Preparing TESOL Students for the ESOL Classroom: A Cross-Cultural Project in Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication classes for TESOL students give them a solid foundation for their work with their own ESOL students. This article presents the cross-cultural project that TESOL students have to complete in a required intercultural communication class at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the case study that was used to assess the project. The project requires that students learn from and share with someone from a different culture while they are exploring their cultural selves and the workings of culture in themselves and others. Specifically, there are four learning outcomes: Students are expected to: (1) reflect on and deepen their understanding of themselves and others as cultural beings, (2) put newly acquired intercultural knowledge into practice, (3) develop and enhance their intercultural competence, and (4) develop confidence in their ability to talk to people from different cultures. The study found that all four expected learning outcomes were met.