelative category, the students still expressed ethnocentric attitude towards certain aspects of host countries such as food or religious habits As for personal growth, the data revealed that after exchange, students experienced improvement regarding emotional resilience, openness/ flexibility, perceptual acuity and personal autonomy Specifically, they were able to handle different emotional issues, became more acceptant towards cultural differences and attentive to their international friends Most importantly, several students reflected on their recognition of their self

identity and increased pride in being an ASEAN citizen after going on exchange

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

Table of contents iii

List of figures, tables and abbreviations v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the study 1

2 Statement of the research problem and research questions 3

3 Scope of the study 3

4 Significance of the study 4

5 Organization of the study 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Literature review 6

1.1 Intercultural competence – Intercultural sensitivity and Developmental model of Intercultural sensitivity (Bennett, 1993) 6

1.2 Personal development and Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (Kelley & Meyers, 1995) 10

1.3 Impact of short-term study abroad on intercultural competence, intercultural sensitivity and personal development 12

2 Research gap 14

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 1 Research design 16

2 Participants 16

2.1 Sampling 16

2.2 Information about the short-term exchange programs 19

3 Data collection instruments 20

4 Data collection procedure 22

5 Data analysis instruments 23

6 Data analysis procedure 23

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 1 Data analysis 26

1.1 Intercultural sensitivity of Vietnamese students participating in short-term exchange in ASEAN countries 26

1.2 Personal development of Vietnamese students participating in short-term exchange in ASEAN countries 38

2 Major findings and discussion 43

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 1 Summary 46

2 Implications of the study 47

3 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 48

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Stages of Development in DMIS (Bennett, 1993) 8

LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Description of DMIS (Bennett, 1993) 10

Table 2 Description of CCAI scales (Kelley & Meyers, 1995) 11

Table 3 Participants profile (Questionnaire) 18

Table 4 Students profile (interview and written reflection) 19

Table 5 Coding matrix of Intercultural sensitivity 24

Table 6 Coding matrix of Personal development 24

Table 7 Intercultural sensitivity development (questionnaire) 29

Table 8 Intercultural sensitivity development (interview and written reflection) 30

Table 9 Personal development of Vietnamese students after exchange 38

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Background of the study

It has been nearly two years since my first exchange experience

in Indonesia, yet I still feel the tremendous impacts of it on different aspects of my life In 2017, I decided to go on a one semester exchange under the SHARE scholarship program at Universitas Indonesia, located in Depok, Jakarta For me, the whole experience was amazing and unforgettable Not only did I have more friends, but I also came to appreciate and understand the cultural values, traditions and practices

of my host country Further comprehension of Indonesia and ASEAN nations, as well as a sense of identity are the main things that the exchange granted me, which I had no expectation of receiving after my exchange Upon returning; however, it was rather difficult for me initially to readapt to my life in home country, partly due to the comments from others about my exchange experience: “It was such a waste of time, you should have gone to a more developed country rather than Indonesia; How come you chose Indonesia, it is a Muslim country;

…” These comments became great distress and disappointment to me, which lead to my determination to prove that my short-term exchange experience in a “less developed nation” is as rewarding as any other exchange programs in other developed countries

According to DeGraaf, Slagter, Larsen and Ditta (2013), there has been a proliferation of short-term study abroad implemented by higher educational institutions worldwide Vietnam is not the exception

of this rising trend as an increasing number of students have begun to engage in short-term exchange programs which last for one semester to

a year, apart from long-term study experiences Such shift has

“intensified the need for assessment” over the influence of these programs on their participants (Paras et al, 2019) As a result, a large number of researches have been conducted on the impacts of short-term

study abroad on students, revealing a close connection between intercultural education experience and intercultural sensitivity Specifically, overseas sojourners are reported to demonstrate great improvements in terms of intercultural awareness, global interdependence, and personal development, also functional knowledge (Chieffo & Griffiths, 2004) Similarly, a number of studies using quantitative methods have emphasized positive changes regarding global awareness, intercultural sensitivity and professional development experienced by students (Nguyen, 2017; Kurt, Olitsky and Geis, 2013, as cited in Maharaja, 2018, p.19) On the other hand, besides the reported positive influence, several researches have reported on the negative experience of students during and after their overseas study (McLachlan & Justice, 2009) as they showed tendency to suffer from reverse cultural shock after their return to home country

Although the influence of short-term abroad programs is recognized through a number of studies worldwide, most of these studies adopt quantitative methods by distributing surveys to a large number of students (Maharaja, 2018, p 19) Therefore, there seems to

be a lack of qualitative plus in-depth research focusing on students’ reflective reports of their experiences Furthermore, so far, few research concerning impacts of international educational experience, particularly short-term study were conducted among Vietnamese context These studies also tend to focus on Vietnamese students studying in European countries, the USA or East Asian nations without paying attention to ASEAN countries (Dao, 2014; Nguyen, 2012 and Dong, 2012) Such gaps in research; therefore, prompted the researcher

self-to enquire inself-to the impacts of short-term study in ASEAN on Vietnamese students, regarding two aspects namely intercultural sensitivity and personal development

