Perceptions, awareness and perceived effects of home culture on intercultural communication: Perspectives of university students in China

Abstract

The widespread use of English has brought into the dominance of Anglophone cultures in intercultural communication (IC). For this reason, it is important to investigate how English language learners' perceptions and awareness of home culture influence the social practice of intercultural communication. Conceptualizing home culture as a key topic in IC, this study used questionnaires and interviews to investigate Chinese university students' perceptions and awareness of their own culture and the perceived effects of home culture on IC. Anchored in descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis, the findings show that: 1) the majority of students had a rather superficial understanding of their home culture; and 2) most students reported that perceptions and awareness of home culture play critical roles in negotiating with speakers of other backgrounds. This suggests that home culture should be regarded as a resource to challenge the dominance of Anglophone cultures in English language teaching classrooms. It also calls for an integration of home culture and other cultures into the English language curriculum, material development and pedagogical practice.