Table 1 shows the data for the CLIL learners’ CQ scales in AE (language- driven CLIL) and ITM (content-driven CLIL) in their second and fourth year of study. Both groups showed a moderate to high level of CQ perfor- mance, which increased even after a one-year break from formal school educa- tion during their job placement. In other words, the results indicate that once students are instructed under the CLIL approach, their CQ level is not only sustained but gradually increases. Cultural awareness developed in the CLIL classroom can possibly extend its effects and be carried into contexts outside the classroom, becoming usable and beneficial for their work and study.
Although there was no significant progress within the individual groups, the gap between the AE and ITM groups narrowed after the internship. The ITM students always showed higher CQ than the AE students across the one- year span. Possible reasons are the relatively higher exposure to English, which motivated them to understand and respect the target culture and its people, and the student selection policy. About half of the ITM students were selected based on their language proficiency and overseas study or living experience, leading to a high CQ level at entry. Furthermore, a higher percentage of degree-based international and non-degree-based exchange students (ITM:
34%; AE: 7%) in the ITM programme might also have enhanced the home students’ domestic CQ, which they had to develop to study or work effec- tively with the international students.
The AE and ITM learners showed significantly different CQ levels across many indicators. Among the four dimensions of CQ, the cognitive CQ between the two groups demonstrated huge divergences before they began their internships. As noted previously, ITM was composed of students from a variety of nations; thus, they were able to acquire proper competence in learn- ing the norms, practices, and conventions when studying and working with people from different cultural backgrounds (Ang et al., 2007; Ang & Van Dyne, 2008). Through intense interaction, ITM learners better learned to
Mean Std. deviation AE before the internship 4.97 0.75
AE after the internship 5.20 0.68 ITM before the internship 5.43 0.94 ITM after the internship 5.57 0.74 Table 1 Overall CQ scale
in AE and ITM students before/after internship
describe the economic, legal, and social systems of different cultures (Ang et al., 2007) than their counterparts did. The diverse cultural backgrounds in the ITM classroom also helped the students learn how to accommodate cul- tural differences.
Another major difference is their motivational CQ competence, with the content-driven CLIL learners more capable than the language-driven ones of
“directing attention and energy toward learning about and functioning in situations characterised by cultural differences” (Van Dyne, Ang, & Koh, 2015, p. 17). The ITM students may have had an intrinsic interest in work- ing, living, or studying in cross-cultural situations and more confidence in their own cross-cultural effectiveness (Ang et al., 2007) than the AE learners.
Students’ higher scores on this CQ dimension could mirror their higher level of self-efficacy (Ng & Earley, 2006) and greater interest in novel settings. This might also explain why slightly more ITM students chose overseas countries for their internship than English-major learners did (60% vs 56%).
However, after the third year of internship, the differences between the two groups’ CQ shrank noticeably and were distributed more evenly across three CQ dimensions, excluding behavioural CQ. The learners in both programmes either worked one-year full-time in their home country or stayed overseas for one year of full-time work or six months each of study and work. This intern- ship provided them with ample opportunity to exercise their domestic and international CQ while interacting with people from various cultural back- grounds. Content-driven CLIL learners, due to their previous experiences of studying in a more international class at university, showed stronger interest and ability in using other languages and enjoyment of fitting into a multicul- tural working environment. This indicates that, compared to the AE learners, who mainly treated English as their major or area of expertise, the ITM stu- dents, who viewed English only as a medium to learn subject matter, were often more open-minded toward other languages and cultures. In other words, they were more flexible in different cultural contexts. Their higher CQ competence shows that IaH may effectively cultivate CLIL learners’ intercul- tural knowledge and prepare them well for multicultural settings (Pérez-Vidal, 2015; Pérez-Vidal & Juan-Garau, 2010).
One interesting finding is that the students modified how closely they stood when interacting with people from different cultures. In hospitality and tourism work environments, interpersonal distance between patrons and serv- ers is crucial. Appropriate interpersonal spatial distance often depends on cul- tural distance, and this behaviour greatly affects the customers’ judgement of service quality (Weiermair & Fuchs, 2000). Servers’ distance from customers is also strongly associated with tipping (Jacob & Guéguen, 2012). This
non- verbal behaviour plays an important role in hospitality and tourism jobs, and the ITM learners reported greater competence on this indicator than the AE students did. This appropriateness of spatial knowledge should be well balanced between intercultural awareness and working cultures and is thus vital for hospitality and tourism student interns working in multicultural contexts.
