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Handbook of intercultural training. 2nd edition
Inr. .I Inrer~rrlrurul
Rel. Vol. 21. No. 4, pp. 535 539. 1997 ‘1 1997 Elsevier Swnce Ltd All rights reserved. Prmted in Gre;ct Britam 0147- 1767!97 $17 00+0.00
Pergamon
BOOK REVIEW
HANDBOOK
OF INTERCULTURAL TRAINING. 2nd EDITION Dan Landis and Rabi Bhagat, Editors Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996, 460 pp., $65 (cloth), $29.95 (paper)
In 1983, when Dan Landis and Richard Brislin published the first edition of the Handbook of Intercultural Training, few in the field could have imagined the context of intercultural training, education and research in which the contemporary professional operates at the turn of the century. In the early 1980’s, most interculturalists were still trying to prove to their various constituencies that culture mattered. Culture impacts international education, we suggested to skeptical administrators. Culture matters in the domestic workplace, we persuaded corporate managers. Culture affects the international marketplace, we assured multinational executives. Likewise we urged colleagues in the fields of counseling, human services, healthcare, government service. NGO’s and the military to take culture into account, and to prepare their employees to deal with cultural differences more effectively. With more conviction than validated research, we vouched that training could improve intercultural relations in substantial ways. The late 1980’s and early 1990’s have tipped the scales in our direction, and intercultural professionals have to prove the saliency of culture far less frequently to our clients and colleagues. The transformation of the U.S. domestic workforce inspired corporations to attend to the cultures in their midst, in order to attract and retain the best employees from all cultures, and to serve their diverse customers. This transformation was not confined to the U.S.; throughout the world, patterns of immigration and refugee resettlement reconfigured the global workforce as well. Increasing globalization of the corporate world demanded more sophisticated knowledge of human resource management, marketing and multicultural teambuilding. Campuses erupted with political correctness and sought new directions for diversifying their faculty. staff, students and curriculum. 535
536
Book Review
Rare is the academic administrator in the 1990’s who suggests culture doesn’t matter! Clearly, the days of proving that culture impacts human interaction are largely over. However, the period of proving the worth of intercultural training and education has only just begun. Now that savvy individuals in a wide variety of professions agree that culture matters, what are we going to do about that? And can we demonstrate that what we do is better than letting well-intentioned strangers muddle through without training? If we can’t, what are we about? This latest publication attempts to frame an agenda, and address these questions. As the reader attends to each chapter in this volume, it becomes increasingly evident that the authors share a powerful perspective, and will let no chapter exist without reiterating it: ethical practice in the field of intercultural education and training must always be grounded in theory and research. The refrain of the 1980’s-culture matters-has reappeared in the 1990’s within our own professional community: “theory matters.” Increasingly, for many trainers, that mantra is followed by: “results matter.” The authors in this collection are, thirteen years after the initial publication, able to address these concerns of the 1990’s with increasing depth and comfort, and to establish a perspective for future volumes. The book is divided into three parts. Part I includes eight articles which address theory and method in intercultural training; this section contains several updates by authors on topics from the first edition, including ethics, design, selection, intercultural competence and impact studies. These issues are particularly salient to the current training climate, where they are hotly debated. Part II comprises seven articles on the contextual dimension of intercultural training, all new chapters, with many of them focused on U.S. domestic issues. The final section, Part III focuses on area studies in seven articles which explore intercultural training for critical parts of the world. Here the editors include several groundbreaking pieces, including a long-overdue examination of sexual orientation as a specific culture, and reviews of Russian and Eastern European cultures, among others. Acknowledging the needs of the times, the collection reflects both a domestic and international perspective, in recognition that few trainers have the luxury of addressing only one of these concerns. Too frequently, the so-called “domestic diversity” audience includes immigrants. refugees, international managers and others from outside the country. Equally often the so-called international audience has serious concerns about various “within country” cultural issues. The authors correctly suggest that welldesigned intercultural training can bridge between these domestic and international agendas. What is equally important is what the collection does nor try to do. This is not the most obvious purchase for the neophyte trainer who hopes to discover interesting new simulations or group exercises. Many other
Book RrrGn~
537
