Intercultural Collaboration between Japanese Language Schools and High Schools and Universities

Abstract

Amid increasing globalization, schools are required to foster students’ intercultural communicative competence. This paper reports on three intercultural exchange practices conducted by the authors in collaboration with Japanese language schools and high schools or universities. An examination of these practices reveals multiple benefits, including improvements in academic learning and intercultural communicative competence. In addition, the findings suggest that the outcomes of such practices are not fixed but vary depending on the context and environment, and that shared goals among participating institutions are not always a prerequisite for successful collaboration. Finally, this paper proposes the development of a shared template to facilitate the documentation and dissemination of intercultural exchange practices.