ABSTRACT

The chapter opens with a description of the methodology adopted in the doctoral study on which the book is based, followed by an overview of the research questions guiding the investigation, description of the data collection and analysis. It further outlines the study’s results drawn from the questionnaire and interviews, focusing in particular on perceptions of aspects of the curriculum which staff and students identified as central to foster the development of intercultural competence (IC) and criticality. The study explored staff and students’ perspectives on the implications of the separation of language and content on students’ development of intercultural competence and criticality across four German departments, two in the UK and two in the USA. While there were significant differences in the curricula in place at the four participating institutions, content modules emerged as playing a central role in fostering students’ development of IC and criticality across all four universities. The data analysis also highlighted a preference for being taught content in the TL across all four universities. With regards to the year abroad, staff interviews suggested that students required targeted coaching in order to move beyond the mere ‘observation of difference’ and develop a more critical and analytical perspective on the target culture and their own.