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A Simulation-Based Approach to Training OperationalCultural Competence

Dr. W. Lewis JohnsonAlelo, Inc,.

ljohnson@alelo.com

Abstract. Cultural knowledge and skills are critically important for military operations, emergency response, or anyjob that involves interaction with a culturally diverse population. However, it is not obvious what cultural knowledgeand skills need to be trained, and how to integrate that training with the other training that trainees must undergo.Cultural training needs to be broad enough to encompass both regional (culture-specific) and cross-cultural (culture­general) competencies, yet be focused enough to result in targeted improvements in on-the-job performance. Thispaper describes a comprehensive instructional development methodology and training technology framework thatfocuses cultural training on operational needs. It supports knowledge acquisition, skill acquisition, and skill transfer.It supports both training and assessment, and integrates with other aspects of operational skills training. Two trainingsystems will be used to illustrate this approach: the Virtual Cultural Awareness Trainer (VCAT) and the Tactical Darilanguage and culture training system. The paper also discusses new and emerging capabilities that are integratingcultural competence training more strongly with other aspects of training and mission rehearsal.

1. INTRODUCTION

There is a growing awareness of the need forintercultural knowledge and skills across a wide rangeof disciplines. Recent conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, andother countries have highlighted the importance ofcultural issues in 21st century military operations [14].Multicultural workplaces, health care and educationalsettings, and emergency response teams are just some ofthe other contexts in which intercultural knowledge andskills have been found to be important [5], [10], [15],[16], [17].

This need for intercultural knowledge and skills poses asignificant training challenge. Experts in the languageeducation community, such as the American Council onthe Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL),commonly assert that true cultural competence arisesonly after years of immersion in the target culture, aspart of a language education program [13].Unfortunately, relatively few specialists get theopportunity to devote that much time to culturaltraining. For example, many service members deployingto Iraq and Afghanistan get just a few hours of culturalawareness training, and some get none at all [9].

This paper describes a simulation-based approach tocultural competency training realized in the Alelofamily of training products. It is intended to helptrainees who may not be cultural specialists quicklydevelop cultural skills they need to be effective inintercultural settings. This includes the knowledge andskills necessary to handle common interculturalinteractions, as well as the adaptability needed to copewith unexpected intercultural interactions. Crucially, itutilizes simulations of intercultural situations thattrainees are likely to encounter in the course of carryingout their jobs or missions, which helps trainees developthe skills and confidence necessary to applyintercultural skills in those situations. The approach alsosupports the assessment of cultural competence bytesting trainees in simulated intercultural encounters.

Although intercultural skill is an important outcome ofthis training, it is not the only desired outcome.Researchers in cross-cultural competence such as Abbe,et al. [2], have argued that intercultural competence hasknowledge and affective components as well as skillcomponents, and that all three should be promoted inculturally competent individuals. Therefore, the Alelotraining method does not rely solely on simulations, butintegrates simulation-based training with multimediainstruction and affective elements, employed in acoordinated fashion to help trainees develop robustintercultural competence.

We have developed a cultural analysis and instructionaldesign methodology, called the Situated CultureMethodology (SCM), which facilitates the creation oftraining courses that utilize this approach. SCM focusessociocultural data collection and instructional design onsituations that trainees are most likely to encounter inthe context of their work activities. This provides anecessary focus to the cultural training. Cultural trainingcourses can have a tendency to turn into a litany of factsabout the target culture-of interest to the culturalspecialist, but of questionable value to the ordinaryintercultural practitioner. SCM focuses on culturerelevant to the job or mission context, resulting intraining that is more coherent and effective in achievingits intended learning outcomes.

This approach has been employed to develop a varietyof Alelo training courses, such as the Tactical Languagefamily of language and culture training courses [8] and

the Virtual Cultural Awareness Trainer (VCAT) [4].Tens of thousands of trainees have made use of thesecourses to date, with demonstrated positive impacts oncultural competence as well as overall operationaleffectiveness [11].