2 Statement of the research problem and research questions

This qualitative study aims at exploring the changes regarding intercultural sensitivity and personal development experienced by Vietnamese sojourners who returned to Vietnam after their short-term study in different ASEAN countries, thus highlighting the factors that lead to these transformations Based on these findings, the research is expected to contribute to the existing record of studies on the impacts

of studying abroad in Vietnam The knowledge drawn from this study can also serve as useful reference for future studies into the same topic

In fulfilling these goals, the study seeks answers to the following questions:

1 What are the changes regarding intercultural sensitivity of Vietnamese students participating in short-term exchange courses

in ASEAN countries?

2 What are the changes regarding personal development experienced by Vietnamese students participating in short-term exchange courses in ASEAN countries?

3 Scope of the study

This research focuses on exploring the impacts of short-term exchange program on Vietnamese students as perceived by the sojourners themselves after returning to their home country, regarding intercultural sensitivity and personal development Given the fact that this is a qualitative research, the participants consisted of 15 Vietnamese undergraduates or graduates who engaged in one-semester

or yearlong study abroad programs, which took place in different ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand) Furthermore, the students chosen for this research were the ones who had just completed their exchange within one year then returned to Vietnam for study or work

4 Significance of the study

This study hopes to benefit several groups whose concerns are directly or indirectly related to the international education field First of all, the results of this study are expected to contribute to the existing pool of research on the impacts of international education experience, thus serve as a source of reference for researchers who aspire to enquire into the same matter This research also aims to provide administrators, educators and researchers with qualitative data that evaluate the influence of short-term study abroad in ASEAN countries on students’ intercultural sensitivity and personal development Finally, this study is expected to be of relevance to students who had experienced short-term study abroad by providing them with in-depth reflection of their own experience Simultaneously, researcher hopes that this research would act as a source of reference and motivation for those without any international educational experience before to engage in the opportunities themselves

5 Organization of the study

This research paper consists of 5 chapters with distinctive role as follows First of all, chapter 1 provides an overview of the study with background, statement of the problem, objectives and scope of the research In chapter 2, researcher emphasizes the literature review, which includes the significant definitions and concepts related to the research subject, as well as pinpoints the research gap The whole chapter 3 is spent on elaborating the methodology, particularly research design, participants and method of selection Furthermore, this chapter describes in detail the instruments and procedure utilized in the data collection and data analysis The subsequent chapter (chapter 4) is the most important chapter as it reports the results of the study, thus provides in-depth discussion to generate several implications Finally, the research results are summarized in chapter 5, also certain limitations

are reflected to provide suggestions for further study in the same field

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this section, the researcher will provide an overview of certain concepts related to the research topic

1 Literature review

1.1 Intercultural competence - Intercultural sensitivity and Developmental model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) (Bennett, 1993)

1.1.1 Intercultural competence and intercultural sensitivity

In the context of globalization, it is crucial that people possess intercultural communication competence (Bradford, Allen, & Beisser, 1998) Intercultural communication competence (ICC), according to Bennett (2004), refers to the ability to adjust and adapt behaviors to achieve communication goals in intercultural contexts ICC consists of three domains namely intercultural awareness (cognitive aspect), intercultural sensitivity (affective aspect), and intercultural effectiveness (the behavioral aspect) (Chen & Starosta 1996, as cited in Altan, 2018, p 4) In details, intercultural awareness refers to the cognitive ability of a person to understand and explain a culture; intercultural sensitivity indicates one’s ability to distinguish, appreciate and respect different cultures while intercultural effectiveness emphasizes the capacity to adjust one’s behaviors to serve communicative goals in intercultural communication (Altan, 2018, p

3)

Among the three dimensions, intercultural sensitivity is believed

to be “a prerequisite for intercultural communication competence” (Chen & Starosta, 2000, as cited in Altan, 2018, p 4) In other words, higher intercultural sensitivity is usually associated with increased level

of intercultural communication competence (Hammer, Bennet & Wiseman, 2003, as cited in Maharaja, 2018)

1.1.2 Measuring intercultural sensitivity

However, one major challenge in measuring intercultural competence, also intercultural sensitivity is the lack of a universal framework or instrument (Behrnd and Porzelt, 2012, as cited in Maharaja, 2018, p 27) This vacancy has lead to the development of a number of measuring instruments namely Hammer and Bennet’s (1993) Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), Osland’s (2008) Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES), Costa and McCrae‘s Big Five Personality Inventories (as cited in Nguyen, 2017, p 110)

