ABSTRACT

This chapter examines a course developed to facilitate the intercultural competencies of undergraduate students completing short-term international internships outside the regular teaching semesters. Formal learning interventions of workshop classes and assessment tasks are incorporated into this course to scaffold students' intercultural competencies. The course includes three tasks to assess students' intercultural competence, one of which is the satisfactory completion of the international internship itself. The second task is a report requiring students to explore a specific aspect of the cultures experienced and reflect on their understandings of their own cultural backgrounds. The third task is a presentation on the intercultural understandings students have developed and how they might apply this knowledge to their profession. The international internship course specifies four learning outcomes relating to intercultural competence, namely: communicate effectively in intercultural contexts; reflect on the behaviours and values in the host and home cultures; learn independently; and engage with the activities of the internship programme.