substantial books address this need. Nor does it review “the basics,” except parenthetically. For those seeking an introduction to culture--general concepts such as nonverbal communication, communication styles, culture shock, etc., there are dozens of other worthy textbooks. However, for educators and trainers seeking information and interpretation on the stateof-the-art in various topic areas, this is an essential addition to their professional libraries, a resource which will be consulted repeatedly for the richness and currency of the ideas therein. As such, it is to be hoped that new practitioners make the investment as well; indeed, a book need not be directed towards beginners in order to be useful to them. This collection excels in three areas: first, in the synthesis of research and the consolidation of perspectives into seminal articles; second, in the exploration of seldom-examined cultural contexts; and third, in the design of training content. Many of the articles provide a comprehensive, up-to-date perspective on research in the topic area. These are the kind of articles about which an educator says “my students must read these,” a trainer says, “these will inform my training design,” and a researcher says, “this is essential to my work.” For instance, in her in-depth article on acculturation, Colleen Ward not only provides us with her important interpretation of previous research on the subject, but she also provides an original framework for organizing the elements involved in psychological and sociocultural adjustment. In another seminal piece, R. Michael Paige and Judith Martin take a courageous stand on training ethics, which is clearly one of the most controversial issues in the field today. Their position is supported by their exhaustive literature review and broad experience in the training profession. May it become mandatory reading for all trainers, right after they digest Paige’s intimidating enumeration of trainer competencies. He has given us all something to aspire to, and something to perspire about. In another comprehensive chapter, on the role of culture theory in the study of culture, Dharm Bhawuk and Harry Triandis present an argument for the efficacy of theory-based training. In addition, they provide an articulate mini-course in research strategies across cultures, carefully elaborating the predictable pitfalls and generously warning the reader about the less predictable. They speak to the rigor that Dan Landis and Rabi Bhagat outline in their opening chapter, suggesting that the future challenge is not only to prove the effectiveness of training. but also to know rch_t,it was effective. Several other chapters consolidate enormous amounts of research into coherent syntheses. For instance, Norman Din&es and Kathleen Baldwin grapple with the extensive literature on intercultural competence. exploring dimensions of effectiveness and adjustment. Their thorough charts summarizing the research give ample evidence of the complexity of predicting
538
Book Review
effective intercultural performance. In a related topic area, Daniel Kealey reviews the current state of knowledge about what constitutes “the model cross-cultural collaborator,” and summarizes issues that have emerged in theory and practice on personnel selection. By combining research with his own formidable experience and insight, the author accomplishes a summary that the reader can rely on for the state-of-the-art. In a similar fashion, Judith Martin and Teresa Harrell coherently elaborate the theoretical approaches to reentry, delineate the variables which impact the sojourner, and offer a complete model for reentry training for both student and professional returnees. The authors integrate research, theory and practice providing the reader with essential insights for responsible reentry training. The second area in which this volume excels is in exploring cultures currently challenging intercultural trainers. Demand for improved understanding have emerged from Eastern Europe and Russia on a variety of fronts. Refugees and immigrants to Europe and North America from these areas require entirely different intercultural approaches than previous refugee groups. Corporations and consultants have needed in-depth background for doing business in these countries. Yet, historically there has been scanty information with which to develop programs and approaches. Walter Stephan and Marina Abalakina-Paap have carefully constructed an examination of the Russian culture designed to address some of these concerns, and Edward Dunbar has supplied a perspective on Eastern Europe particularly useful to the corporate manager. Regarding Asia, about which extensive literature already exists, Graham Williams and Ritchie Bent offer important insights about the interface between the expatriate manager and the Chinese host, particularly concerning adaptation to the host culture in the context of maintaining the corporate culture, always a controversial process. In a pioneering article analyzing sexuality as culture, Michael Ross, Maria Eugenia Fernandez-Esquer, and Annette Seibt outline a perspective frequently asserted by diversity trainers within the United States: by considering sexual orientation as a culture, trainees can increase their understanding of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. This article makes a first step in articulating those cultures for the heterosexual reader. The third contribution of this collection for the practitioner is the careful elaboration of appropriate content for various training topics. By thoroughly reviewing the articles in this text, the trainer can internalize standards of what a conscientious program would cover, for instance, on the topic of reentry. Other chapters which provide content design include the discussion of acculturation, the review of Latin American cultures, Hong Kong Chinese cultures, and the chapters reviewing competence, selection and ethics. A variety of other chapters cover topics of interest in special contexts,
