Abstract
For more than four decades, studies of higher education have espoused the significance of fostering intercultural interactions between international and domestic students, yet numerous studies have provided widespread evidence of limited interactions between these cohorts and limited development of long-lasting relationships, such as friendship. After reviewing the conceptualisations of intercultural relationship development and their limitations in the extant literature, this paper outlines the rationale for a three-stage ecological and person-in-context conceptual framework of the development of intercultural relationships in university contexts. The proposed framework addresses: the issue of loose conceptualisations of intercultural relationships in the literature; the overlooked phenomena of dynamic interactions between individual and environmental dimensions that co-contribute to intercultural relationship development; and the developmental nature of intercultural relationships. The main proposal underpinning the framework is that the development of intercultural relationships occurs at the dynamic experiential interface between environmental affordances and students’ agency, both of which evolve along three stages of relationships (i.e. interactivity, reciprocity and unity). The framework, illustrated by empirical data, addresses aspects of intercultural relationships that have been neglected in the higher education literature, and that are expected to stimulate further educational research and practices in various (inter-)national/regional and institutional contexts.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Transcripts of Japanese interviews were translated by the first author.
References
Altman, I., & Taylor, D. A. (1973). Social penetration: The development of interpersonal relationships. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winson.
Arkoudis, S., Watty, K., Baik, C., Yu, X., Borland, H., Chang, S., et al. (2013). Finding common ground: enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(3), 222–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2012.719156.
Bennett, R. J., Volet, S. E., & Fozdar, F. E. (2013). “I’d say it’s kind of unique in a way”: the development of an intercultural student relationship. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(5), 533–553. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315312474937.
Biesta, G., & Tedder, M. (2007). Agency and learning in the lifecourse: towards an ecological perspective. Studies in the Education of Adults, 39(2), 132–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/02660830.2007.11661545.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Burdett, J. (2014). Students achieving intercultural competence through group work: realised or idealised? Journal of International Education in Business, 7(1), 14–30. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-05-2013-0017.
Chen, Y.-W., & Nakazawa, M. (2012). Measuring patterns of self-disclosure in intercultural friendship: adjusting differential item functioning using multiple-indicators, multiple-causes models. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 41(2), 131–151.
Colvin, C., & Volet, S. (2014). Scrutinising local students’ accounts of positive intercultural interactions: a multidimensional analysis. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 42, 77–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2014.06.004.
Covert, H. H. (2014). Stories of personal agency: undergraduate students’ perceptions of developing intercultural competence during a semester abroad in Chile. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(2), 162–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315313497590.
Delanty, G. (2014). Not all is lost in translation: world varieties of cosmopolitanism. Cultural Sociology, 8(4), 374–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/1749975514532261.
Dunne, C. (2009). Host students’ perspectives of intercultural contact in an Irish university. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13(2), 222–239. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315308329787.
Dunne, C. (2013). Exploring motivations for intercultural contact among host country university students: an Irish case study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(5), 567–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.06.003.
Eisenchlas, S., & Trevaskes, S. (2007). Developing intercultural communication skills through intergroup interaction. Intercultural Education, 18(5), 413–425. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980701685271.
Fox, J., Warber, K. M., & Makstaller, D. C. (2013). The role of Facebook in romantic relationship development: an exploration of Knapp’s relational stage model. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(6), 771–794. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407512468370.
Fozdar, F., & Volet, S. (2016). Cultural self-identification and orientations to cross-cultural mixing on an Australian university campus. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 37(1), 51–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2015.1119674.
Gareis, E. (2012). Intercultural friendship: effects of home and host region. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 5(4), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513057.2012.691525.
Gareis, E., Merkin, R., & Goldman, J. (2011). Intercultural friendship: linking communication variables and friendship success. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 40(2), 153–171.
Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Harrison, N. (2015). Practice, problems and power in ‘internationalisation at home’: critical reflections on recent research evidence. Teaching in Higher Education, 20(4), 412–430. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2015.1022147.
Harrison, N., & Peacock, N. (2010). Cultural distance, mindfulness and passive xenophobia: using integrated threat theory to explore home higher education students’ perspectives on ‘internationalisation at home’. British Educational Research Journal, 36(6), 877–902. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920903191047.
Hellmundt, S., Rifkin, W., & Fox, C. (1998). Enhancing intercultural communication among business communication students. Higher Education Research and Development, 17(3), 333–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/0729436980170306.
Hotta, J., & Ting-Toomey, S. (2013). Intercultural adjustment and friendship dialectics in international students: a qualitative study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 37(5), 550–566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.06.007.
Hou, J., & McDowell, L. (2014). Learning together? Experiences on a China–U.K. articulation program in engineering. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(3), 223–240. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315313497591.
Jindal-Snape, D., & Rienties, B. (Eds.). (2016). Multi-dimensional transitions of internatoinal students to higher education. Milton Park: Routledge.
