Cross-Cultural Learning and Intercultural Competence

Background

Globalization has increased the need to understand the work-related adult education programs across national and cultural boundaries (Chang, 2004). Most importantly, it is crucial to understand how adult learners function and learn across cultural boundaries. The cross-cultural learning and experience of adult learners can occur in many forms. One of the most dominant cross-cultural learning and experiences comes from the expatriation experience, which is the work-related adult learning (Yamazaki & Kayes, 2004). Without formal training or education in the cross-cultural interactions, the notion of cross-cultural learning has become the key for the expatriates to obtain intercultural competencies (Yamazaki & Kayes, 2004). A growing research enhances the notion that successful expatriate adaptation and cross-cultural learning depend on how well an expatriate can learn from experience in the international assignments (Porter & Tansky, 1999). Many studies have applied and utilized adult learning theories such as experiential learning and transformative learning to be the research theoretical framework to investigate the work-related cross-cultural learning (Chang, 2004; Chang, 2007; Yamazaki & Kayes, 2004). Therefore, it is necessary for adult educators and HRD professionals to understand the nature of work-related adult learning programs in the intercultural settings and the need of developing intercultural competencies (Chang, 2004).