Applications
The GAPtest has been used successfully in undergraduate and graduate classoom settings and in training programs for professionals being assigned to work or already working overseas. The test, however, is not limited to these contexts and has a variety of uses within a broad spectrum of audiences, The test can be used with, among others, the following groups of people:
1 . Students
- high school students and college undergraduates in intercultural or global studies and
- world history college and university students planning to study abroad
- graduate students in international programs requiring overseas internships
The GAPtest affords instructors in these courses and programs the opportunity to use both individual and aggregate scores to identify areas of strength and weakness in general global knowledge. Using this information, instructors can develop activities for learning, direct supplemental research in specific knowledge areas, and make recommendations regarding general student development. Students can take the GAPtest again upon completion of their course to measure increased knowledge and skills. An additional answer sheet, geographic profile, and context profile are included in the GAPtest Booklet for this purpose.
2. People involved in global (overseas) professions
- development workers
- missionaries and
- educators international aid workers
- government personnel multinational
- global business partners
In addition to the benefits described above for the expansion of general knowledge, the GAPtest has a secondary appeal to overseas professionals. The context profile of the tool promotes complex thinking. The following examples all indicate a lack of broad-range knowledge: an international businessperson in Saudi Arabia who plans a banquet at twelve noon during Ramadan; a missionary who insists on a single religious solution to a complex social problem; a Peace Corps worker who holds a student back a grade in a collectivist and age-oriented culture; or an environmentalist who wants to save the elephant from poachers without considering the political and economic implications. While the GAPtest will not predict success in these cases,scores can be used to evaluate the degree to which limited knowledge may contribute to counterproductive intercultural interaction and problem solving.
3. Volunteers and porfessionals taking courses in intercultural communication and/or participating in cross-cultural training at home or abroad
The profile is often used as one of several learning methods. These include the CrossCultural Adaptability Inventory by Colleen Kelley and Judith Myers, Style Profile for Communication at Work by Susan K. Gilmore and Patrick W. Fraleigh, and “The Intercultural Readiness Inventory” by J. Nathan Corbitt (see References). These are administered in conjunction with culture assimilators, critical incidents, experiential learning activities, and other training methodologies.
4. People who work in multicultural contexts
- urban planners
- teachers
- public and social service personnel
- business managers
In 1996 alone over 915,000 people immigrated to the United States. In an age of multicultural ism and diversity, living in the United States has dramatically increased intercultural encounters at home, in school, and in the office. Those who use the GAPtest as an awareness-raising tool can meet people from other cultural backgrounds with increased confidence and sensitivity.
No comments yet.