2. EXAMPLE TRAINING MATERIALS

Two courses will serve as examples for followingdiscussion: Tactical Dari and VCAT. Tactical Dari is aPC-based serious game that helps learners acquire

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one's own. Trainees thus learn not just to understandand recognize culturally appropriate behavior, but areable to practice until they become skilled at behavingthe right way at the right times.

Figure 2. Meeting with Afghan village elders

VCAT is a Web-based training course, accessed viaJoint Knowledge Online. When trainees start the coursethey indicate the particular country they will deploy to,their level of seniority, and the type of mission they arelikely to undertake in the region. VCAT thenautomatically selects a tailored curriculum that focuseson their particular needs.

operational knowledge of the Dari language and Afghanculture. VCAT helps trainees develop pre-deploymentcultural awareness of the Horn of Africa. Both providetraining in language and cultural skills, althoughTactical Dari places greater emphasis on language skillsand VCAT puts greater emphasis on cultural awarenessand operational cultural knowledge.

Figure 1. Tactical Dari nonverbal interaction quiz

Tactical Dari includes interactive lessons that focus oncommon skills relating to interpersonal interaction in aDari-speaking context, such as greetings introductions,arranging meetings, discussing business withcounterparts, etc. The course addresses all aspects ofinterpersonal communication in such contexts,including appropriate forms of address, gestures andbody language and social norms for hospitality andrelationship building in conducting business. Theseconcepts are all taught in the context of interactivelessons and exercises. Figure I shows one suchexercise. Here the learner is asked to identifyappropriate gestures and body language for mengreeting each other for the first time in Afghanistan.

Tactical Dari then gives learners opportunities topractice their intercultural skills in simulated encounterswith Afghans. Figure 2 shows such a simulatedmeeting. The player character, gesturing on the left, isleading a team engaged in discussions with the villageleader and other elders (right) about collaborating on areconstruction project. The trainee plays his role byspeaking into a headset microphone in the Darilanguage and selecting appropriate gestures for his orher character. The built-in speech processing systeminterprets the trainee s speech in context and causes thenon-player characters to generate socially and culturallyappropriate responses.

In order to succeed in a scene such as this, trainees mustemploy a wide range of cultural skills. For examplethey should remember to introduce everyone in theirteam. They should inquire about the elder's family butnot in a way that causes embarrassment (e.g., byinquiring inappropriately about female familymembers). They should make appropriate use of Dariphrases expressing respect and humility, at sociallyappropriate times. For example, they should make useof the Dari phrase /naame khudaal (Thanks be to God)in acknowledging the leader's good fortune as well as

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At the start of the course trainees are given a generalintroduction to culture-what it is, and why it isimportant. They are also introduced to six generaldimensions of culture: physical environment, socialstructure, political structure, economic structure, andcultural perspectives and practices. This provideslearners with a conceptual framework for understandingculture and how it applies to their mission and activitiesin country. Figure 3 shows feedback from a quiz at theend of this section, where the learner is tested on thesegeneral cultural concepts.

YCAT then introduces trainees to the culture of theirregion of interest. Like Tactical Dari it includes lessonmodules that introduce cultural concepts. These touchon the various dimensions of culture relevant tooperations in the Horn of Africa. For example, Figure 4shows part of the course that introduces trainees to thephysical environment of the Horn of Africa, particularlythe hot climate. Climate is important in HOA in partbecause it affects when and how people work andconduct business. People are less likely to be availableto work at the hottest times of the day and offering andreceiving drinks is an important aspect of hospitalitywhen meeting with people in the region.

