TITLE:
Raising University Students’ Level of Academic and Professional Readiness through Teaching Intercultural Communication and Digital War
AUTHORS:
Iman Naser El-Deen Ahmed
KEYWORDS:
Communication, Intercultural Communication, Cross-Cultural Communication, Digital War, Globalization, Interculturalism
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Journalism and Communication,
Vol.10 No.2,
June
22,
2022
ABSTRACT: In this qualitative action research study, the
purpose was to explore if the integration of an intercultural communication
component (ICC), and its relation to the area of digital war into an
undergraduate English course in Kuwait could improve the preparation of students
for their future studies and jobs. The study focused on the insufficient
acceptance of cultural diversity, besides its relation to the students’
misconceptions about digital war. Areas focused on in this study included; 1)
improvement of ICC knowledge, skills, and values of students as well as their
understanding of digital war; 2) students perceived
the incorporation of the ICC component into English courses with special
emphasis on the digital war topic as educational and eye-opening; 3) improvement
of intervention methods to ensure results; and 4) student-perceived impact, if any, of the ICC module on student attitudes and behaviours toward
other ethnic groups. The Deardorff (2011) model of intercultural competence was used to guide
the study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and field
notes, after content and thematic analysis was conducted.