Among these frameworks, Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) (1993) was chosen as framework for this research judging its suitability to the qualitative design and goals

of the study With this study, the researcher aims to investigate the process of developing intercultural sensitivity throughout the whole exchange experience, rather than the results after the international experience

According to this framework, intercultural sensitivity is considered as a developmental process which consists of six main stages namely Denial, Defense, Minimization, Acceptance, Adaptation and Integration These six stages, according to Bennett (1993), are the specification of the transition between two contradicting concepts, from

“Ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism” While Ethnocentrism is defined as the “lack of acceptance of cultural diversity and outgroups” (Berry & Kalin, 1993, as cited in Altan, 2018, p 2), Ethnorelativism refers to the opposite state of ethnocentrism (Bennett, 2004) In other words, people who demonstrate an ethnocentric orientation tend to “avoid cultural difference” Those in the ethnorelative state, on the other hand, are more willing to “seek cultural difference” (Bennett, 2004)

From the figure, it can be seen that the first three stages: Denial, Defense and Minimization belong to the ethnocentric end Denial refers

to the state when people demonstrate ignorance of cultural difference, or

the “inability to perceive or construct data from differing cultural

contexts” (Bennett, 2004, p.150) This stage is followed by Defense,

during which people “experience cultural difference in a polarized way -

us and them, where one’s own cultures is superior and other cultures are

inferior” (Hammer et al, 2003, p 4) Also according to Bennett (2004),

people experiencing Defense demonstrate feelings of inferiority towards

other cultures or superiority of one’s own culture, which are later

described under the term “Denigration” and “Superiority” A variation of

Defense is Reversal, in which the host culture is considered to be superior

to the original culture of the individual Even though Reversal still

maintains a polarized ‘‘us’’ and ‘‘them’’ worldview, it is unlike Defense

in that people tend to dismisses the threat from other cultures The third

stage - Minimization is a transition from a polarized view and feelings of

threats in Defense to the recognition of cultural similarities Such

similarities are portrayed through “Minimization of human similarity” and

“Minimization of values”, defined as “Universal values” (Bennett, 1993)

The last three stages of DMIS (Bennett, 1993): Acceptance, Adaptation and Integration are parts of the Ethnorelative orientation

In the Acceptance stage, an individual is able to realize and accept the

behavioral and value differences in distinctive cultural contexts

However, this is not equal to the feeling of “agreement” as a person

might accept the existence of “alternative value” and still fell that the

Figure 1 Stages of development in DMIS (Bennett, 1993)

value is “inappropriate” or threatening (Bennett, 2004, p 14) Next is

Adaptation, which refers to the stage in which an individual starts to

show adjustment in terms of behaviors based on the shift in worldview

Bennett (2004) also characterizes the stage with the concept of empathy

- “the ability to take perspective or shift frame of reference vis-à-vis

other cultures” In other words, people at this stage demonstrate a

capacity to communicate and behave appropriately in other cultures

The final ethnorelative stage is Integration, it describes the point when

an individual attains a bicultural or multicultural identity, which allows

for flexible intercultural behavior and communication Bennett (1993)

describes this condition in his research with the term “cultural

marginality”, in which the person’s identity is flexible and not fitted to

any culture frames

Denial Signified by the perception that the person’s

culture is the only real culture; the failure to see cultural differences; self-isolation from the group and indifference towards other cultures

Defense Signified by negative stereotypes and critical

attitude towards other cultures

Minimization Signified by ability to find commonalities

between home and host culture, in other words, establish “superficial culture”

Acceptance Signified by ability to recognize and appreciate

cultural differences through both behaviors and values People at this stage also demonstrate curiosity about other cultures and desire to learn

Adaptation Signified by the competence to communicate

with people of other cultures and to incorporate the world view of others into their own world

view

Integration Signified by the ability to have other cultural

experiences move in and out of their own worldview, also to promote cultural understanding among others

Table 1 Description of DMIS (Bennett, 1993)

1.2 Personal development and Cross-Cultural Adaptability

Inventory (CCAI), (Kelley & Meyers, 1995)

According to Heist and Yonge (1968), personal development refers to “selected dimensions of normal personality functioning and

intellectual activity comprised of attitudes, values and interests though

to be relevant to activities common to the college experience “(as cited

in Kauffman and Kuh, 1984, p.3) Kelly and Meyers (1995) contributed

to this definition by stating that personal development is a “process

involving personal growth, maturity, evolution and expansion of

oneself” (as cited in Maharaji, 2018, p.36)

