Cultural awareness, communication apprehension, and communication competence: a case study of Saint John's International School

Chintana Monthienvichienchai Faculty of Communication Arts, Saint John's University and PhD Program in Interpersonal Communication, Bangkok University, Bangkok, Thailand Sirintorn Bhibulbhanuwat Faculty of Communication Arts, Saint John's University and PhD Program in Interpersonal Communication, Bangkok University, Bangkok, Thailand Chintawee Kasemsuk Faculty of Communication Arts, Sripatum University and PhD Program in Interpersonal Communication, Bangkok University, Bangkok, Thailand Mark Speece School of Management, Asian Institute of Technology and Graduate School, Bangkok University, Bangkok, Thailand

Keywords
Communication, Competences, National cultures, Schools, Thailand

Introduction
The Thai economic boom during the first part of the 1990s gave a tremendous boost to the international education system in Thailand. The first three international schools for the privileged few swung open their doors to children of expatriates and the so-called nouveau-riche alike. So did the other newly-established international schools, which mushroomed all over Bangkok and other main cities. These schools recruit teaching staff whose mother tongue is English. Among the teaching staff, some are aware of the importance of cross-cultural communication and some are not very cross-culturally oriented. Cultural awareness is usually considered important for expats to function most effectively in most positions in a foreign country, so understanding something about cultural awareness of international school teaching staff is an important issue. Communication competence is also a key issue for many positions, including teaching. In addition, communication apprehension may affect things. As far as Thailand is concerned, there is little research on communication competence in the international school context, or on its relation to cultural awareness and communication apprehension among teachers and students of different cultures. Therefore, this research is designed to study whether cultural awareness and
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Abstract
Cross-cultural communication competence is a key issue in teaching in international schools. Cultural awareness issues are likely to play a role in how effectively the expat teachers in international schools are able to teach. This research examines communication competence, cultural awareness, and communication apprehension of UK teachers in a British curriculum international school in Bangkok, Thailand. Generally, the respondents have a high level of self-reported communication competence, high levels of cultural awareness, and low communication apprehension. Although the sample size in this pilot work is small, the data do seem to show that intercultural awareness is related to communication competence, and that it is also related to communication apprehension, which itself relates to communication competence. This is an important issue for future research.

communication apprehension have an impact on the communication competence in the international school context. According to Hofstede's (1998; 2001) cultural dimensions, teachers and students in international schools are different in the aspects of individualism-collectivism (IC), uncertainty avoidance (UA), and power distance (PD). Saint John's International School, the venue of the case study, has three distinct characteristics: 1 the teaching staff are all Britons; 2 the majority of the students are Thais; and 3 the school uses British curriculum. Following Hofstede's cultural dimensions, the teachers can be categorized as members of the individualistic, low UA, and low PD society, whereas the students are members of collectivistic, high UA, and high PD society. The study, therefore, would probably be relevant for examining communication competence and cultural awareness of native English speakers from any Anglo-Saxon country in most Asian contexts.

Culture and cultural qwareness

Bush et al. (2001) found that cultural awareness by communicators is a crucial factor in developing intercultural communication competence. Zimmermann (1995) showed that getting along with the owners of one culture is a key to successful communication. Wiseman et al. (1989) demonstrated that intercultural communication competence and awareness of other cultures are positively correlated. Linde (1997) even suggested guidelines for

The International Journal of Educational Management 16/6 [2002] 288296 # MCB UP Limited [ISSN 0951-354X] [DOI 10.1108/09513540210441245]

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effective intercultural communication after finding that international school management should focus on intercultural communication within a school context. Genuine community is a condition of togetherness in which people have lowered their defenses and have learned to accept and celebrate their differences (Neuliep, 2000, p. 2). Intercultural approach can be used to identify clusters of attitudes or perceptions that are related to intercultural competence: the ability to deal with psychological stress to communicate effectively, and to establish interpersonal relationships (Lustig and Koester, 1993). In a multicultural school context, Linde (1997) stated that teachers and students who accept and appreciate each other would maintain a high standard of education. Clearly, international school teachers would need to recognize the differences between their own and Thai culture.

