Intercultural Competence

14 Grade 10 Community Service Learning questions on Intercultural Competence, with worked marking schemes. 14 questions are available on this topic in full.

1. Question 1

   4 marks

   Suggest four ways in which a service team can ensure that women, youth and elders in a host community all contribute to deciding what a project should do.

   (4 marks)

   Marking scheme

   Any FOUR, 1 mark each: (i) Hold the consultation meeting at a time and place that all three groups can reach, e.g. not during market day or working hours; (ii) Hold separate smaller discussions with each group, since some people will not speak freely in front of others; (iii) Work through existing community groups such as women's groups, youth groups and the council of elders; (iv) Use the local language or a trusted translator so that language does not silence anyone; (v) Ask specific questions to the groups that have not spoken, rather than waiting for volunteers; (vi) Use written or anonymous means, e.g. slips of paper, for views people may fear to state aloud; (vii) Read back the agreed priorities to the whole gathering for confirmation before the plan is fixed.

2. Question 2

   1 mark

   During a service project in Turkana, some learners laugh at the host community's diet of milk and meat and announce that the food they eat at home is the only "proper food". Their attitude is best described as:

   A. Cultural integration

   B. Ethnocentrism

   C. Culture shock

   D. Social responsibility

   (1 mark)

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3. Question 3

   4 marks

   A member of your team is finding the host community difficult - the food, the language and the daily routine are all unfamiliar, and she now wants to go home. Describe four ways the team can help her to settle.

   (4 marks)

   Marking scheme

   Any FOUR, 1 mark each: (i) Explain that what she is feeling is culture shock, that it is normal in a new setting and that it passes as she becomes familiar with the place; (ii) Pair her with a member who has settled, or with a host-community age-mate, so that she is not alone during meals and daily tasks; (iii) Teach her a few greetings and common phrases in the local language so that she can take part in conversations instead of standing outside them; (iv) Introduce the local food gradually and allow her to keep some familiar routine, e.g. her usual time for prayer, study or a phone call home; (v) Give her a task she is good at, so that she feels useful and has a reason to stay; (vi) Give her space in the team's daily reflection to say what she is finding hard, and listen without teasing or mocking her; (vii) Inform the teacher in charge, who can arrange further support or contact the parents if the distress continues; (viii) Encourage her to observe and ask questions about what puzzles her, since understanding the reason behind a practice reduces the discomfort.

4. Question 4

   1 mark

   While the team is choosing a site for a service project, a learner says, "People from that county are all lazy, so there is no point expecting them to help us with the digging." This statement is an example of:

   A. Constructive criticism

   B. Stereotyping

   C. Cultural exchange

   D. Cultural diversity

   (1 mark)

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5. Question 5

   1 mark

   What is the greatest advantage of forming a service team whose members come from several different communities?

   A. The team will always complete the work faster than a team from one community

   B. The team will spend less money on transport and materials

   C. The team can draw on a wider range of ideas, languages and contacts when working with the host community

   D. The team will avoid all disagreements because the members think alike

   (1 mark)

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6. Question 6

   1 mark

   While serving in a host community, learners are told that girls of their age are withdrawn from school for early marriage, and are urged to "respect the custom". Respect for a host community's culture requires the learners to:

   A. Remain courteous but decline to support a practice that denies girls their right to education, and report the matter to their teacher

   B. Argue with the elders in public until they abandon the practice

   C. Attend the ceremony so that their hosts are not offended

   D. Say nothing at all, because every culture is equally right

   (1 mark)

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7. Question 7

   3 marks

   State three ways in which serving alongside a community whose language and customs differ from your own can benefit you as a learner.

   (3 marks)

   Marking scheme

   Any THREE, 1 mark each: (i) It improves communication skills - you learn to listen, to use simple language and to work with a translator; (ii) It corrects stereotypes you held, because you meet people as individuals instead of as a group you had judged in advance; (iii) It builds tolerance and patience when things are done differently from the way you are used to; (iv) It widens your knowledge of Kenya's cultures, foods, livelihoods and history; (v) It builds adaptability and confidence in unfamiliar surroundings, useful in later work and study; (vi) It builds national unity and friendships beyond your own community; (vii) It teaches teamwork, since you must cooperate with people you did not choose.

8. Question 8

   1 mark

   A team's questionnaire on household water use is written in English, but most of the elders in the host village in Tana River speak only the local language. The most appropriate action is to:

   A. Interview only the young people, who understand English

   B. Ask the elders to answer in English using a dictionary

   C. Leave out the elders, since their views are likely to be the same as those of the young people

   D. Work with a community member the elders trust to translate both the questions and the answers

   (1 mark)

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9. Question 9

   2 marks

   State two reasons why a service team should find out about the customs of a host community before beginning work there.

   (2 marks)

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10. Question 10

    1 mark

    A team plans a health sensitisation meeting in a Mombasa neighbourhood during the month of Ramadhan, and is told that most residents fast during the day and attend prayers in the evening. The team should:

    A. Hold the meeting only for the residents who are not fasting

    B. Abandon the project and look for a village where people do not fast

    C. Agree with the local committee on a time that does not clash with fasting and prayers

    D. Keep the time they had already chosen, because the health topic is important

    (1 mark)

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11. Question 11

    1 mark

    Identify one action a visiting learner should avoid when being introduced to elders in a host community.

    (1 mark)

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12. Question 12

    6 marks

    Explain three ways in which learners can show respect for the culture of a host community during a two-week service activity in a village in Kwale.

    (6 marks)

    Marking scheme

    Any THREE, 1 mark for the way and 1 mark for the explanation (2 marks each): (i) Dressing as the community expects - modest dress avoids offending hosts and shows the team has taken their values seriously; (ii) Greeting people in the local language and using the correct forms of address for elders - greetings are a mark of courtesy and open the way for cooperation; (iii) Asking permission before taking photographs or entering homes and places of worship - people's privacy and sacred places are protected; (iv) Observing local eating and hospitality customs, e.g. accepting food offered graciously - refusing outright is read as contempt; (v) Consulting the elders or the local committee before making changes to the plan - decisions are then made through the community's own structures; (vi) Listening without ridiculing practices that are unfamiliar - members show that difference is not the same as inferiority.

13. Question 13

    2 marks

    Distinguish between a stereotype and a fact about a host community.

    (2 marks)

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14. Question 14

    1 mark

    A team from a school in Nakuru plans a two-week service activity in a pastoralist community in Samburu. Which preparation best shows intercultural competence?

    A. Learning basic greetings in the local language and finding out from the elders how visitors are expected to behave

    B. Carrying enough of their own food so that they never have to eat local meals

    C. Wearing their school uniform throughout so that they are easily recognised

    D. Taking along a written programme that the community will be required to follow exactly

    (1 mark)

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