Empirical Study on Intercultural Communication Teaching for English Majors in Chinese Universities

Abstract

The relationship between intercultural communication competence and foreign language teaching has been attended to worldwide for many years. Its importance has also been well recognized. In China, many universities have run Intercultural Communication as an individual course at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This paper presents findings from an empirical research on intercultural communication teaching for undergraduate English majors from six universities in Yunnan province in southwest China. It focuses on students’ perception of present intercultural communication course in terms of purpose of learning, content and effective approaches, expectations for teachers and suggestions for improving the course. Based on data analysis, this paper puts forward some implications on intercultural communication teaching. Teachers should help students to develop appropriate cultural attitudes and improve their intercultural communication competence so as to meet the demand of the globalized world. Meanwhile, collaboration among researches and teachers are advocated to improve teaching of intercultural communication. Key words: Intercultural communication; English majors; Perception; Teaching