An investigation of the intercultural sensitivity levels of summer work and travel programme students

Abstract

A variety of programmes and schemes make travel more affordable and attractive for young people. They provide opportunities to experience intercultural communication first-hand to those who could not have imagined without being involved in such institutionalized schemes. One such programme is Work & Travel which is offered in the USA. Young people who gain hands-on experience in the USA can potentially gain intercultural skills. A few studies have focused on to what extent this experience could live up to the expectations (1 reference). There is a lack of research on the impact of Summer Work and Travel (SWT) participants and the factors affecting their levels of intercultural sensitivity, especially in the Turkish context. Therefore, the current study aims to measure the intercultural sensitivity (IS) of the SWT participants from Türkiye and the factors which impact their level of IS. The sequential mixed method was used, and the quantitative data was first gathered via a five-point Likert scale with 129 participants. Semi-structured interviews with ten volunteering participants followed the quantitative data collection phase. It was concluded from the data analysis that the participants in the SWT experience had a high level of IS. While some participants had less confidence due to their insufficient language proficiency, they reported that they became more confident as they improved their language skills and adapted to the intercultural environment. The researchers also concluded that the high IS might have resulted from the participants’ high level of daily interaction with people from different cultures and at the social events they attended.