In order to measure the extent of personal growth in relation to study abroad, several instruments have been developed However,

similar to the situation of intercultural competence, it is difficult to

establish a fixed framework to assess personal development Quite a

number of researchers have already explored this field and proposed

several models namely the Omnibus Personality Inventory (IPO) (Heist

& Yonge, 1968, as cited in Kauffman and Kuh, 1984, p.4); Big Five

Inventory (BFI); the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI)

(Kelly & Meyers, 1995)

For this study, researcher decided to adopt the CCAI framework developed by Kelley and Meyers (1995) since its effectiveness and

reliability have been confirmed through several studies, both

quantitative and qualitative (Nguyen, Biderman & McNary, 2010; Maharaji, 2018) Furthermore, the dimensions proposed in this model suit the nature of this study

The CCAI model is developed to measure cross-cultural adaptability of an individual, which is defined as the ability to communicate as well as adapt to other cultures (Nguyen, Biderman, & McNary, 2010) This framework consists of four dimensions namely: Emotional resilience, Flexibility/ Openness, Perceptual Acuity and Personal Autonomy Descriptions of each dimension can be summarized in the table below

Emotional resilience

Measure the ability to deal with stressful feelings in a constructive way along with a positive attitude

Flexibility/

Openness

Measures the ability to listen to others, to become acquainted with people of other cultures and to try to understand their worldview

Perceptual Acuity

Measures the ability to perceptually be attentive to verbal and non-verbal cues and the ability to communicate interpersonally

Personal Autonomy

Measures the ability to deal with cultural conflict independently and successfully and

to self-directed

Table 2 Description of CCAI scales (Kelley & Meyers, 1995)

1.3 Impact of short-term study abroad on intercultural

competence, intercultural sensitivity and personal development

In this section, the researcher will give a brief overview on the studies conducted on the influence of short-term study abroad on students’ intercultural sensitivity and personal development

In general, most of the studies found emphasized the positive changes experienced by college students engaging in study abroad programs To be more specific, studies utilizing different survey instruments found that “short-term programs, even as short as one month, are worth-while educational endeavors that have significant self-perceived impacts on students’ intellectual and personal lives” (Chieffo & Griffiths, 2004)

A study conducted on a group of American college students engaging in a four-week exchange program in England and Ireland indicated that students tend to be more acceptant and tolerant of the foreign culture, also view the other cultures better than their own (Anderson, 2006) Jackson (2008)’s attempt to investigate a group of Chinese students participating a 5-week exchange in England revealed that the students demonstrated greater empathy and understanding of other cultures (as cited in Nguyen, 2017, p.111) Both of the studies employed the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which is a framework developed by Bennett (1993) This framework is again employed in a quantitative research by Pedersen (2010), which points out that students involving in intercultural activities showed gains regarding intercultural competence, as compared to those staying at home or not engage in the experience Nguyen (2017) also investigated the effects of short-term study abroad using the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale in a quantitative study The results showed that the students participating in short-term exchange programs “demonstrate

an upward trend in intercultural competency” (Nguyen, 2017, p.117) Studies adopting DMIS (Bennett, 1993) and CCAI framework also revealed positive changes regarding students’ intercultural sensitivity and personal development A study by Williams (2005)

using the CCAI construct confirmed that students with international experience showed improvements in terms of cross-cultural adaptability skills compared to those not engaging in any types of study-abroad programs Marx and Moss (2011) investigated the influence experienced by a group of students participating in a teacher education program abroad, using the DMIS framework The results were that these students demonstrated increases level of intercultural competence Another quantitative study which also adopted DMIS framework and IDI indicated that the participants demonstrated both intercultural development and personal growth (Clarke, Flaherty, Wright & MCMillen, 2009, as cited in Maharaja, 2018, p.27) Similarly, Maharaja (2018) employed the DMIS and CCAI framework

to investigate the impacts of study abroad experience on intercultural sensitivity and personality It was reported that students acquire a better understanding of one’s own and another culture and gaining a better appreciation of cultural differences The results also revealed that students gained new perceptions of their native culture after their study abroad experience as well as insights into the host culture

Studies on personal development and study abroad also demonstrate positive changes in terms of sojourners’ personal growth Mcgourty (2014) conducted a research using the Big Five Inventory (BFI) to explore the impacts of short-term and long-term study abroad programs on students His study revealed that both long-term and short-term sojourners experienced greater personal growth as they were more open, emotionally positive, more energetic, etc Similarly, a research adopting the CCAI model developed by Kelley and Meyers (2010) revealed that students engaging in short-term exchange showed several positive changes namely “increased perseverance, self-sufficient, self-awareness, global-mindedness, etc” (Maharaji, 2018, p.30)