As in Tactical Dari, trainees get opportunities topractice their cultural skills in immersive simulations.Trainees are not required to speak in the local languageon behalf of their avatar, but they are required to makechoices in the context of the situation, and therebybecome skilled at behaving appropriately in thatsituation. Figure 5 illustrates one such scenario. Herethe trainee character (right) is engaged in a meetingwith the local health minister to discuss a mission todeliver medical supplies. The minister has offered thetrainee water to drink and the trainee must decidewhether to accept it. The trainee must consider thehealth risks of drinking water that ma be contaminated,the health risks of not drinking fluids in such a hotclimate, as well as the risk of offending the healthminister by declining the offer. Such situations requiretrainees to apply their cultural knowledge in complexsituations where multiple factors are involved. Thusthey are more likely to be prepared when they arerequired to put their cultural skills into practice.

Figure 5. Practicing cultural skills

3. THE SITUATED CULTUREMETHODOLOGY

A key challenge in developing such culture courses isdetermining what cultural information is relevant to thetrainee's needs and presenting it appropriately. Culturalliteracy approaches (e.g., [3]) tend to present a range offacts about the culture but do not give muchconsideration to which of those facts might be relevantto trainees and contribute to useful intercultural skills.Cultures are rich and varied, and so descriptions of agiven culture can easily become very large and wide­ranging. An effective cultural training approach needsto take cultural information, which may be interesting inits own right from an anthropological perspective, andfocus on the material most relevant to trainee needs inspeci fic contexts.

Military approaches to teaching culture, such as theMarine Corps's notion of operational culture [14], are astep in the right direction. They focus on culturalinformation that is relevant to military operations. Buteven that provides insufficient focus for the purpose ofintercultural-skills training. In the military case, forexample, successful intercultural-skills training requiresknowing about culture that is operationally focused aswell as operator-focused, i.e., focused on what anindividual military operator (servicemember in thefield) needs to know and be able to do to be effective inthe intercultural situations they are likely to encounterin military operations. Similar concerns arise innonmilitary courses, such as our goEnglish course(www.goEnglish.me), developed to teach AmericanEnglish and American Culture worldwide. The focusthere is to provide learners with an understanding ofculture and communicative skills they are likely to needin everyday situations they are likely to encounter whenthey come to the United States.

These concerns led Alelo to develop a methodology fordesigning intercultural competence courses known asthe Situated Culture Methodology (SCM). An overviewof the SCM approach is shown in Figure 6.

3.1 Focus on operational context

SCM focuses the curriculum on the operational context:the range of situations in which the trainee is expectedto apply the cultural knowledge being taught. Thefactors involved in considering operational context aredepicted in the top left of Figure 6. First, it is necessaryto determine the desired scope of the course: the size ofthe region that trainees are being trained for, the degreeof cultural proficiency sought, and the range of jobs andmissions the trainees are being prepared for. In mosttraining courses, the scope of the course is constrainedby the amount of time available to train, which istypically quite limited. For example, trainees who trainusing the YCAT course are expected to have an averageof only four hours of training time. The program ofinstruction for each trainee must therefore by verynarrow in scope.

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To maxirmze tramm g effec tiveness for each traineewhile complying with stringent limitations on train ingtime, we genera lly adopt an approach in which thescope of the course is adapted for each individualtrainee through tailored programs of instruction. Whentrainees begin a course. they comp lete a briefquestionnaire in which they indicate the nature of theirjob and anticipa ted overseas assign ment. The trainingsoftware platform then dynamically configures thecurric ulum to fit those job requirements. In the case ofTactical Dari, the servic ernember's rank and specia ltyhelp to determine the scope of the curriculum. [n thecase of y e AT. seniority helps to determ ine thecurriculum focus, as well as the specific country in theHom of Africa that the servicemember is deploying to.This means that the curriculum designer needs to plan .for not j ust one course scope. but multiple scopes. eachof which may involve diffe rent learning objec tives .