Jon, J.-E. (2013). Realizing internationalization at home in Korean higher education: promoting domestic students’ interaction with international students and intercultural competence. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(4), 455–470. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315312468329.
Kimmel, K., & Volet, S. (2012). University students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards culturally diverse group work: does context matter? Journal of Studies in International Education, 16(2), 157–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315310373833.
Knapp, M. L., Vangelisti, A. L., & Caughlin, J. P. (2014). Interpersonal communication and human relationships (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Kudo, K., & Simkin, K. A. (2003). Intercultural friendship formation: the case of Japanese students at an Australian university. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 24(2), 91–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/0725686032000165351.
Kudo, K., Volet, S., & Whitsed, C. (2017). Intercultural relationship development at university: a systematic literature review from an ecological and person-in-context perspective. Educational Research Review, 20, 99–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2017.01.001.
Lassegard, J. P. (2008). The effects of peer tutoring between domestic and international students: the tutor system at Japanese universities. Higher Education Research and Development, 27(4), 357–369. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360802406825.
Leask, B. (2009). Using formal and informal curricula to improve interactions between home and international students. Journal of Studies in International Education, 13(2), 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315308329786.
Lee, P.-W. (2006). Bridging cultures: understanding the construction of relational identity in intercultural friendship. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 35(1), 3–22.
Lee, P.-W. (2008). Stages and transitions of relational identity formation in intercultural friendship: implications for identity management theory. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 1(1), 51–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513050701690918.
Marginson, S. (2014). Student self-formation in international education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(1), 6–22.
McKenzie, L., & Baldassar, L. (2016). Missing friendships: understanding the absent relationships of local and international students at an Australian university. Higher Education, 74(4), 701–715. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0073-1.
Mongeau, P. A., & Henningsen, M. L. M. (2008). Stage theories of relationship development: charting the course of interpersonal communication. In L. A. Baxter & D. O. Braithwaite (Eds.), Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: multiple perspectives (pp. 363–375). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Nesdale, D., & Todd, P. (2000). Effect of contact on intercultural acceptance: a field study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24(3), 341–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0147-1767(00)00005-5.
Pettigrew, T. F., Tropp, L. R., Wagner, U., & Christ, O. (2011). Recent advances in intergroup contact theory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(3), 271–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.001.
Richardson, S. (2016). Cosmopolitan learning for a global era: higher education in an interconnected world. London: Routledge.
Rienties, B., Nanclares, N. H., Jindal-Snape, D., & Alcott, P. (2013). The role of cultural background and team divisions in developing social learning relations in the classroom. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(4), 332–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315312463826.
Rienties, B., & Nolan, E. M. (2014). Understanding friendship and learning networks of international and host students using longitudinal social network analysis. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 41, 165–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.12.003.
Rizvi, F. (2009). Towards cosmopolitan learning. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 30(3), 253–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596300903036863.
Sakurai, T., McCall-Wolf, F., & Kashima, E. S. (2010). Building intercultural links: the impact of a multicultural intervention programme on social ties of international students in Australia. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34(2), 176–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.11.002.
Schartner, A. (2015). ‘You cannot talk with all of the strangers in a pub’: a longitudinal case study of international postgraduate students’ social ties at a British university. Higher Education, 69(2), 225–241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9771-8.
Sheridan, V. (2011). A holistic approach to international students, institutional habitus and academic literacies in an Irish third level institution. Higher Education, 62(2), 129–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-010-9370-2.
Sias, P. M., Drzewiecka, J. A., Meares, M., Bent, R., Konomi, Y., Ortega, M., et al. (2008). Intercultural friendship development. Communication Reports, 21(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934210701643750.
Skrbis, Z., & Woodward, I. (2007). The ambivalence of ordinary cosmopolitanism: investigating the limits of cosmopolitan openness. The Sociological Review, 55(4), 730–747. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2007.00750.x.
Snow, R. (1994). Abilities in academic tasks. In R. Sternberg & R. Wagner (Eds.), Mind in context: interactionist perspectives on human intelligence (pp. 3–37). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sobré-Denton, M. (2011). The emergence of cosmopolitan group cultures and its implications for cultural transition: a case study of an international student support group. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35(1), 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.09.007.
Sovic, S. (2009). Hi-bye friends and the herd instinct: international and home students in the creative arts. Higher Education, 58(6), 747–761. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9223-z.
Volet, S. (2001). Understanding learning and motivation in context: a multi-dimensional and multi-level cognitive-situative perspective. In S. Volet & S. Järvelä (Eds.), Motivation in learning contexts: theoretical advances and methodological implications (pp. 57–82). Bingley: Emerald.
Volet, S., & Jones, C. (2012). Cultural transitions in higher education: individual adaptation, transformation and engagement. Advances in Motivation and Achievement, 17, 241–284. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0749-7423(2012)0000017012.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kudo, K., Volet, S. & Whitsed, C. Development of intercultural relationships at university: a three-stage ecological and person-in-context conceptual framework. High Educ 77, 473–489 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0283-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0283-9