THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A COMPARATIVE PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH IN DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

Abstract

This article examines the effectiveness of a comparative pedagogical approach in developing intercultural competence among university students. The comparative approach is understood as an instructional strategy built on the systematic juxtaposition of cultural values, communication norms, and behavioral patterns across two or more cultures, enabling learners to construct meaning through contrast rather than isolated description. The study reports a pedagogical experiment involving 80 undergraduate students divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group engaged in comparative case analysis, cross-cultural mini-projects, and structured discussion of critical incidents, while the control group followed a conventional lecture-based syllabus. Pre- and post-test measurements of the cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of intercultural competence were compared using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings demonstrate that the comparative approach produced statistically significant gains across all three dimensions, particularly in learners’ ability to interpret cultural difference without ethnocentric bias. The article concludes with practical recommendations for integrating comparative pedagogy into higher-education curricula.