To determ ine the cultural knowledge associated with aparticular scope, instructional designers identifyscena rios and missions that are typical for a given rankor specialty in the cultural region of interest. These, inturn, suggest comm on situations that trainees are likelyto encounter. e.g., meetings with local leaders andcounterparts. chance encounters with children in thestreet , or patient interviews in a medical clinic. Thesesituations are what provide the primary context andfocus for the courses. The cultural training course issuccessfu l if it can properly train peop le to be effec tivein the intercultural exchanges they are likely toencounter in those situations. Those situations also helpto determine the specific learning objec tives that arecaptured in the curriculum design. These typicallyinclude both cultural-competence objectives as well aslanguage-skill objectives, since both may be necessaryf A C""np vvith ~ o i v r-n ,("pn~ r in

Although the scope of the curriculum depends upon theresponsibilitie s of the individual trainee, there istypically a significant amount of overlap in eachindividuali zed curriculum. Some cultural skills. such asculturally appropriate greetings, are likely relevantregardless of the trainee' s job. Some skills, particularlycross-cultural competence skills, are relevant regardlessof the target culture. ln some cases the trainees' jobresponsibili ties cannot be ant icipated with precision.Moreover. in pract ice there are limitatio ns to theamount of individualized training materials that can beauthored and developed . These factors serve to limit thevariability in the situated-culture training objectives.

3.2 Organ ize aro und cultural dimensions an dfactors

Once the situated-culture learning objec tives areidentified. the next step is to ident ify culturalinformation that addresses those learning objectives,and organize it for inclusio n in the training course. Tohelp make it easie r for trainees to understand whatcultural information is relevant for operationalpurposes, we organize the cultural material along sixdimen sions: social structure. physical environment.political structure, economic structure, perspectives. andpractices. The social, physical, polit ical, and economicfactors are concerned more with the macrosocial aspectsof culture. Perspectives and practices are concernedmore with factors relating to the microsocial, or one-on­one interactions, and provide more of an individ ual- oroperator-orie nted view. Perspect ives include timeorientation, individualism vs, collectivism, task-orientedvs. relationship-oriented working relations, and otherattitudes toward personal relations. Practices includediscourse genres, conversational culture, nonverbalcommun ication. ooliteness norms. formalitv vs.

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informality, and other factors influencing culturalaction.

To ensure that the cultural material under each culturaldimension is relevant to the operational context, eachcultural dimension is subdivided into cultural factors,which are a set of cultural topics that are frequentlyrelevant to operational applications. For example, thephysical environment dimension includes the followingtopics: division of the terrain into cultural regions,patterns of land use across the region, patterns of humanmovement and contact between regions, access todrinking and irrigation water, and access to energy andfuel. By working through the target scenarios withsubject matter experts, it is possible to identify culturalfactors that are likely to be relevant. For example, in ahumanitarian assistance scenario in VCAT, access topotable water and electrical power turned out to becritical factors in locating a site for a medical reliefstation.

To further focus the research and identify relevantcultural information, we consider operational culturalquestions associated with each factor. Operationalculture questions are questions pertaining to a culturalfactor that commonly arise in the context of a giventype of operation. We have gathered operational culturequestions from military culture resources, (e.g., [14]),and extend the set of such questions as needed to servethe goals of the course curriculum. Using thesequestions in interviews with subject matter experts canhelp uncover additional cultural factors that need to beconsidered in the course. For example, a number ofoperational culture questions pertain to water andpower, such as who has access to it, who provides orcontrols access to it, and how local people deal withshortages of it.

In addition to identifying relevant cultural factors andskills, we seek to identify optimal metacultural skills ­knowledge and skills that are useful in any cross­cultural situation. The successful use of these skills iscommonly referred to as cross-cultural competence.Cross-cultural competence can come into play inexplaining why particular cultural factors pertain in aparticular situation and to draw lessons that learners canapply in the future to similar situations. Consider forexample the case of a humanitarian relief scenario inwhich local officials make requests or proposals that,from an American perspective, are consideredinappropriate, such as asking for preferential treatmentfor their family or tribe. This affords the traineeopportunities to reinforce metaskills such as perspectivetaking and not being judgmental about differences insocial norms and attitudes.