There was no significant difference in the CQ competence of the two groups either before or after the internship. However, the investigation still yielded some interesting results. For instance, female students in AE showed greater progress in CQ competence after the internship. Male students in ITM had the highest performance before the job placement, but their CQ level dropped one year later. About 67% (8) of these students went overseas for their internships, so further probing is needed to understand why their CQ knowledge diminished, as it contradicts the literature claiming that posi- tive intercultural awareness is enhanced after international internships (e.g., Batey, 2014; Batey & Lupi, 2012).
Second, the international students in the AE and ITM groups initially exhibited higher CQ competence than the home students did, which is mani- fest in the fact that they left home and came to Taiwan to study and so had to be equipped with better cultural understanding in order to succeed in their studies. Yet, surprisingly, their CQ level reduced after their one-year job place- ment to even lower than that of the home students. This may be because many of these international students were forced to stay in Taiwan to com- plete their internship because of visa requirements. Lacking chances to use their higher CQ competence overseas, their jobs in Taiwan could not promote their growth in CQ, as they had already been in Taiwan for three years. This result indicates that students’ CQ competence may quickly increase if they stay in exotic cultures for a short period but can decrease if they stay in the same cultural context for a longer timeframe.
Finally, AE learners who went to NNES (non-native English-speaking) countries had reduced CQ performance, but ITM learners who travelled to NES (native English-speaking) countries showed the highest CQ competence after their internships. Learners in both groups who went to NES settings for their internships showed very high CQ ratings. The reason may be that those NES English contexts, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, and Australia, are multicultural societies which require intercultural knowledge. On the other hand, the English expanding circle countries, such as Japan, Korea, and Thailand, where the culture is less diverse and more familiar to the learners, are less able to offer Taiwanese student interns new cultural encounters to develop obvious cross-cultural sensitivity.
It can be argued that the greater cultural distance one experiences, the higher intercultural competence and tolerance one should possess (Papatsiba, 2006;
Weiermair & Fuchs, 2000). In addition, national cultural distance under a homogeneous culture setting could also easily decrease their intern job satis- faction (Froese & Peltokorpi, 2011). Hence, intimacy between cultures may lead to no progress in AE students’ CQ competence. However, the case is completely opposite in the ITM group, as those who went to NNES countries were mainly international students and the settings were novel to them. To conclude this section, it seems that learners in the content-driven CLIL mode generally displayed higher CQ competence at both the entry and exit levels than those in the language-driven CLIL mode, and their CQ level would continuously increase if they were immersed in the context where the target language is used as the first language.
Overall CQ Performance Under the CLIL Approach Pre- and Post-Internship
Combining the AE and ITM students into a large generic CLIL group and comparing their pre- and post-internship CQ performance identified several significant differences which differ slightly from those discussed above.
Before the internship, male students reported that they could speak and understand many languages and describe different leadership styles in diverse cultural situations. The main reason may be that the international students in both programmes were all males and all able to speak at least three lan- guages. However, after the internship, these significant differences disap- peared. It may be because the students did not perceive their multilingual ability as being useful while working or studying in Anglophone or other singular cultural settings, where mastering one language may be sufficient. In contrast, Taiwanese female students valued their experiences of working or living in a different culture significantly more. For them, the internship year might have been their first time staying overseas for an extended period.
Thus it was a cherished experience in terms of exercising their cross-cultural competency.
One cause of the international students’ significantly better CQ perfor- mance for the variable nationality before the internship is similar to the previ- ous explanation. However, after the internship, home students showed higher CQ competency in two motivational and three cognitive indicators than the international learners did. They became more motivated and acquainted with
diverse cultures, and it is assumed that their previous experiences of IaH in the CLIL classroom and cross-border mobility came into effect. IaH in the researched CLIL classrooms was achieved through the institutional strategies of promoting internationalisation with the active and selective recruitment of foreign students, overseas internships, and the integration of the learning and teaching of the target language in the curriculum (Kehm & Teichler, 2007).