including the military, EEO and diversity training, foreign teaching assistant preparation, international assignments, and use of the intercultural sensitizer. Less strong throughout the book are references to process design. Process design is to be distinguished from methods, which are techniques employed to implement the instructional design. As suggested earlier, the book did not set out to address methods. However, from time to time. one of the articles briefly notes the importance of intercultural training design. most notably in Paige and Martin, and in the article by Hanna Shacher and Yehuda Amir, who integrate the contact hypothesis with current strategies of cooperative learning. Nevertheless, overall, the book does not substantially examine intercultural training process (or instructional) design, an essential topic which has long been neglected in the literature. Clearly, it deserves more than the standard reference to balancing experimental and didactic methods. Rarely do interculturists bring in the expertise available to us from education, instructional design and the developmental literature in counseling that would increase the sophistication of our profession. The growing literature on learning and cognitive styles across cultures, classroom strategies that involve cooperation rather than competition, and rationales for sequencing both our content and process will prove to be an essential resource as interculturalists seek to improve training design across cultures. As we anticipate the third edition, a set of topics already begins to emerge: modifying training design for specific cultures; training crosscultural healthcare practitioners: the impact of technology on intercultural training; training for intercultural teambuilding; training for intercultural conflict resolution. Perhaps by the time the next edition arrives, the held of intercultural training will have internalized the message of this useful collection, that indeed there is nothing so practical as a good theory, and that the bridges between research and practice are readily built. and excellently traveled.
Thr Interculturul
Janet M. Bennett Commtmication Institute Portlrnd. Orqon
Rel. Vol. 21. No. 4, pp. 535 539. 1997 ‘1 1997 Elsevier Swnce Ltd All rights reserved. Prmted in Gre;ct Britam 0147- 1767!97 $17 00+0.00
Pergamon
BOOK REVIEW
HANDBOOK
OF INTERCULTURAL TRAINING. 2nd EDITION Dan Landis and Rabi Bhagat, Editors Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996, 460 pp., $65 (cloth), $29.95 (paper)
In 1983, when Dan Landis and Richard Brislin published the first edition of the Handbook of Intercultural Training, few in the field could have imagined the context of intercultural training, education and research in which the contemporary professional operates at the turn of the century. In the early 1980’s, most interculturalists were still trying to prove to their various constituencies that culture mattered. Culture impacts international education, we suggested to skeptical administrators. Culture matters in the domestic workplace, we persuaded corporate managers. Culture affects the international marketplace, we assured multinational executives. Likewise we urged colleagues in the fields of counseling, human services, healthcare, government service. NGO’s and the military to take culture into account, and to prepare their employees to deal with cultural differences more effectively. With more conviction than validated research, we vouched that training could improve intercultural relations in substantial ways. The late 1980’s and early 1990’s have tipped the scales in our direction, and intercultural professionals have to prove the saliency of culture far less frequently to our clients and colleagues. The transformation of the U.S. domestic workforce inspired corporations to attend to the cultures in their midst, in order to attract and retain the best employees from all cultures, and to serve their diverse customers. This transformation was not confined to the U.S.; throughout the world, patterns of immigration and refugee resettlement reconfigured the global workforce as well. Increasing globalization of the corporate world demanded more sophisticated knowledge of human resource management, marketing and multicultural teambuilding. Campuses erupted with political correctness and sought new directions for diversifying their faculty. staff, students and curriculum. 535
536
Book Review