In Vietnamese context, this topic also receives interest; however, there have been few studies attempted to address the impact of study

abroad, particularly short-term exchange on student’s intercultural sensitivity and personal development Dong (2012) conducted a study titled “International experience and Intercultural sensitivity of American and Vietnamese high school students” which attempts to explore the impacts of exchange experience on both American and Vietnamese high school students The results indicate that the participants with wider range of international experience reached higher level of intercultural competence, thus increased level of intercultural sensitivity Later Nguyen (2015) also investigates the intercultural competence of Vietnamese students studying in Western countries and discovers that the students became more open-minded, respectful and curious towards other cultures

2 Research gap

Considering these researches, noticeably there tend to be a dearth

of qualitative research since quantitative studies tend to dominate the existing pool Furthermore, as stated by Maharaji (2018), so far, few studies have attempted to investigate both “the intercultural competence and personal development in a qualitative study” (p.27) In addition, several worldwide researches have investigated the relation between short-term study abroad and students’ intercultural competence; however, in Vietnam this aspect still receives little attention from the research body At the same time, most of the research conducted on this topic so far only address the exchange programs in Western or East Asian regions but little attention is given to programs in ASEAN nations Such gaps in literature has prompted the researcher to conduct

this study with the aim to investigate the following aspects: (1) The changes regarding intercultural sensitivity of Vietnamese students who participated in short-term exchange in ASEAN countries; (2) The changes regarding personal growth of Vietnamese students

participating in short-term exchanges in ASEAN countries

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides an overview of this study’s methodology It presents research design, participants, data collection tools and procedure before describing in detail how the data was analyzed

2 Participants

2.1 Sampling

Judging the qualitative nature of the research, purposive sampling was utilized to ensure the availability and credibility of the collected data Furthermore, the sample size differs in accordance with each data collection method

Regarding the questionnaire, the sample consists of 15

Vietnamese students This number is believed to be both cost-effective and time-saving; thus, suitable for researchers to generate in-depth information (Creswell, 2012, as cited in Maharaja, 2018, p 29) According to Creswell (2012, as cited in Maharaja, 2018, p 29), in

purposive sampling, researcher intentionally selected participants based

on certain criteria that fits the characteristics of the research Therefore, researcher chose participants who satisfied the following criteria:

• Undergraduates or graduates from different universities in Vietnam

• Students participated in at least one exchange program in an ASEAN country

• The exchange programs must last for one semester or one year

• Students returned from their study program within one or two years

From these criteria, the researcher selected and involved 15 students, 8 females and 7 males in the research Specifically, 6 of the participants received the Darmasiswa scholarship from the Indonesian government to study in different universities for one year The rest of the sample group included the EU Share scholarship program awardees who were granted scholarship to study in different ASEAN countries (Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia) for one semester

exchange

Duration

of exchange

Student 1 Female Thailand EU

Student 7 Female Indonesia

As for the interview, the sample initially included 5 surveyed

students, chosen using the purposive sampling strategy The criteria for selection was based on the answers generated from the questionnaire From these data, the researcher analyzed and sorted out respondents with ambiguous or notable answers which required further investigation However, upon analyzing the questionnaire data, the researcher received written reflections in the forms of blog posts and Facebook notes from two respondents Therefore, researcher decided to include these data as part of the research methods In the end, the sample size for interview was 3 students and 2 for the written reflections Students were chosen for interview based on their:

• Unclear explanation or elaboration of some answers

• Demonstration of interesting answers and ideas

• Demonstration of different stages of intercultural sensitivity development

• Prior exchange experiences

The information of 5 selected students are summarized in the following table:

Stud

ent

Prior exchange experience

Exchange program

Place of exchange

1 year

Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1 semester

Jarkata, Indonesia

Table 4 Students profile (interview and written reflection)

2.2 Information about the short-term exchange programs

2.2.1 The Eu Share Scholarship program

The EU Share scholarship program is a joint project between EU and ASEAN since 2015, “with an overarching objective to strengthen regional cooperation, enhance the quality, competitiveness and internationalisation of ASEAN higher education institutions and students, contributing to an ASEAN Community beyond 2015” (SHARE flyer, 2017)

Students receiving the EU Share scholarship has opportunity to study for one semester in either an ASEAN or an European university, with the study results transferred to their current home university’s credit system

Until now, the Share scholarship program has successfully organized 5 batches of exchange

2.2.2 The Darmasiswa scholarship program

The Darmasiswa, which was initiated in 1974, is the scholarship offered by the Indonesian government to foreign students from nations

in partnership with Indonesia Participants of this program are given chance to study about Indonesian language (Bahasa), culture and arts in any universities located in the country for the duration of one year

3 Data collection instruments

For this research, three data collection instruments were adopted namely questionnaire, semi-structured interview and written reflections

