Bridging the Gap: Integrating Intercultural Communication into Language Curricula at the University of Tripoli to Meet Global Labor Market Demands

الملخص

This study reveals a deficit in language-related degree programs pedagogy at the University of Tripoli in relation to graduates’ aspired employment areas. Drawing on Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory and Mezirow's transformative learning framework, the paper examined program evaluations of expected graduates from the Departments of English, French, Italian and Spanish in order to find out how aware are they of the strengths and weaknesses of their programs, thus, their own strengths and weakness as graduates from the specified departments; and how well-prepared for the labor market do they feel. Questionnaires were distributed to the targeted participants and internal consistency of the binary-response instrument employed was assessed using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20), yielding limited but expected reliability coefficients attributable to the exploratory nature of the study. The study found that most participants are satisfied with the academic knowledge provided during their years of study in their respective programs; however, a large proportion indicated lack of practical skills development, which was further linked to inadequate development of interactive skills including interpersonal skills, cultural competence and emotional intelligence - a pattern consistent with findings documented across comparable North African university contexts. Building on the findings, and in response to a gap similarly identified across the region, the paper suggests incorporating an intercultural communication course into all language-related degree programs considering the merits of such an initiative which include creating graduates who can function and interact successfully in a continuously globalizing world.