A look at the problem of intercultural communication from the position of russian student-athletes

Abstract

The aim of the study was to know student-athletes’ attitudes toward intercultural communication. 22 Russian students from the Institute of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy took part in the study. To conduct the study, a questionnaire was developed by the author, including questions that reveal the features of interaction between Russian and foreign students. The results of the study showed that Russian student-athletes have a positive attitude towards communication with foreign students. At the same time, intercultural communication is quite limited due to a number of reasons, such as the «language barrier», the need to build effective interaction against the background of misunderstanding of the interlocutor, lack of emotional comfort in the communication process, as well as an insufficient number of organized extracurricular activities with foreign students. Students expressed their preference for organizing events that could contribute to the development of intercultural communication, which should necessarily include sports events. Further research may be related to the development of a program for the development of intercultural communication among students at the Institute of Physical Education.