3.1 Qualitative questionnaire

The qualitative questionnaire comprises two main parts, focusing

on students’ reflection of their experience during and after their

exchange In the first part, participants were asked to answer 10 ended questions about their experience during and after their exchange

open-in host countries, reflectopen-ing open-intercultural sensitivity The second part emphasizes personal growth, requiring participants to rate their degree

of agreement or disagreement with several statements about their specific behaviors and attitude when living and studying in their host country The survey items were designed closely based on the DMIS model (Bennett, 1995) and the CCAI framework (Kelley & Meyers, 1995), as mentioned earlier in the literature review Specifically, each question and survey statement was constructed to reflect the different stages of intercultural sensitivity development, as well as four components of personal growth – emotional resilience, openness, perceptual acuity and personal autonomy

3.2 Semi-structured interview

Semi-structured interview was employed to generate “subjective and in-depth information”, which could support and verify the results

of questionnaire (National Science Foundation, 2002) Also according

to Dahlberg and McCaig (2014), using semi-structured interview enables researchers to “probe for further information” (p.119)

The interview attempted to inspect more thoroughly the development of the students’ intercultural sensitivity and personal growth throughout their exchange period It required the participants to recall their exchange experience as well as verify some of their answers

in the questionnaire The questions were designed based on two frameworks (Bennett, 2004 and Kelley & Meyers, 1995) and the missing aspects remained in the questionnaire answers Particularly, these questions required the students to recall and reflect on their perceptions and assumptions about their host countries that they had prior to the exchange period, also their behaviors when encountering cultural differences in host country Students were then asked about their experience after returning to Vietnam, their feelings and changes

in several aspects (personality, view of the host country, career orientation, etc) Beside the key questions, researcher formulated follow-up questions based on the answers of the participants during the interview process to examine the development of intercultural sensitivity and personal growth in relation to the exchange experience

Astalin (2013), there are several benefits in using written data collection instrument First and foremost, this tool is believed to largely minimize the “research effect”, which can considerably influence the responses

of participants when being interviewed (University of Portsmouth, 2012) Another benefit is the usefulness in generating longitudinal data, allowing researcher to track changes in the research participants over a long period of time Documentary data could also contain spontaneous answers, leading to new and in-depth findings

4 Data collection procedure

The data gathering process lasted for one month, consisting of three main stages

In the initial stage, the researcher proceeded to select the potential participants based on the established criteria before contacting them via emails, social network or face-to-face mode Those who agreed to participate in the research were then required to read and sign in the consent form

In the second phase, a questionnaire was distributed to 15 contacted participants via online channel (email or Facebook) due time and geographical constraints The researcher gave them two days

to complete and submit their answers The results from the questionnaire were then closely analyzed to answer both research questions and provide base to design the interview questions and select the interviewees

After organizing and reviewing the data from the questionnaire,

I selected 3 students to participate in online interviews with each lasted for approximately 30 minutes As previously mentioned, since there were two surveyed students submitted their written reflections, I decided to interview 3 participants instead of 5 as originally decided Time, location and duration of the interview were negotiated with the

interviewees to achieve utmost convenience After the interview, the respondents received thank you letter via email for their participation

in the study The information generated from the interview was closely analyzed in the hope that it would clarify students’ responses from the questionnaire and provide further findings to both research questions

At this stage, I also collected the written reflections from Facebook and personal blog of the two participants for documents analysis

5.Data analysis instruments

Since this research aims at generating qualitative data, content analysis was employed to examine the collected data

According to Cole (1988), content analysis is a method of analyzing written verbal or visual communication messages (as cited

in Elo & Kyngas, 2007, p.107) This method has long been used in communication, journalism, sociology and business sector Content analysis allows researcher to test theoretical concepts, thus generate in-depth understanding and knowledge of the phenomenon (Elo & Kyngas, 2007, p.108) Content analysis consists of two main approaches namely inductive and deductive approach According to Elo and Kyngas (2007), inductive approach deduces the theories and concepts based on the data, while deductive content analysis aims to test the existing theory framework (p.109) Judging the purpose of the study, the deductive approach was employed for this study

6.Data analysis procedure

Since content analysis was adopted for this approach, the analysis procedure followed three main stages, which were: Preparation, Organizing and Reporting (Elo & Kyngas, 2007)

In the Preparation stage, the collected data were arranged systematically to be ready for analysis In details, data from questionnaire were typed onto to separate word files and named

according to the participants, while interview data were transcribed verbatim then inserted onto separate files This stage was then followed by the Organizing phase, in which researcher developed a categorization matrix, particularly unconstrained matrix based on the DMIS and CCAI framework by Bennett (1994) and Kelley and Meyers (1995) According to Elo and Kyngas (2007), unconstrained matrix allows new concepts to be discovered within the established framework This was the reason why researcher adopted this type of matrix in the study, with the purpose of examining the framework as well as generating new findings

