The Role of Social Media in Developing Intercultural Competence
Abstract
This phenomenology study employs interviews into 10 undergraduated students of English education program at IAIN Parepare as participants. This research aims 1) to explore the experiences of the students regarding the usage of social media to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds, and 2) to investigate how the use of social media contributes into development of students' intercultural competence. The findings display that utilizing social media plays an important role in exposing students to the numerous cultural practices and traditions, thereby improving their knowledge and recognition of various cultures. Students described learning about various cultural celebrations and customs through communication in social media. Furthermore, social media facilitates them adapt their communication effectively when interacting with people from different cultures, maintaining improved sensitivity and awareness into cultural variations. The students emphasized the significance of understanding cultural distinction and avoiding misunderstandings in cross-cultural communication. However, this research still perceives few limitations including a small sample size and potential for self-reporting bias, indicating the necessity in validating and advancing upon these insights for further studies.
References
Deardorff DK. Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization. J Stud Int Educ. 2006;10(3):241–66.
Fantini AE. Assessing intercultural competence. SAGE Handb Intercult competence. 2009;456–76.
Tessa Shasrini, Yudi Daherman. The Role of Social Media in the Intercultural Adaptation of Pekanbaru Immigrants. Int J Media Commun Res [Internet]. 2021 Jul 28;2(2):35–43. Available from: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JRIM-10-2017-0092/full/html
Komisarof A, Leong CH. Viewing intercultural adaptation and social inclusion through constructs of national identity: An introduction. Int J Intercult Relations. 2020;78(2020):1–9.
Hang Y, Zhang X. Intercultural competence developmental processes of university and college students as three types of transition – A systematic review. Int J Intercult Relations [Internet]. 2023 Jan;92:101748. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0147176722001717
YURTSEVER A, ÖZEL D. The Role of Cultural Awareness in the EFL Classroom. Turkish Online J Qual Inq [Internet]. 2021 Jan 23;12(1):102–32. Available from: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/doi/10.17569/tojqi.776499
Ahmad Y, Hamzah MR, Hussin H, Ismail A. Intercultural sensitivity among teachers and prospective teachers: A review. In: AIP Conference Proceedings [Internet]. 2023. p. 050026. Available from: http://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/5.0116594
Choi J. A systematic review of intercultural sensitivity studies. Asia Pacific J Educ [Internet]. 2023 Dec 21;1–18. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02188791.2023.2291984
Shahid D. Importance of Intercultural Communication in an Organization. J Bus Manag Stud [Internet]. 2022 Jun 4;4(2):459–63. Available from: https://al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/jbms/article/view/3381
Çap?k C, Gözüm S, Aksayan S. Intercultural Scale Adaptation Stages, Language and Culture Adaptation: Updated Guideline. Florence Nightingale Hem?irelik Derg [Internet]. 2018 Oct 26;26(3):199–210. Available from: https://fnjn.org/en/intercultural-scale-adaptation-stages-language-and-culture-adaptation-updated-guideline-13661
Kaplan AM, Haenlein M. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Bus Horiz. 2010;53(1):59–68.
boyd danah m., Ellison NB. Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. J Comput Commun [Internet]. 2007 Oct;13(1):210–30. Available from: https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/13/1/210-230/4583062
Boyd D. Social network sites as networked publics: Affordances, dynamics, and implications. In: A networked self [Internet]. Routledge; 2010. p. 47–66. Available from: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203876527-8/social-network-sites-networked-publics-affordances-dynamics-implications-danah-boyd
Ngai PB, Yoshimura SM, Doi F. Intercultural competence development via online social networking: the Japanese students’ experience with internationalisation in U.S. higher education. Intercult Educ [Internet]. 2020 Mar 3;31(2):228–43. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14675986.2019.1702289
Bhimani H, Mention AL, Barlatier PJ. Social media and innovation: A systematic literature review and future research directions. Technol Forecast Soc Change [Internet]. 2019 Jul;144:251–69. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0040162517316074
Serino M. Culture and Networks in Online Social Fields. Studying the Duality of Culture and Structure in Social Media through Bourdieu’s Theory and Social Network Analysis. Ital Sociol Rev. 2021;11(4S):369.
Hu Y, Lu W, Ngai CSB. Building relationship with the public from different cultural backgrounds on social media: A case study on Estée Lauder’s social media communication strategies in the United States and China. In: Intercultural Public Relations. Routledge; 2022. p. 84–105.
Sobczak-Michalowska M, Aykil L, Yildirim O, Ilyash O. Factor Analysis of the Intercultural Sensitivity, Ethnocentrism, Social Media by the Means of Structural Equation Modelling. In: Applications of Synthetic High Dimensional Data. IGI Global; 2024. p. 94–106.
Qutoshi SB. Phenomenology: A philosophy and method of inquiry. J Educ Educ Dev. 2018;5(1):215–22.
Adeoye?Olatunde OA, Olenik NL. Research and scholarly methods: Semi?structured interviews. JACCP J Am Coll Clin Pharm [Internet]. 2021 Oct 2;4(10):1358–67. Available from: https://accpjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jac5.1441
Berndt AE. Sampling Methods. J Hum Lact [Internet]. 2020 May 10;36(2):224–6. Available from: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0890334420906850
Jones RE, Abdelfattah KR. Virtual Interviews in the Era of COVID-19: A Primer for Applicants. J Surg Educ [Internet]. 2020 Jul;77(4):733–4. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1931720420300866
Hashimov E. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook and The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers: Matthew B. Miles, A. Michael Huberman, and Johnny Saldaña. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2014. 381 pp. Johnny Saldaña. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2013. 303 pp. Taylor & Francis; 2015.
Primecz H. Positivist, constructivist and critical approaches to international human resource management and some future directions. Ger J Hum Resour Manag. 2020;34(2):124–47.
Moleong LJ. A. Jenis dan Pendekatan Penelitian. Proses Kerja Kbl Dalam Menjalankan Progr Corp Soc Responsib Di PT Pelindo. 2007;1.
Rahmiati, Abdul Samad I. Speaking Expression: the Sociodrama Technique in Enhancing Students’ Speaking Skill. Celt A J Cult English Lang Teaching, Lit Linguist. 2022;9(1):69–81.
Copyright (c) 2024 Nurfadil Arham Fadil
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