` ... Genuine community is a condition of togetherness in which people have lowered their defenses and have learned to accept and celebrate their differences... '

One of the big problems in cross-cultural and intercultural communication studies is the definition of the word ``culture'' (Lim and Firkola, 2000). There are a vast array of ways to define culture; one review examined cross-cultural research and found over 300 definitions, none of which were exactly the same (Neuliep, 2000, p. 15). We do not wish to argue about exactly what culture is, so our solution is simply to adapt the very widelyused cultural dimensions in Hofstede (2001). Hofstede's definition of culture is: the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another (Hofstede, 2001). Hofstede's research provides cultural dimensions that scholars frequently refer to in studies of intercultural communication. Individualism and Collectivism (IC) is one often-examined dimension, which has received consistent attention from both intercultural researchers and cross-cultural psychologists. Individualism is defined by Hofstede (1998, 2001) as the broad value tendencies of a culture in emphasizing the importance of individual identity over group identity, individual rights over group rights, and individual needs over group needs. Individualism promotes self-efficiency, individual responsibilities, and personal autonomy. In contrast, collectivism refers to the broad value tendencies of a culture in

emphasizing the importance of the group over the individual, group rights over individual rights, and in-group orientation over individual wants and desires. Collectivism promotes relational interdependence, in-group harmony, and in-group collaborative spirit. Individualistic and collectivistic value tendencies are manifested in everyday family, school, and workplace interaction. Value systems tend to be more universalistic in individualistic cultures, while collectivist cultures may distinguish between in versus out group, and apply values differently depending on the closeness of the relationship. Some research has re-examined some aspects of the construct of individualism and collectivism. Some details might need to be modified; for example, self-reliance, long considered to be uniquely individualist, may also be characteristic of some collectivist cultures. However, generally, research has tended to confirm the broad outlines of this concept (Niles, 1998; Traindis, 1994). Thus, individualism vs collectivism can demonstrate some of the basic differences and similarities concerning communication behavior between cultures. Great Britain, where most of the international school teachers at Saint John's International School come from, is ranked very high in individualism, third among countries for which Hofstede (2001) presents data. While Thai culture is not as collectivist as many in East and Southeast Asia, it is very much on the collectivistic side of the scale compared to the UK, and ranks 41. It is not yet firmly established exactly how IC would translate into an international school context. Hofstede (1998, 2001) states that the relationship between the individual and the group has been established in a child's consciousness during his/her early years in the family, and that it is further developed and reinforced at school. In collectivist societies, in-group versus outgroup distinction learned in the family sphere continues at school. However, Suzuki's (1998) study of in-group and outgroup communication patterns found that people tend to communicate differently when they are in a culturally-diverse environment, such as an international school. According to Hofstede (1998, 2001), individualist and collectivist perceive the purpose of education differently. For individualistic teachers, education is seen as preparing the individual for a place in the society of other individuals. There is a positive attitude toward what is new.

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Teachers try to provide skills necessary for students to get along in the modern world. In a collectivistic society, education stresses the skills and virtues necessary to be accepted among group members. In the case of British curriculum in international schools in Thailand, the concepts of individuality and collectivity are certainly an element of cultural difference between teachers and students. UA is another of Hofstede's (1998; 2001) dimensions of culture. UA measures tolerance toward uncertainty and ambiguity. Hofstede (2001) explains it as the extent to which a member of a culture feels threatened by uncertain and unknown situations, and the extent that they try to avoid these situations. High scores on this measure indicate that people do not like uncertainty and ambiguity, they prefer strong social conventions, formalized behavior, and rules to make it clear how they should behave. Such cultures tend to enforce conformity, and are guided by the belief that what is different is dangerous. UA cultures evade ambiguity in most situations and look for structure in their business organizations, home life, and relationships. Low UA indicates that people are able to accept uncertainty. Practice and outcome may be more important than the formal rules and regulations, and flexibility and tolerance are important.

` ... High scores on this measure indicate that people do not like uncertainty and ambiguity, they prefer strong social conventions, formalized behavior, and rules to make it clear how they should behave. Such cultures tend to enforce conformity, and are guided by the belief that what is different is dangerous... '

By the UA measure in Hofstede (2001), Thais are moderately comfortable with uncertainty, ranking at 30. However, the UK score is even lower on this measure, indicating that people are even more able to accept uncertainty. UK ranks at 47, one of the countries whose people are least uncertainty avoiding. For higher UA cultures, communicating with someone from an unknown culture can be uncomfortable because such situations are replete with uncertainty and unpredictable (Gudykunst and Kim, 1997). At school, Thai students are most comfortable in structured environments, where the teachers are supposed to have the right answers. Akande (1998) warns that learning is not necessarily uniform across cultures. In some systems, simply getting the