Before exchange During

exchange

After exchange

superiosity or reverse superiority

Minimization: Ability to detect cultural similarities Acceptance: Understanding and appreciation of value

and behavior differences

Adaptation: Change of perspective and behaviors to adapt to the host community

Integration: Marginal cultural identity and flexible cultural values

student

demonstrates in

their answers)

Openness and flexibility:

Ability to listen to others Attempt to understand other cultures

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

1 Data analysis

1.1 Intercultural sensitivity of Vietnameses students participating

in short-term exchange in ASEAN

Based on the analyzed data, the researcher was able to comment on the emergence of several patterns regarding the content of the first question - the development of intercultural sensitivity under the influence of short-term exchange experience

1.1.1 Questionnaire findings

Data collected from the questionnaire revealed two main patterns

First and foremost, all the participants underwent a transition from behaviors

of the ethnocentric stage, particularly Defense (prior to their study) to reach the Acceptance and Adaptation phase of the ethnorelative stage (during the exchange period) Another notable point discovered from the data was that almost all surveyed students showed behaviors of Defense despite reaching ethnorelative stages during and after exchange In details, the students described their unacceptance and intolerance towards host country’s cuisine and religious behaviors

Regarding the first finding, all of the participants’ behaviors prior to their exchange reflected the Defense stage, in which people maintain a

“polarized” view towards the host culture (Bennett, 1994) Specifically, the participants reported to either possess certain stereotypes, assumptions or have little knowledge of their host country regarding religion, people and lifestyle

For example, six respondents replied that they “had little or no information about their host nations”, leading to their random choice of exchange

destinations Furthermore, it was also found that the participants maintained high regards of their host countries, as six out of fiffteen surveyed students commented on how they imagined the host country to be full of amazing

features One student, for instance, perceiving her host country – Thailand as

“a bit more developed and safer than Vietnam”, which motivates her to go on

exchange there Likewise, two exchange students in Indonesia explained how

they considered the nation as “friendly, funny and full of wonderful sceneries plus diverse culture” Another respondent shared similar attitude by stating that he went on exchange in Malaysia because it was “one of the most developed countries in ASEAN” Beside positive views of the host country,

the majority of the students (8) showed high regards of their host university, showing expectation of a high quality educational institution Beside Defense attitude, these 6 students along with 4 others, demonstrated Acceptance as they expressed a desire to explore the host cultures The rest of the participants (5); however, claimed that their decision to study abroad was driven by the availability of the scholarship This could be explained by the availability of scholarship and their travelling experiences in some Asean countries before exchange

Later on when the students started their life in the host countries, their intercultural sensitivity experienced a transitional growth from ethnocentrism

to ethnorelativism Most of the students (10) went from Defense, to Minimization then Acceptance and Adaptation, while the rest of the group skipped Minimization to reach the ethnorelative stage Regarding first pattern

of development, several students reported to be able to identify similarities

between the host and home culture during their exchange, namely “people’s characteristics, lifestyle, religion and food”, signifying the Minimization

stage Having adopted an acknowledgement of cultural similarities, these students continued to reach the Acceptance stage as they showcased an appreciative attitude towards cultural differences For example, one student studied in Thailand commented on her recognition of distinctive cultural patterns: behaviors, food, costumes and religion, thus showing an open and tolerant attitude towards such distinctions

Thai people waii, and they do have different costumes and food choice

The food was different from what I have ever tried so I was impressed Both countries are towards Buddhism but the way people worship and the architecture of such holy places is also different

Similarly, one student studied in Indonesia expressed an understanding attitude towards the cultural gap, noting that the difference is inevitable and part of the cultures:

Sure there are religious rituals and also different diets Also night owl culture People seem to be very diverse in and unique in their personalities and preferences

Such open attitude was a springboard for the students to reach Adaptation, in which they attempted to integrate into the host community by learning the language, travelling or participating in cultural ceremonies The rest of the surveyed students, similarly, underwent transition from Defense to Adaptation, except for the Minimization stage Their behaviors started from assumptions prior to exchange then transformed into appreciation and willingness to integrate into host culture during their exchange period