3.3 Design performance-oriented curriculum

Once the cultural learning objectives have beenidentified and the cultural content has been researchedand organized, we then design the cultural curriculummaterials. Based on the analysis of relevant culturalfactors described above, a detailed set of situated­culture learning objectives are defined.

Most social and cultural factors involve a combinationof knowledge-oriented learning objectives (e.g., theability to recall cultural facts about the region ofinterest) and skill-oriented learning objectives (theability to apply cultural knowledge in specific settingsto achieve particular objectives). This typically resultsin a coordinated set of learning materials to cover eachcultural topic: presentation materials and exercises thathelp ensure that trainees understand the relevant culturalconcepts and how they apply to task objectives, anddramatized scenarios that help learners to develop thenecessary skills and the ability to apply them in typicalsituations at a desired performance level.

Simulation therefore plays an essential role in theresulting courses, particularly in developing andreinforcing the intercultural skills. However,simulation-based activities must be supported by otherlearning activities that help develop the underlyingcultural knowledge. This motivates the hybridinstructional designs of training products such asTactical Dari and VCAT, which interleave interactivemultimedia instruction and simulation-based training.

Although the emphasis of this discussion has been onlearning cultural skills, it should be evident thatlanguage skills are involved as well. Many of thedetailed skills involve communicating with hostnationals to achieve particular objectives. For thisreason, foreign language skills are an essential part ofthe courses that we develop. This is a controversialpoint in some circles; for example, some in the militaryhave argued that military operators can rely oninterpreters, or even translation devices, and thereforehave little need for language skills beyond someminimal vocabulary [1]. Recent experience inoperations in Iraq and Afghanistan give reason to callthat position into question. For example, a MarineCorps Center for Lessons Learned (MCCLL) study ofthe use of Tactical Iraqi training by the 3'd Battalion, illMarines indicated that there were not enoughinterpreters assigned to the battalion to support everyencounter between Marines in the unit and hostnationals, so that it was beneficial to make sure thatevery squad had at least one or two individuals withArabic language training. The MCCLL study [11]showed also that even basic language skills facilitatedoperational culture objectives, because it demonstratedthat the Marines were knowledgeable about the hostnation culture and were open and receptive tointercultural interchange.

We believe that one reason why the language training inAlelo's courses is effective is because, unlike mostconventional language courses and language learningsoftware, the language-learning objectives are soclosely tied to cultural-learning objectives and situated­task objectives. The language-learning objectives are insupport of particular intercultural communicative skills.Popular language-learning software packages, such asRosetta Stone, deliberately disregard cultural factors tomake it easier to create a family of language coursesthat all teach in a uniform way. Alelo courses alsocontrast with language courses that promote generallanguage proficiency, regardless of task application.

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The design methodology described above assumes thatwhen training time is limited, a more efficient trainingapproach may be to focus on language skills that areinvolved in the specific communicative skills ofinterest.

Because intercultural skills are applied in particularsituational and task contexts, it is appropriate toconsider integrating cultural-skills training with otherskills training. A recently developed capability, namedVirtual Role Players (VRP), makes precisely thatpossible. Small units may practice missions inimmersive simulations where they can practice theirculture and language skills in encounters with simulatednon-player characters. Once this capability is morebroadly put to use, intercultural communication skillswill simply become part of the broader range of skillsthat trainees employ to carry out their training exercises.

The SCM methodology is an iterative design approach.Once early versions of cultural training products aredeveloped, they undergo pilot testing withrepresentative users. Revisions are then made toscenarios, situations, learning objectives, or learningcontent to reflect end-user needs and feedback, asappropriate.

4. THE ROLE OF SUBJECT MATTEREXPERTS

Subject matter experts (SMEs) play critical rolesthroughout the SCM development process. There arethree main types of subject matter experts: task experts,culture experts, and language experts. Task experts arefamiliar with how to conduct the scenario or mission;typically they have experience conducting missions inthe area of focus, and understand how the local culturecan influence the conduct of the mission. Cultureexperts are native to the region, and ideally have someexpertise in analyzing and explaining culture. Languageexperts have native or near-native proficiency in thetarget language, and ideally have the metalinguisticskills to reflect on language forms and the language­teaching skills to explain them to learners who areunfamiliar with the language. Sometimes a SME mayplay more than one role at once, e.g., a culture SMEmay have linguistic knowledge, or may have worked asan interpreter in the region of interest and therefore mayhave some mission experience.

