Zooming in on the Indonesian EFL primary school students’ intercultural sensitivity and their extroversion

Abstract

Intercultural sensitivity and personality traits constitute eminent and inseparable elements associated with EFL learning. Nevertheless, to the best of the writers’ knowledge, limited investigations in an Indonesian EFL primary school level concerning these two variables were found; therefore, the present study was intended to scrutinize the Indonesian EFL primary school students’ intercultural sensitivity and personality traits. 96 students from the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades of one primary school in Bandung were involved. An embedded design of a mixed-method was employed. The data were garnered using 4-Likert scale questionnaires gauging the students’ intercultural sensitivity and their personality traits focusing on extroversion, followed by some open-ended questions. The findings revealed that students’ intercultural sensitivity was considered good (the mean of 80.06 and standard deviation of 8.50), and most students tended to be extroverted (the mean of 72.62 and the standard deviation of 9.89). The students’ intercultural sensitivity was found to be significantly related to their extroversion at a 99% level of confidence (.000 .01). Finally, the findings along with the previous studies explicating the intercultural sensitivity and personality traits advocate some pedagogical implications for facilitating students’ English learning.

Prospective Teachers’ Intercultural Sensitivity alongside the Contextual Factors as the Affective Domain to Realize Multicultural Education

“…However, according to our reviews on various reputable journals, limited research on intercultural sensitivity has been conducted in the Indonesian context. There is one study conducted by Sugianto et al (2022). Their study investigated the intercultural sensitivity of EFL primary school students in Indonesia.…”

International Posture and Intercultural Awareness: A Survey Study of Indonesian Pre-Service Teachers of English

“…Some of them were yet to be aware of specific cultural aspects of certain countries or other cultures. Seeing the finding from this angle, it may be necessary for lecturers to expose learners to international cultures through texts or media, in line with the findings of several studies (Juliastuti et al, 2023;Koch & Takashima, 2021;Rezaei & Naghibian, 2018;Sugianto et al, 2022). Encouraging learners to join study-abroad or exchange programmes may also be necessary to allow direct exposure to international people and cultures (Genç, 2018).…”

“…In Indonesia, several recent studies on ICC have also been conducted (Atmojo & Putra, 2022;Juliastuti et al, 2023;Putra & Musigrungsi, 2022;Sugianto et al, 2022). For example, a mixedmethods study involving 96 primary school learners by Sugianto et al (2022), among others, found that the young learners began to realise values held by Mulan, the main character in Disney's Mulan, as to why Mulan posed as a man and enlisted in the military in her sickly father's place. A recent mixed-methods study involving 92 pre-service English teachers by Juliastuti et al (2023) implemented the ICC learning model, connected with English Literature (ICC-EL).…”

Critical discourse analysis of cultural representations in EFL national commercial textbooks

“…Second, teachers also need to creatively teach multicultural materials from English and non-English speaking countries by providing more critical reading passages and activities. For instance, in a chapter discovering the untouched place and historical buildings, EFL teachers can provide other descriptive texts about places from target and international countries by utilizing technology as an efficacious alternative for introducing cultures to students (Sugianto, 2022).…”