Despite reaching the ethnorelativism during their exchange, these students still showcased behaviors of ethnocentric phase, particularly Defense when it comes to food, religion and politics To be more specific, many respondents, after spending time in host countries, expressed their intolerance

to the cuisine, claiming it was “too spicy, deep fried and unhealthy” A similar

opinion was raised over certain religious customs of the host country as 7 out

of 15 surveyed students noted that certain religious customs was among what they disliked when staying in host country However, the questionnaire responses were rather general and not detailed enough for researcher to generate in-depth analysis For example, some respondents only commented

on the fact that they observed difference in terms of religion or lifestyle, but failed to specify such differences In addition, since the questions covered only the experience prior and during the exchange period, there was no data about the period after exchange Such gaps; therefore, left room for the interview

and document analysis

In short, from the survey results, it can be observed that there were two main patterns of development in intercultural sensitivity experienced by the

survey participants First of all, the majority of students demonstrated a

developmental growth before and during their exchange, going from Defense,

Minimization to reach Acceptance and Adaptation stage On the other hand,

the second pattern is the skip of Minimization phase to reach Acceptance and

Adaptation stage by the rest of the participants Another point worth noting is

that such development was not entirely linear since several respondents still

demonstrated signs of the Defense stage during the exchange despite gaining

appreciative and understanding attitude towards the host culture The main

themes emerged from the survey data can be observed in the table below

Denial Defense Minimizatio

Lack of knowledge about host countries

Desire and curiosity to explore the host countries

During Intolerance of

certain cultural aspects – Food and religion

Recognition

of cultural similarities

Acknowledgement and understanding

of cultural differences

Tolerance and appreciation of

Attempt

to integrate into host culture

each student can be observed in the table below

Before exchange

During exchange

recognition of cultural

similarities Acceptance:

desire and curiosity to explore host culture

Acceptance:

acceptance and appreciation of the host culture Adaptation:

willingness to integrate into host culture Defense:

unacceptance towards some cultural customs and habits

Acceptance:

maintenance of appreciative attitude Adaptation:

easiness in adapting back to home country cultural differences

Table 7 Intercultural sensitivity development (questionnaire)

Student 2 (male,

exchange in

Indonesia)

Defense and Acceptance

Acceptance and Adapation Some signs of Defense

Acceptance and Adaptation

Student 3 (female,

exchange in

Indonesia)

Defense, Minimization and Acceptance

Acceptance and Adaptation Defense: certain hatred and questioning attitude over people’s behaviors and customs

Acceptance and Adaptation Defense:

comparison between home and host culture, difficulty in adapting back to life in home country

Table 8 Intercultural sensitivity development (Interview)

Regarding the perceptions of host country prior to their exchange, the participants’ responses supported the Defense, Minimization and Acceptance stage of the intercultural sensitivity developmental model According to Bennett (1993), Defense is characterized by experience of cultural difference

in a polarized way, Minimization is defined as the ability to acknowledge similarities between cultures and Acceptance refers to acceptance and tolerance towards the cultural differences One respondent reported to establish certain stereotypes towards the host country as well as assume several cultural similarities Specifically, she noted in her interview:

I had a little bit of knowledge and experience in Thailand I was thinking that the way people live there was kinda the same as Vietnam, and the food

is great I was expecting like, not really so much difference I also think it

is pretty safe, not so different from Vietnam

Two other interviewees, on the other hand, demonstrated behaviors of Defense, at the same time showed signs of Acceptance prior to their exchange They commented on expecting people in their host country to be nice and friendly and showed a desire to explore the host culture One interviewee

studying in Indonesia admitted to possessing little understanding of the host country – Indonesia; however he was motivated to go on exchange by his desire

to explore the culture and religion there Such attitude was explained by the fact that these students already had some experience of traveling and studying abroad, or studying about the host religion:

The reason why I chose Indonesia is that I was really interested in religion and politics, my major is International relations, especially in the Middle East I mean Islam and other religions Therefore, I really wanted to go to Islamic countries, I mean Muslim countries Indonesia is near to us and it doesn’t cost a lot People are nice, I hear others say so… I didn’t know much about this country because Asean is not the area of my study focus The only thing I knew was that the majority of the people there was Muslim, that’s the only thing I knew I had some knowledge about Islam and other religions That’s everything I knew before going on exchange

Similarly, another participant, when asked about her perceptions of host country prior to her exchange, reflected on her impression and assumptions of

“kind and open” people in Thailand:

So before attending the Darmasiswa, I spent 6 months in Jogja and so I lived there for 6 months, I knew about the people, the art, actually I know a lot, but from perspective of an outsider, I didn’t have deep research about Jogja,

I just knew that people are kind and open, the art is amazing and rich, but Indonesia I can’t really tell because I spent most of my time in Jogja

These views supported the developmental model of intercultural sensitivity theory (Bennett, 1993), in particular the Defense and Acceptance stage when an individual either establishes stereotypes, assumptions or displays

a desire to explore the host countries

As the respondents further engaged in the host community during their exchange, certain changes regarding intercultural sensitivity occurred, which were reflected in their answers From the interview data, it was revealed that all the respondents demonstrated behaviors of the ethnorelative stage, characterized by Acceptance, Adaptation and Integration Most participants, after living and studying in the host country, maintained and even managed to show increased capacity to recognize and embrace cultural differences,