The more specific and remote the region of interest, themore difficult it can be to find culture and languageSMEs who have expertise that is accurate and up-to­date, and also have the ability to reflect on and explainit. To cope with this problem, we typically rely onmultiple SMEs with overlapping knowledge, andtriangulate between SMEs, as well as between SMEsand other resources. We typically start with one or moreSMEs who have broad knowledge of the general areaand good ability to articulate and explain it. Theseindividuals can help provide general background, aswell as identify important dimensions of culturalvariability and diversity in the region. We then refinethis with specific information obtained from SMEs withmore local knowledge. We try to interview both male

and female SMEs, in order to get a well-rounded pictureof the target culture. Triangulating between SMEs isparticularly helpful in developing learning materials forcourses with multiple overlapping scopes (e.g., multiplecountries or local regions within the same area) orwhose scope overlaps with that of a previous course(e.g., cultural factors in the Tactical Dari courseoverlapped with those in an earlier Tactical Pashtocourse, since the two languages are spoken in the sameregion).

In the case of task expertise the requisite knowledge ismore widely available and tends to be well documented,at least for military task expertise. However, SMEs whohave the most specific and in-depth knowledge are oftenactive-duty personnel with limited availability. So wetypically try to rely on a combination of multiple SMEshere as well. Task SMEs with the most current andaccurate knowledge help define the task requirementsand validate scenario designs for accuracy. Then wemay rely on other task SMEs who are retired and nolonger currently involved with such missions, but whohave access to current resources and reports, to addfurther detail to the task descriptions, as needed.

Work with SMEs progresses in stages, to inform thedesign process as well as possible and to aid invalidation of the content. In the first stage, the focus ofdiscussion with SMEs is on outlines of the task andscenarios (in the case of task SMEs) and cultural andlinguistic topics (in the case of culture and languageSMEs, respectively). This may initially consist only of asummary of common subtasks to perform, and commonphrases and communication requirements. This is usedas the basis for creating outlines of the curriculumscenarios. We then ask SMEs to review and approvethese outlines. The culture researchers on the team thenconduct preliminary research from Internet and libraryresources, and then follow up later with the SMEs foradditional information gathering and review.

The primary method for gathering detailed culturalinformation from cultural SMEs is ethnographicinterviews. In principle, ethnographic observation inreal-world contexts is desirable, but is often impractical,particularly in hazardous overseas locations. Role­playing exercises are also helpful to elicit further detailsabout cultural practices and this method is used fortargeted information gathering. This method isparticularly valuable in gathering information aboutnonverbal communication and other aspects of culturethat are implicit or tacit and need to be made moreexplicit. We also ask SMEs to write dialogs in theforeign language that are typical for the target scenario;this helps to clarify what specific language skills andcultural skills are involved.

During the authoring phase, it is desirable to have SMEsavailable on an ongoing basis to answer specificquestions and review authored content for accuracy.Often some of these SMEs become members of theauthoring team, and help edit and review material.

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5. ADDRESSING CROSS-CULTURALCOMPETENCY STANDARDS

Cultural competency training is an evolving field, andbroadly accepted standards are not yet established.However, cultural training standards are emerging in themilitary training arena, and so it is worthwhile tocompare military courses developed using the SCMapproach against these standards. Other disciplines suchas medicine and education have their own culturalcompetency standards, and so courses developed inthose fields would need to be compared against thosestandards.

The Defense Regional and Cultural CapabilitiesAssessment Working Group (RACCA WG) [12] hasidentified forty cultural competencies relevant tomilitary training. These were intended to be oriented tothe cultural training needs of junior military personnel,and so are not precisely suited for all of Alelo's courses.Nevertheless, they provide a useful basis forcomparison.

