BYRAM VERSUS BENNETT: DISCREPANCIES IN THE ... - CERCLL

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Paula Garrett-Rucks Byram Versus Bennett This learner seemed to be expressing acceptance (Stage 4) of the U.S. and French cultural differences in education practices in his statement that it can be effective for French schools to provide students focus, yet then immediately after, he stated that the same practice could cripple students’ ability to explore their interests. I interpreted the strong use of the word “cripple” to indicate that this learner was in a Defense Stage (Stage 2), promoting the superiority of his own culture’s education practices. After great consideration, I assigned the learner a developmental stage between the two assessable stages, Minimization (Stage 3), with much reluctance. His thinking did not appear to fall within the definitions provided for this stage, but the model was not sufficiently descriptive to measure the learners’ development based solely on the content of their postings on the discussion board. Using the diverse objectives provided in Byram’s model, I assessed this learner to have signs of intercultural attitudes by questioning the values in his own cultural practice, a lack of focus in choosing a career path in U.S. high schools, and knowledge about the processes and institutions of socializations in one’s own and one’s interlocutor’s country as well as skills in interpreting and relating French and American cultural practices. Discrepancy 3: Assessing learners’ curiosity about other cultures Another component in Byram’s attitudes factor is the objective “interest in discovering other perspectives on interpretation of familiar and unfamiliar phenomena both in one’s own and in other cultures and cultural practices” (p. 92). Yet within Bennett’s DMIS, there is no consideration for learners’ curiosity toward other cultures. For example, after exposure to the French informant perspectives concerning education, one participant wrote Aunt Annie holds the French education as sacred but I don't know why…I did notice that Sophie said that she specialized in literature with an emphasis in math… Apparently they can do this. How often is it done? Another student also expressed curiosity about French education in Phase 2 of Discussion 2. I am also very interested in what the entire process of students choosing a major in high school is like. I assume that there is some sort or preliminary test to take to gain admission into certain majors or fields… Similarly, another student had questions about the French perspectives toward PACS: On a sort-of-related note, I wondered what the significance of PACS is in France. What kinds of rights or responsibilities does a PAC confer on a couple? If they are intended to be in all ways equivalent to marriage for a homosexual couples, why are increasing numbers of heterosexual couples embracing the idea as well? I evaluated each of these passages using the definitions provided within the intercultural attitudes component of Byram’s model, but there were no criteria established to assess these statements within Bennett’s DMIS. Discrepancy 4: Assessing learners’ attitudes toward their own culture Among the five objectives Byram described as modes of assessment for learners’ intercultural attitudes is the demonstration of learners’ “willingness to question the values and presuppositions in cultural practices and products in one’s own environment” (p. 92). Byram further stated that the learners’ willingness to question phenomena fundamental to their society might involve viewing these aspects from “the other’s interpretation and evaluations” (p. 92). On the contrary, within Bennett’s DMIS, a world view shift from one’s own culture to the other culture, particularly when one’s own culture is subject to criticism, would indicate that the learner 24 CERCLL ICC Proceedings
Paula Garrett-Rucks Byram Versus Bennett was demonstrating ethnocentric thinking. In the Stage 2 of the DMIS, the Defense Stage, Byram describes a Reversal Phase learners may undergo during which the worldview shifts from one’s own culture to the other culture, and their own culture is subject to disparagement. There were instances in all three discussions in my study where learners would have been categorized as demonstrating developed intercultural attitudes by Byram’s definition, but were considered to be ethnocentric thinkers (Reversal Phase of Stage 2—Defense) within Bennett’s DMIS based on their comments. After exposure to the French informants’ descriptions of French and American smiling practices, one learner stated: I like and agree with Florence's description of the Colgate smile of Americans and that at times the smile or the way it is done can be aggressive and artificial as Annie describes rather than spontaneous and natural (Discussion 1, Phase 2). [my emphasis] The learner here appears to have appropriated the French informant Florence’s perspective toward American smiling practices as being at times aggressive and artificial and the French informant Aunt Anne’s perspective toward French smiling as more spontaneous and natural. By questioning common smiling practices in his own culture when viewing it from the eyes of a French informant, the learner is demonstrating developed intercultural attitudes within Byram’s criteria. On the contrary, I assessed this learner to be at Stage 2 within Bennett’s model, because it appears the learner’s own culture is the subject of disparagement in this paradigm, and that the learner is in the ethnocentric Reversal Phase. Similarly, in Discussion 2, concerning education, another learner shifted his worldviews to a French perspective. I do agree with them when they say the French system is more specialized and in depth. American secondary education is designed to be a superficial smorgasbord of classes with rarely any depth of study (Discussion 2, Phase 2). [my emphasis] This learner appropriated French informants’ worldviews toward their education system, and reflected back on his own U.S. education by comparison, noting the negative aspects of his own culture’s practices, disparaging the lack of depth of study in his own country. There were several other examples in the transcripts similar to these two examples. DISCUSSION OF EACH MODEL’S MERITS WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY As Kauffmann, Martin, and Weaver (1992) noted, it is not surprising that different assessments of the same phenomena produce inconsistent results. However, as mentioned earlier, an understanding of the merits of the different assessments can empower researchers and educators to more accurately interpret results or to choose appropriate assessments for their own research. Both Bennett’s DMIS and Byram’s multimodal model have contributed enormously to the field of intercultural research in qualitative and quantitative research. For quantitative research, Bennett’s IDI remains one of the most commonly used research instruments to record changes in individuals’ worldviews. Likewise, Bennett’s INCA model has provided a tremendous influence for mixed method paradigms. But the focus of this study was an application of Bennett and Byram’s paradigms to qualitative research. In theory, Bennett’s DMIS provides a means to measure incremental IC development, providing insight into the different stages of learners’ development. Byram’s model does not. Byram refers to a threshold level of IC development. In three of the four case studies I conducted, students fluctuated between showing signs of development for each of the domains— intercultural attitudes, knowledge and skills—but once all three levels had been attained, the students consistently displayed signs of developed IC. On the contrary, when I used Bennett’s DMIS assessment model to identify incremental changes in stages of learners’ IC development, particularly shifts between ethnocentric and ethnorelative perspectives, I noticed nonlinear CERCLL ICC Proceedings 25
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BYRAM VERSUS BENNETT: DISCREPANCIES IN THE ... - CERCLL

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