Unfortunately, the foreign students did not benefit much from the IaH policy in terms of CQ performance; rather, they were recruited specifically to help establish CLIL programmes.
Lastly, the variable internship destinations greatly affected CLIL learners’
CQ competence across motivational, cognitive, and meta-cognitive dimen- sions after the internship. That is, their cross-cultural attention, knowledge, and awareness were significantly raised. It is believed that the opportunity for international exposure contributed to this increment. The benefits of students doing internships in foreign countries have also been documented, particu- larly in the hospitality and tourism industries. Students nowadays see intern- ships as a way to become more competitive in the globalised labour market and usually return home as more well-rounded individuals with alternative views about the world, cultures, and peoples (Van Hoof, 2000). International exposure enables CLIL learners to better their communication skills, critical thinking, and ability to work with peers (Verney, Holoviak, & Winter, 2009), and these are exactly what the 4 Cs framework highlights in the CLIL approach. In short, we show that clearly integrating IaH and international exposure/internships can help CLIL learners raise their intercultural aware- ness and achieve higher CQ performance.
Pedagogical Implications
for Internationalisation at Home
What does this mean for higher education institutes and CLIL practitioners considering implementing the CLIL approach in order to help accommodate the 4 Cs and the aim of internationalisation? Firstly, intercultural awareness should be consolidated and explicitly included in curriculum design.
International exchange work/study programmes such as internships proved to be very effective in our study, as part of a sandwich curriculum design. In this way, intercultural competence becomes applicable, sustainable, and measur- able. International exposure has gradually become popular and is being
specifically promoted by higher education institutions (Cross, Mhlanga, &
Ojo, 2011). Its benefits correspond to the conceptual framework of the 4 Cs in the CLIL approach in global contexts (Gilin & Young, 2009; Verney, Holoviak, & Winter, 2009).
However, if there is no chance to implement the above measures due to concerns such as expense, distance, or a fixed curriculum structure, then developing domestic CQ with explicit instruction and creating an IaH envi- ronment within the domestic learning environment is an alternative. IaH aims to integrate international and intercultural dimensions into formal or informal curricula in a domestic learning setting (Beelen & Jones, 2015) and has no recognised formula or approach (Robson, Almeida, & Schartner, 2018). Thus, recruiting foreign students to simulate an intercultural class- room is definitely not the only method. Rather, it may also involve but not be limited to the integration of foreign languages for communication pur- poses; designing an internationalised formal curriculum and an intercultural campus environment where interaction between home and international stu- dents can be motivating and rewarding (Leask, 2009); and adopting new pedagogical approaches such as translanguaging, recruiting international teaching faculty, or establishing bi/multilingual platforms (Wächter, 2003).
In the classroom, CLIL practitioners can purposefully make good use of the cultural diversity of international and domestic students to design inclusive learning, teaching, and assessment practices. In addition, using target or local languages or a lingua franca interchangeably to deliver subject matter also helps facilitate global thinking and generate new viewpoints. Outside the classroom, they can adopt informal curriculum activities such as study buddy programmes, intercultural communication workshops (e.g., Toastmasters), service-learning activities (e.g., USR: University Social Responsibility), or cultural programmes, providing local CLIL learners with opportunities to engage with “cultural others” in the local society (Jones &
Reiffenrath, 2018).
Furthermore, technology not only allows working online with overseas partner universities but can also helps raise learners’ awareness, knowledge, and understanding of their disciplines from an internationalised perspective (Lawson, White, & Dimitriadis, 1998). Distance or online learning facili- tated by technology advancement shortens not only the unequal resource pro- visions between urban and rural schools but also the distance between home and international communities. In particular, when international mobility becomes unlikely, such as during a school lockdown or global pandemic, technology may still keep the CLIL approach working in terms of offering
internationalised immersion and global vision. In other words, CLIL pro- grammes embedded with the concepts and measures of international expo- sure and IaH can effectively promote learners’ cross-cultural understanding and foster international and domestic CQ competence, helping higher educa- tion institutions to achieve one of the aims of delivering CLIL programmes.