Rare is the academic administrator in the 1990’s who suggests culture doesn’t matter! Clearly, the days of proving that culture impacts human interaction are largely over. However, the period of proving the worth of intercultural training and education has only just begun. Now that savvy individuals in a wide variety of professions agree that culture matters, what are we going to do about that? And can we demonstrate that what we do is better than letting well-intentioned strangers muddle through without training? If we can’t, what are we about? This latest publication attempts to frame an agenda, and address these questions. As the reader attends to each chapter in this volume, it becomes increasingly evident that the authors share a powerful perspective, and will let no chapter exist without reiterating it: ethical practice in the field of intercultural education and training must always be grounded in theory and research. The refrain of the 1980’s-culture matters-has reappeared in the 1990’s within our own professional community: “theory matters.” Increasingly, for many trainers, that mantra is followed by: “results matter.” The authors in this collection are, thirteen years after the initial publication, able to address these concerns of the 1990’s with increasing depth and comfort, and to establish a perspective for future volumes. The book is divided into three parts. Part I includes eight articles which address theory and method in intercultural training; this section contains several updates by authors on topics from the first edition, including ethics, design, selection, intercultural competence and impact studies. These issues are particularly salient to the current training climate, where they are hotly debated. Part II comprises seven articles on the contextual dimension of intercultural training, all new chapters, with many of them focused on U.S. domestic issues. The final section, Part III focuses on area studies in seven articles which explore intercultural training for critical parts of the world. Here the editors include several groundbreaking pieces, including a long-overdue examination of sexual orientation as a specific culture, and reviews of Russian and Eastern European cultures, among others. Acknowledging the needs of the times, the collection reflects both a domestic and international perspective, in recognition that few trainers have the luxury of addressing only one of these concerns. Too frequently, the so-called “domestic diversity” audience includes immigrants. refugees, international managers and others from outside the country. Equally often the so-called international audience has serious concerns about various “within country” cultural issues. The authors correctly suggest that welldesigned intercultural training can bridge between these domestic and international agendas. What is equally important is what the collection does nor try to do. This is not the most obvious purchase for the neophyte trainer who hopes to discover interesting new simulations or group exercises. Many other
Book RrrGn~
537
substantial books address this need. Nor does it review “the basics,” except parenthetically. For those seeking an introduction to culture--general concepts such as nonverbal communication, communication styles, culture shock, etc., there are dozens of other worthy textbooks. However, for educators and trainers seeking information and interpretation on the stateof-the-art in various topic areas, this is an essential addition to their professional libraries, a resource which will be consulted repeatedly for the richness and currency of the ideas therein. As such, it is to be hoped that new practitioners make the investment as well; indeed, a book need not be directed towards beginners in order to be useful to them. This collection excels in three areas: first, in the synthesis of research and the consolidation of perspectives into seminal articles; second, in the exploration of seldom-examined cultural contexts; and third, in the design of training content. Many of the articles provide a comprehensive, up-to-date perspective on research in the topic area. These are the kind of articles about which an educator says “my students must read these,” a trainer says, “these will inform my training design,” and a researcher says, “this is essential to my work.” For instance, in her in-depth article on acculturation, Colleen Ward not only provides us with her important interpretation of previous research on the subject, but she also provides an original framework for organizing the elements involved in psychological and sociocultural adjustment. In another seminal piece, R. Michael Paige and Judith Martin take a courageous stand on training ethics, which is clearly one of the most controversial issues in the field today. Their position is supported by their exhaustive literature review and broad experience in the training profession. May it become mandatory reading for all trainers, right after they digest Paige’s intimidating enumeration of trainer competencies. He has given us all something to aspire to, and something to perspire about. In another comprehensive chapter, on the role of culture theory in the study of culture, Dharm Bhawuk and Harry Triandis present an argument for the efficacy of theory-based training. In addition, they provide an articulate mini-course in research strategies across cultures, carefully elaborating the predictable pitfalls and generously warning the reader about the less predictable. They speak to the rigor that Dan Landis and Rabi Bhagat outline in their opening chapter, suggesting that the future challenge is not only to prove the effectiveness of training. but also to know rch_t,it was effective. Several other chapters consolidate enormous amounts of research into coherent syntheses. For instance, Norman Din&es and Kathleen Baldwin grapple with the extensive literature on intercultural competence. exploring dimensions of effectiveness and adjustment. Their thorough charts summarizing the research give ample evidence of the complexity of predicting