``right'' answer, by any means, is most important, even if the student does not understand why the answer is right. In contrast, weak or low UA cultures prefer less structure. In school, students are comfortable with open-ended learning situations and enjoy classroom discussion. But in Asia, such experiential learning requires some adaptation to cultural elements to work well, even at the university level (Speece, forthcoming). These differences in high and low UA can be applied to the setting of teachers and students in Saint John's International School. For example, Knutson et al. (1995) found that American teachers tend to encourage more verbal expression in class than Thai teachers do, and American students express more opinions in class than Thai students do. PD relates to the issue of inequality, which is present in every culture to some extent. According to Hofstede (1998; 2001), PD is the extent to which the less powerful members of the institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In cultures and organizations in cultures with large PD, people accept strong hierarchy based on inherent differences in status. They easily defer to other people who have higher status and more power in the hierarchy. In low PD societies, people strive for equalization of power, and they do not accept strong status differences even when power is unequal. Hierarchy, to the extent it is accepted, comes from the position, not the inherent status of the person in the position. Compared to most of its neighbors in Southeast Asia, PD in Thailand is weak, and Thailand ranks at 21. However, this is high compared to Great Britain, which is ranked at 44, quite low in PD. Applied to a school context, the parent-child inequality is perpetuated by a teacher-student inequality. In a high PD culture, teachers are treated with respect. There is supposed to be a strict order in the classroom. Teachers are expected to initiate all communication, and students speak up only when invited. When a child misbehaves, the parents often take sides with a child against the teacher. In low PD culture, such as British culture, teachers are expected to treat students as equals. The educational process is student centered. Parents get involved with teachers in disciplining the child when he/she misbehaves (Hofstede, 2001, p. 101). Parental involvement leads to communication between school and home, and students' families may even be included

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in planning educational processes (Sturtevant, 1998). Parent conferences are necessary throughout the school year, so that teacher-parent meetings can help teachers minimize misinterpretation and maximize possibilities for partnerships (Jordan et al., 1998). Hofstede (1998, 2001), of course, has two other dimensions: masculinity-femininity and long-and short-term relationship. However, these two dimensions did not show up significantly in our pilot focus group interview (discussed below). Moreover, according to a discussion in Hofstede (2001, pp. 90-1), traits associated with the masculine-feminine dimension usually show at college level or in adulthood. Therefore, we did not consider these dimensions in our study.

are knowledge, motivation, and skills or actions. Knowledge refers to an awareness or understanding of requisite information and actions needed to be interculturally competent. Motivation refers to feelings, intentions, needs, and drives related to intercultural communication. Skills or actions refer to the real actions selected to be appropriate in communication context (Spitzberg and Cupach, 1984; Lustig and Koester, 1998; Hofstede, 2001). The knowledge factor is one that this study focuses on. Teachers' awareness of differences in IC, UA, and PD has to be investigated.

Communication apprehension
McCroskey (1997, p. 82) defines communication apprehension (CA) as:
An individual's level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons.

Communication issues in teaching

The most important task of teachers is to educate students, which requires getting students to understand what teachers want to communicate and the meanings they want to convey. In the context of international schools, teachers and students are from different cultures. Thus, communication competence in a cross-cultural context is necessary for intercultural communication to occur. Neuliep (2000), for example, comments that by thinking and acting cooperatively, and by communicating assertively and responsively, we can learn to effectively manage intercultural communication well. Thinking and acting cooperatively is likely to include some level of understanding of the other party. Communication scholars generally agree that cultural awareness is a key factor to communication competence. Therefore, cultural awareness of teachers and students may affect communication within the international school context. By being aware of the differences in cultural dimensions stated above, cultural awareness, teachers in international schools in Thailand should be able to conduct satisfying communication with their students.

McCroskey (1997) identifies different types of CA: . trait-like CA; . generalized-context CA; . person-group CA; . situational CA; and . pathological CA. In this research, we concentrate on generalized-context CA, which McCroskey (1997, p. 85) explains:
Recognizes that people can be highly apprehensive about communicating in one type of context while having less or even no apprehension about communicating in another type of context.

Communication competence
Wiseman, cited in Gudykunst and Mody (2001, p. 209) states that competent communication consists of behaviors that are regarded as effective and appropriate. According to Wiseman, intercultural communication competence is not born within humans. Three key factors must exist before intercultural communication competence can occur. These

Knutson et al. (1995) suggested that CA is present in varying degree across cultures. It is unlikely that most teachers would go into the profession if they were generally CA within their own familiar cultural context, but the generalized-context CA may well be present when they have to deal with another culture. Because it is well established that CA can affect communication competence, we have included it as a control variable. Thus, our first research question simply seeks to establish that this control is valid in the international school context in Thailand: RQ1. Does a lower level of communication apprehension mean achieving a higher level of communication competence and vice versa? Our main interest, however, is in cultural awareness. In an international school context, cultural awareness should have an impact on communication competence.

