This first workshop provides an overview of the requirements for the workshop series and program requirements. This is followed by a walking tour of central campus which also facilitates the homework activity, The Amazing Race.

The syllabus outlines the specific themes and topics covered in the workshop as well as the specifics about the administration of the workshop series.

The Pre-Workshop tasks include a preliminary assignment for setting goals and writing a paragraph-length introductory biography as well as reminders about completing the IDI assessment and an individual debrief.

Source: Masters, C. and Krishnan, L.A. (2015). Study Abroad and Student Learning: Tales from Zambia. ADVANCE for Speech and Hearing Online Edition, 69(11), 28,30.

The article demonstrates important lessons learned from Purdue University's Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) in Zambia service-learning program. For example, community partners in the destination country are key stakeholders; learning about the country and their culture; reflecting on own cultural biases and increasing awareness; it is challenging to determine the program's impact on the community, and programs should integrate intentional activities to enhance cultural competence.

Source: 2014 - Exploring perceived communicative competence in upper-level L1 and L2 interactions in higher education, Heejung Kwon

This dissertation study explores the ways in which second language learners (L2) and native speakers of English (L1) form perceptions of one another and negotiate miscommunication in the process of intercultural competence development. The study showed that L2 were highly motivated but anxious during the interaction with L1, while L1 reported empathy toward L2 and expressed anxiety in understanding L2's needs or feelings. 

This presentation was given at NAFSA Regional Conference VI and VII in Fall 2019.

This presentation was given at NAFSA Regional Conferences V, VI, and VII in Fall 2019.

Source: Lehto, W.Y., Cai, L.A., Fu, X., & Chen, Y. (2014). Intercultural interactions outside the classroom: Narratives on a US campus. Journal of College Student Development, 55, 837-853.

Through 9 focus group sessions, the study examines how domestic and international students connected or disconnected outside the classroom and demonstrates the barriers to intercultural learning. In addition, the study suggests a number of practical implications, such as systematic interventions, community visits, and credit-based outdoor interactive activity.

D-I-E stands for describe, interpret, and evaluate. The facilitator will show participants a picture and ask them to describe what they see. Many participants will automatically jump to interpreting or evaluating the picture, so the facilitator will have to guide them back to description. The lesson to be learned is that we should not begin evaluating people or situations based on our gut reactions. 

This activity asks users to quickly identify patterns in sets of numbers. Ultimately, the facilitator relates their automatic responses to stereotypes, beliefs, and perceptions. 

Working in Unfamiliar Surroundings enables participants to understand what it's like to work in another culture, think in a second language, or start a new job where the rules are unfamiliar. Therefore, it ultimately creates awareness for co-workers as to what it is like to work in or learn a second language.

This activity, created for Purdue's Semester Abroad Intercultural Learning (SAIL) course, asks participants to consider the qualities that they believe are most important for success in professions related to their chosen field. 

In this activity, participants visit different types of grocery stores and note their patterns and differences in order to understand how cultural values inform the setup and organization of everyday spaces. 

This activity enables participants to observe and operate in a strange situation, discuss cultural values based on behavioral observations, and gain a different perspective on "normal" cultural behaviors.

In this activity, participants articulate and connect aspects of culture that visible and invisible in relation to the analogy of an iceberg.

This activity helps participants analyze dominant and non-dominant cultural backgrounds, asssess their own cultural background, consider the process of cross-cultural adjustment, and develop positive relationships in a new culture or with culturally different individuals. 

This activity allows participants to examine cultural identity and self-awareness, assess how their beliefs and cultural attitudes have changed from childhood to adulthood, and analyze and describe their current cultural beliefs and values.

This activity shows participants how values (specifically those related to time) are embedded in cultural sayings and idioms. 

This activity helps participants establish connections between needs, well-being, and human rights. It also enables them to reflect and analyze on their own and other's needs.

A true life example of having to choose which people would live or die on a sinking ship and lifeboat

Another elimination simulation which requires people to choose whom they would like to sit with on a train

This inventory assesses participants' willingness to try new and unfamiliar foods.

Many COIL experiences use English as the medium of instruction, with a mix of native and non-native English speakers participating. In some cases, it's a good idea to prepare the native English-speakers for these interactions by helping them to understand what non-native speakers may be experiencing. Redundancia is a very effective (though not free) empathy-building activity that is a great way to make native speakers more aware of the power dynamics that privilege their own contributions to discussions and more willing to be accommodating listeners in COIL/international virtual education interactions with non-native speakers. Another option - and this can be done with the whole group, not just the native speakers - is to watch a relevant film clip from the Crossing Borders Education film, "The Dialogue" (#3 of the list of clips linked above - "On speaking a foreign language") and extract lessons from it in a debriefing discussion.

CILMAR Intercultural Learning Specialist Florence Adibu has recommended this reading to prep students for interacting with others whose names they may perceive to be "hard". She writes (in a review of the Name Game activity):

Consider reading this article about the importance of having an attitude of curiosity when learning unfamiliar names. "Names That Are Unfamiliar to You Aren't "Hard," They're "Unpracticed": "It's time to change the conversation around 'difficult' names."

Imaginative discussion activities such as "If I woke up tomorrow" make great reflective tools for empathy building and the development of capacity for perspective taking. I can see this particular activity being useful before a COIL/international virtual education experience (or in preparation for study abroad), during a program or course - for example when a critical incident occurs that students need help processing - or after an experience such as in a reentry course or debriefing. For COIL, you should probably tailor the activity so that students are perspective taking relevant to other cultural groups involved in the program. For study abroad, target various subgroups of the host culture.