538
Book Review
effective intercultural performance. In a related topic area, Daniel Kealey reviews the current state of knowledge about what constitutes “the model cross-cultural collaborator,” and summarizes issues that have emerged in theory and practice on personnel selection. By combining research with his own formidable experience and insight, the author accomplishes a summary that the reader can rely on for the state-of-the-art. In a similar fashion, Judith Martin and Teresa Harrell coherently elaborate the theoretical approaches to reentry, delineate the variables which impact the sojourner, and offer a complete model for reentry training for both student and professional returnees. The authors integrate research, theory and practice providing the reader with essential insights for responsible reentry training. The second area in which this volume excels is in exploring cultures currently challenging intercultural trainers. Demand for improved understanding have emerged from Eastern Europe and Russia on a variety of fronts. Refugees and immigrants to Europe and North America from these areas require entirely different intercultural approaches than previous refugee groups. Corporations and consultants have needed in-depth background for doing business in these countries. Yet, historically there has been scanty information with which to develop programs and approaches. Walter Stephan and Marina Abalakina-Paap have carefully constructed an examination of the Russian culture designed to address some of these concerns, and Edward Dunbar has supplied a perspective on Eastern Europe particularly useful to the corporate manager. Regarding Asia, about which extensive literature already exists, Graham Williams and Ritchie Bent offer important insights about the interface between the expatriate manager and the Chinese host, particularly concerning adaptation to the host culture in the context of maintaining the corporate culture, always a controversial process. In a pioneering article analyzing sexuality as culture, Michael Ross, Maria Eugenia Fernandez-Esquer, and Annette Seibt outline a perspective frequently asserted by diversity trainers within the United States: by considering sexual orientation as a culture, trainees can increase their understanding of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. This article makes a first step in articulating those cultures for the heterosexual reader. The third contribution of this collection for the practitioner is the careful elaboration of appropriate content for various training topics. By thoroughly reviewing the articles in this text, the trainer can internalize standards of what a conscientious program would cover, for instance, on the topic of reentry. Other chapters which provide content design include the discussion of acculturation, the review of Latin American cultures, Hong Kong Chinese cultures, and the chapters reviewing competence, selection and ethics. A variety of other chapters cover topics of interest in special contexts,
including the military, EEO and diversity training, foreign teaching assistant preparation, international assignments, and use of the intercultural sensitizer. Less strong throughout the book are references to process design. Process design is to be distinguished from methods, which are techniques employed to implement the instructional design. As suggested earlier, the book did not set out to address methods. However, from time to time. one of the articles briefly notes the importance of intercultural training design. most notably in Paige and Martin, and in the article by Hanna Shacher and Yehuda Amir, who integrate the contact hypothesis with current strategies of cooperative learning. Nevertheless, overall, the book does not substantially examine intercultural training process (or instructional) design, an essential topic which has long been neglected in the literature. Clearly, it deserves more than the standard reference to balancing experimental and didactic methods. Rarely do interculturists bring in the expertise available to us from education, instructional design and the developmental literature in counseling that would increase the sophistication of our profession. The growing literature on learning and cognitive styles across cultures, classroom strategies that involve cooperation rather than competition, and rationales for sequencing both our content and process will prove to be an essential resource as interculturalists seek to improve training design across cultures. As we anticipate the third edition, a set of topics already begins to emerge: modifying training design for specific cultures; training crosscultural healthcare practitioners: the impact of technology on intercultural training; training for intercultural teambuilding; training for intercultural conflict resolution. Perhaps by the time the next edition arrives, the held of intercultural training will have internalized the message of this useful collection, that indeed there is nothing so practical as a good theory, and that the bridges between research and practice are readily built. and excellently traveled.
Thr Interculturul
Janet M. Bennett Commtmication Institute Portlrnd. Orqon