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Teachers who are aware of cultural differences between students and him or herself should produce better communication competency in class: RQ2. Does more cultural awareness enhance communication competence? Probably, cultural awareness also relates to CA; in an international school context, the generalized context CA should drop as teachers become more culturally aware, i.e. they become more comfortable communicating as they learn more about how to function in the new culture: RQ3. Does more cultural awareness reduce communication apprehension?

Methodology
In the study of intercultural communication competence within an international school context began with a small pilot to test the concept of cultural awareness on teachers and students at Saint John's International School. Two focus group interviews were conducted. One was with a group of eight teachers, who volunteered after being informed of the purpose of the study. The second focus group consisted of 11 students who were all representatives of class years seven through 12. The in-depth discussion with students indicated that although students could sometimes identify specific things about expat teachers that may be different from their Thai culture, they had little broad, consistent, and coherent awareness of cultural differences between their culture and the British culture of the teachers. Probably this is because they were not really exposed to the culture broadly, but simply had to deal with an individual teacher in class. On the other hand, teachers showed lots of knowledge about cultural differences. They know that they are more individualistic than the students are. They talked about their culture shock the first time they taught Thai collectivistic students. The teachers had to prepare group-oriented assignments for class. They also had to lower their expectations about open discussion from the students in class. Students showed that they are high UA. They expected that the teacher is the one who supplies the right answer. To reduce uncertainty, teachers preferred parental involvement. Teachers mentioned that Thai students are strongly influenced by their families. In view of the teachers' cultural background, at school the students are taught

the importance of each individual's contribution and to value equality. While at home, the students are treated in collectivistic Thai style, with stronger distinctions due to PD, because Thailand is an authority ranking culture (Gannon, 2000). The British teachers interviewed in the pilot are aware of low PD educational situation at school and Thai students' high PD home environments. They feel that students sometimes get confused in terms of the PD concept between school and home. Because teachers more generally understand the issues in cultural awareness, and because cultural awareness of a more important managerial issue with teachers than with students, we focused the rest of the study only on the teachers. A questionnaire was designed to collect data on cultural awareness, communication competence, and CA, using five-point horizontal scales to measure agreement on a list of items relating to each concept. The cultural awareness questions were based on Hofstede's (2001) characteristics of each cultural dimension: . individualism-collectivism; . uncertainty avoidance; and . power distance. Questions which related to school and the education system were developed to fit these dimensions based on discussion in the literature about how the cultural dimensions translated into the education sphere, and on the pilot focus group results. For the concept of communication competence, we adapted some of Duran and Spitzberg's (1995) questions for cognitive communication competence. The concept of CA was measured by following the interview guidelines in Ayres et al. (1998). Seven teachers were randomly selected to pretest the questionnaire, which led to some minor adjustments for more clarification and appropriateness. The final questionnaire was distributed to 28 British teachers in Saint John's International School.

Results
We used factor analysis to explore the structure of the cultural awareness items, to see if the three dimensions we had attempted to measure were generally valid:
One of the first steps in constructing a summated scale is to assess its dimensionality and the appropriateness of the selected variables through factor analysis (Hair et al., 1995).

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We eliminated two items because the communality in a three-factor solution was very low, and the items did not load highly on any of the three factors. Otherwise, the cultural awareness items all loaded, with high communality, and with coefficients of over 0.5, often considered the cut-off level for practical significance (Hair et al., 1995). The three factors are interpretable as awareness of the three cultural dimensions we attempted to measure. Factor analysis may not be very reliable when the sample size is not substantially greater than the number of variables being factored (Hair et al., 1995). Therefore, we did not depend on it, but computed the reliability for the items constituting each of the dimensions. (This reliability measure, along with factor analysis, is a common element in the scale purification process; e.g. Parasuraman et al., 1988.) For awareness of the IC dimension, and the UA dimension, the Cronbach alphas were quite high (0.7943 and 0.7986, respectively), indicating a highly reliable set of measures. The measures constituting awareness of the PD dimensions had a somewhat lower reliability (0.6095), but this is still within the range of acceptability, especially for exploratory work. Scores on the items on each dimension can be seen in Table I. Generally, the PD

