1. Frank Xu

2. Last trimester in the IBC class:
The coursework-research
proposal of this module-
an academic report which
presents your intended or
designed plan that makes sense
of that process to readers.

3.  researchtopic refers to what we
want to do;
 researchquestions show how we
want to deal with what we want to
do

4.  what are we interested in or curious about in
this field?
Interest(s) or curiosities could derive from…
◦ daily life;
◦ working experiences;
◦ academic experiences;
◦ our observations;
◦ discussions or conversations with others…

5.  What academic knowledge we could use to
build the connections?
Knowledge could derive from…
◦ from IBC module;
◦ from TESOL modules;
◦ from MCDO module;
◦ from other selected business modules…

6.  who will benefit from our research or study?
take the various stakeholders into account
◦ institutions: universities, corporations and
companies, governments or other agencies etc.;
◦ people: students, teachers, staff, employers or
employees etc.;
◦ academia (if possible): modified, develop or add
new understandings to existing
theories, frameworks etc.

7.  Will my study feasible?
consider the feasibility and accessibility
◦ Is the study feasible for a certain amount of time;
◦ Is the participants accessible for me;

8. Interests and curiosities Academic knowledge
Research
Topic
Feasibility and accessibility
Stakeholders benefits

9.  Broad senses at the beginning:
◦ I am interested in Intercultural Communication;
◦ I am an international student in a Scottish University;
◦ I have sojourning experiences encountering cultural
difference;
◦ I come from China and met many same level students
from China as well in our university;
◦ I want to use my study make people know something;
◦ I learnt cultural dimensions, small culture
approach, (non-) essentialist views on understanding
IC, cultural shock, intercultural sensitivity, intercultural
competence…

10.  Narrow them down one by one….
◦ I am interested in Intercultural Communication
◦ “intercultural sensitivity”

11.  Narrow them down one by one….
◦ I come from China and met many same level
students from China
◦
◦ focus on overseas Chinese students

12.  Narrow them down one by one….
◦ The intercultural environment and most our
interactions occurred in our university;
◦ comments I heard most regarding their
studies, which could be connected to university
service
◦ academic life in a Scottish university

13.  Organise the narrowed thoughts to produce the
research topic
◦ intercultural sensitivity;
◦ overseas mainland Chinese students;
◦ academic life in a Scottish university;
◦ university as a service provider
 Research topic:
whether and how mainland Chinese students’
intercultural sensitivity develops during their first year
of sojourning in a Scottish university

14.  Once the research topic is made up in our
mind, next we could think about how to
“realise” this research topic step by step in
the research questions.
 Here, we have to consider what could be the
logic to make our research topics be
conducted.

15.  whether and how mainland Chinese students’
intercultural sensitivity develops during their
first year of sojourning in a Scottish university
what their intercultural sensitivity was when they arrive here
and what that could be after studying for a year
If any change(s) happened during this period, what
could be the attributes that make this development
happen

16.  1. How did they react to cultural differences they
perceived at the different points of their academic
sojourns?
 2. What patterns can I identify, from a comparison of the
participants’ reactions to cultural differences at different
points of time, about their intercultural sensitivity
development?
 3. What events that happened during the sojourning life
might have contributed to their intercultural sensitivity
(non-)development?

17.  Taking the stakeholder into consideration, I add the
last question:
 From a business perspective, what are the
recommendations from the findings above for the
improvement of the university’s practices as an
education service provider?

18.  Xu, H. (2011) An Exploration of Intercultural
Sensitivity Development of Mainland Chinese
Students Sojourning in a Scottish
University, Unpublished Master
Dissertation, Edinburgh Napier
University, Edinburgh.