| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄應用科技大學 === 應用外語系暨英語專業溝通與教學科技碩士班 === 102 === The purpose of the present study was to explore how cross-cultural service-learning helped develop EFL college students’ intercultural competence, the ability to communicate appropriately and effectively in cross-cultural contexts. Developing intercultural competence is one of the goals of multicultural education. However, a lack of multicultural environment in schools in Taiwan has impeded its implementation, and little research has been conducted to assess the degree of success in implementing multicultural education. Although different approaches of multicultural education have been widely researched in western countries, the use of service-learning in teaching multiculturalism or developing intercultural competence is still limited. Moreover, existing models of intercultural competence are not constructed to fit intercultural communication of EFL learners. This study, therefore, aimed to explore how participating in cross-cultural service-learning events help develop EFL students’ intercultural competence. The students’ identities in the cross-cultural service-learning contexts were also explored to examine how differing identities related to the various components of intercultural competence. A total of 28 students who took part in cross-cultural service-learning events as volunteers were invited to be the participants of the study. Ten individual and 11 focus group interviews were conducted. The interview data were analyzed with the constant comparative method. The results indicated that cross-cultural service-learning events enhanced the participants’ intercultural competence by providing authentic multicultural contact and numerous opportunities to converse with foreigners. The natural language output and the diverse tasks the participants responsible for provided ideal contexts to develop their intercultural competence. In addition, the participants’ identities during the process of service were identified and these differing identities enhanced the development of their intercultural competence.
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