dimension seems to make the biggest impression on UK teachers. They had very strong agreement that Thailand showed stronger PD than the UK, with all means on all items above 4, and an overall mean for the composite scale of 4.34. However, the respondents also tended to agree with the statements reflecting the IC dimension (composite mean 3.55) and slightly with the UA dimension (composite mean 3.33). Overall, there seems to be a fair amount of cultural awareness among teachers at this international school. At any rate, we investigated the dimensions simply to make sure our cultural awareness items followed generally accepted ways of measuring culture in cross-cultural research. Ultimately, we wanted to measure simply overall cultural awareness, not awareness of any specific dimension. Thus, we combined the items (except for the two which were eliminated) into one overall measure by taking the mean. All 13 items resulted in a Cronbach alpha of 0.7329, indicating quite good reliability on this overall measure of cultural awareness. The overall composite mean on the cultural awareness dimension indicated some awareness, with a mean of 3.72. Communication competence, as selfreported by the teachers, was generally quite

Table I Cultural awareness Cultural dimensions Individualism collectivism awareness The purpose of education in Thai culture is learning how to do rather than how to learn For Thai people, diplomas are more essential in building personal self respect Compared to my home culture, Thai students expect a more structured learning situation Compared to my home culture, Thai female students are more submissive IC overall mean (Cronbach alpha = 0.7943) Uncertainty avoidance awareness Compared to my home culture, Thai students are more in-group oriented Compared to my home culture, Thai students are less likely to be confident of their abilities Compared to my home culture, Thai parents have to be encouraged to share ideas on school issues Compared to my home culture, Thai students wait for the right answer from the teachers Compared to my home culture, Thai have stronger social class UA overall mean (Cronbach alpha = 0.7986) Power distance awareness Compared to my home culture, Thai students are more passive Compared to my home culture, Thai students show more respect to teachers Compared to my home culture, Thai students are more likely to avoid interpersonal disagreements with adults and people in higher status Compared to my home culture, Thai students are more likely to stay silent in the presence of adults PD overall mean (Cronbach alpha = 0.6095) Total cultural awareness scale mean (of all above measures) Cronbach alpha = 0.7329 Notes: Five-point horizontal scale, 5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree 1rev = scale reversed, because it correlated negatively with other scale items overall means have no missing data, because mean calculations were based only on items answered [ 293 ] n 27 22 27 28 28 22 28 26 28 26 28 27 28 28 28 28 28 Mean 3.85 3.05 3.44 3.71 3.55 2.64 2.89 3.88 3.71 3.38 3.33 4.41 4.29 4.54 4.11 4.34 3.72 Standard deviation 0.95 1.17 1.22 1.05 0.80 1.00 1.26 1.11 1.12 1.53 0.85 0.69 0.81 0.63 0.99 0.54 0.55

Chintana Monthienvichienchai, Sirintorn Bhibulbhanuwat, Chintawee Kasemsuk and Mark Speece Cultural awareness, communication apprehension, and communication competence: a case study of Saint John's International School The International Journal of Educational Management 16/6 [2002] 288296

high. The teachers agreed fairly strongly with all items on the scale, demonstrating that they pay attention to how students react, they think about the consequences of what they say and the effectiveness of their communication performance, and they are aware of their students' interests (Table II). The composite scale was quite reliable, with a Cronbach alpha of 0.7319. One item of the CA scale was discarded as it has poor correlation with the overall scale, and substantially reduced the reliability when it was included. The resulting Cronbach alpha of 0.7239 indicates that the composite scale with the remaining four items was also quite reliable. Overall, there was a very low level of CA among the respondents, and neither did teachers agree with any of the individual items indicating CA (Table III).

Cultural awareness also had the correct positive sign, indicating that more cultural awareness leads to more CC, as we would predict. In this case, the coefficient was only significance within 90 per cent confidence (p = 0.073), but we regard this as quite encouraging for pilot work with such a small sample. Regarding RQ3, cultural awareness also reduces CA, according to the results of a regression of CA on cultural awareness. Again, initial results were not significant, but results revealed a single case with a very large residual. Eliminating that case resulted in a regression with a significance of 0.47, and an R2 of 0.167 (Table V). Cultural awareness had the correct negative coefficient (p = 0.47), indicating, as we would predict, that more cultural awareness leads to lower CA.