VCAT, in particular, does a fairly good job ofaddressing the RACCA learning objectives. Of the fortycultural competencies identified by the RACCA WG,VCAT addresses twenty-six of them, and partiallyaddresses an additional nine. The remaining objectivesare primarily culture-general and not oriented towardforeign military operations (e.g., focusing on Americanmilitary culture).

The ability to meet the full range of RACCA WGlearning objectives within a given course is constrainedby the amount of available training time. VCAT, inparticular, is designed to be completed in a short periodof time and this necessitates focusing strongly oncultural skills that can be put to immediate use inoverseas deployments. If, in the future, cultural trainingis given greater emphasis and, therefore, training time,it will be possible to incorporate more cross-culturalcompetence skills within the SCM framework.

Older Tactical Language courses, such as Tactical Iraqiand Tactical Dari, cover a more limited range of culturalskills, in part because they give greater emphasis tolanguage skills. However, we are taking lessons fromVCAT and supporting a wider range of cultural learningobjectives in current language and culture courses. Forexample, the new Operational Indonesian courseincludes a module on culture and metacultural skills,and provides learners with a framework forunderstanding culture in general as they learn about theparticular cultures and languages ofIndonesia.

6. TECHNOLOGY IMPLICAnONS

A range of software tools and instruction deliverytechnologies can be employed to support themethodology described above. Alelo has alreadydeveloped many of these technologies and others are thesubject of ongoing research and development.

• Cultural information management tools areneeded to gather, annotate, and organizecultural information. We currently use Google

Notebook for initial data collection and Fedorafor managing media assets.

• Authoring tools are needed to specify thecontent to be delivered. These should supportcollaborative authoring, including participationby SMEs. It should support both interactivemultimedia authoring and interactivesimulation authoring. We have developed aWeb-based authoring portal named Kona, tomeet this need [7].

• The authoring tools and content delivery toolsshould support tailoring of the content for theneeds of individual trainees. We have thereforeincorporated such tailoring functions into eachof our content delivery systems [8]. Forcourses that are delivered using SCORM­compliant learning management systems, suchas VCAT, we rely on the advanced sequencingfunctions in SCORM to tailor the curriculum.

• Since trainees typically have limited time totrain, it is desirable to provide trainees optionsfor continuing their training and maintainingtheir skills. Ideally, these should providetrainees the option of training anywhere,anytime, to maximize their available trainingtime. To meet this need, we have developedmulti-platform content delivery systems todeliver content on whichever delivery platformtrainees find most convenient, including thehandheld platforms [6].

• Since cultural skills training developed usingthe SCM method is closely aligned with tasktraining, it is useful to provide the option oftraining intercultural skills and task skillstogether. Alelo's Virtual Role Player trainingcapability, that integrates artificially intelligentvirtua) role players into multiplayer trainingsystems, helps to meet this need.

7. SUMMARY

This paper has presented an approach for culturalcompetency training, which is designed to help traineesquickly acquire useful intercultural skills. An authoringmethodology, Situated Culture Methodology, has beencreated to develop these courses. This methodologyresults in courses that are tailored to the needs ofindividual trainees, and provides good coverage both ofregional cultural competency and cross-culturalcompetency, in a limited amount of training time.

Courses designed using this method are available fordownload from the Alelo support Web site, as well ason Joint Knowledge Online.

8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to acknowledge various members ofthe Alelo team who contributed to the work describedhere, including Dr. Suzanne Wertheim, Dr. AndreValente, Michelle Flowers, Rebecca Row, LeeEllenFriedland, and Kristen Russell. Thanks to LeeEIIenFriedland for her comments on this article.

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This work was funded by the US Joint ForcesCommand, USMC Program Manager for TrainingSystems, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and theDefense Language Institute. Opinions expressed in thisarticle are those of the author, and not of the USGovernment.

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