The research questions

To assess RQ1 and RQ2, we regressed communication competence (CC) on overall cultural awareness and the control variable CA. Initial results were not significant, but residual analysis showed a single case with a very large residual. When this single case was discarded, the resulting regression equation was significant (p = 0.005), with an R2 of 0.398 (Table IV). CA had the correct negative sign (p = 0.011), indicating that more CA leads to less CC, as we would predict.

Conclusion
International school teaching experience varies extensively among the respondents, from three months to 16 years. Some of the respondents have never taught in British schools but they have extensive experiences in teaching other international students in different countries. This may lead to some unanticipated bias in our data; if some of the teachers have never really taught in their

Table II Communication competence Communication competence Generally, I am aware of students' interests During a conversation I pay attention to how students are reacting to what I am saying After a conversation with students I think about the effectiveness of my communication performance Generally, I think about the consequences of what I say I feel calm being among students of different cultures Overall communication competence (Cronbach alpha = 0.7319) Note: Five-point horizontal scale, 5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree Table III Communication apprehension Communication apprehension When I first enter a new class I wonder what I am going to say Sometimes I feel uneasy and uncertain in class Sometimes I am discouraged to speak to class Sometimes I am reluctant to speak to the students in class Overall communication apprehension (Cronbach alpha = 0.7239) Note: Five-point horizontal scale, 5 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree [ 294 ] n 26 28 28 28 26 Mean 1.19 1.14 1.07 1.14 1.13 Standard deviation 0.40 0.45 0.26 0.36 0.28 n 27 28 28 28 28 27 Mean 4.44 4.82 4.46 4.57 4.50 4.56 Standard deviation 0.85 0.48 0.64 0.57 1.07 0.53

Chintana Monthienvichienchai, Sirintorn Bhibulbhanuwat, Chintawee Kasemsuk and Mark Speece Cultural awareness, communication apprehension, and communication competence: a case study of Saint John's International School The International Journal of Educational Management 16/6 [2002] 288296

own home culture, they may be somewhat more culturally aware than the average international school teacher. This issue requires attention in future research. Another factor that teachers mentioned in the focus group discussion is that being aware of their students' culture may not necessarily mean adaptation to it. Rather, teachers could try to make their students adapt to their Western culture, especially as the school in this study follows the British curriculum, which may suggest that material can be learned in a British way. This, too, is an issue that should be investigated in the future. Nevertheless, the main issue here is that there does appear to be a positive relationship of cultural awareness to CC. This has been established in other intercultural contexts (Bush et al., 2001; Wiseman et al., 1989), and also holds in the context of international schools in Thailand, at least to the extent that one can rely on the small sample of this study. Certainly, sample size is a limitation, and further research is required to strengthen our knowledge of this relationship in international schools, but the

results are consistant with past work in other contexts. Our results also show that teachers who have more CA have less CC, and that more cultural awareness reduces CA. Thus, even if one regards the direct link as weakly supported in this study (because of the marginal significance, with p = 0.073), the indirect link of cultural awareness to CC is even more strongly evident here. Linde's (1997) suggestion that international school management should pay attention to the issue of intercultural communication seems to be a good one. A key issue in this attention should be making sure that teachers become culturally aware quickly. Cultural awareness seems to be an important issue in aspects of classroom performance in the international school. We strongly recommend that further research be conducted about how cultural awareness affects CC, CA, and other aspects that translate into classroom effectiveness. Such research can contribute valuable material toward understanding international education and the role of cultural understanding in it.

Table IV Regression of communication competence on cultural awareness and communication apprehension R 0.631 Regression Residual Total Sum of squares 1.798 2.721 4.518 Unstandardized coefficients 4.484 0.268 0.749 R2 0.398 df 2 21 23 Standard error 0.659 0.142 0.269 Adjusted R2 0.341 Mean square 0.899 0.130 Standardized coefficients beta 0.325 0.481 Standard error of the estimate 0.3599 F 6.938 Significance 0.005

(Constant) Cultural awareness Communication apprehension

t 6.805 1.885 2.787

Significance 0.000 0.073 0.011

Table V Regression of communication apprehension on cultural awareness R 0.409 Regression Residual Total Sum of squares 0.114 0.571 0.685 Unstandardized coefficients 1.553 0.131 R2 0.167 df 1 22 23 Standard error 0.231 0.062 Adjusted R2 0.129 Mean square 0.114 0.026 Standardized coefficients beta 0.409 Standard error of the estimate 0.1610 F 4.409 Significance 0.047

(Constant) Cultural awareness

t 6.721 2.100

Significance 0.000 0.047 [ 295 ]

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