Intercultural Communication Awareness Research Articles

Promoting Intercultural Pluralism: Linguistic Diversity in Saudi EFL Education

The rapidly changing social and educational landscape of Saudi Arabia has made commitment to intercultural pluralism in EFL classrooms a compelling necessity for peaceful co-existence with ‘others’ both within and outside the country. Understanding of the other cultures is facilitated by communication which is dependent on language which necessitates teachers’ preparation in training learners in intercultural communication. This descriptive study aimed to assess the prevalent teachers' awareness of intercultural communication to foster a higher level of pluralism, particularly in the unique sociocultural landscape of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from 29 EFL instructors at an academic institution via personal interviews. Thematic analysis with statistical analysis were carried out to answer the research questions. Findings showed that to fully master a language, one must also comprehend its cultural nuances; and the promotion of intercultural pluralism through EFL education in Saudi Arabia is a step in the right direction, as it ensures that students are not only linguistically proficient but also attuned to the contemporary geopolitics and culturally sensitive. This research lays the foundation for a larger discussion about the incorporation of cultural awareness in language education, positioning it as a foundation in the development of a more pluralistic and harmonious society.

Intercultural Communication as a Veritable Tool for Church Growth and Management in Lagos Metropolis

The reality of pluralism or multiculturalism of the church is evident from generation to generation since the inception of the church. In Lagos metropolis, the existence of diverse cultural and religious belief systems make intercultural communication a necessary skill for church growth and management. In view of this, the study investigated the level of awareness of intercultural communication and its relevance for church growth and management in Lagos metropolis. The framework for this study is premised on communication accommodation and cultural fusion theories. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design method while questionnaire was used as the instrument to gather relevant data from two hundred and ten respondents (210) selected amongst leaders and members of Baptist churches in Lagos metropolis. Baptist is one of the dominant denominations in Lagos. The study discovered that there is a high level of awareness of intercultural communication skill among members and leaders of the selected churches, but there is the challenge of language and cultural superiority among the respondents. This is capable of hindering church growth and management. Therefore, the study recommends that language and cultural superiority should be prevented in the church. More so, the church leaders and members need to undergo constant training on intercultural communication skills. The church needs to create intercultural functional management and administrative structure for equity and oneness among people of diverse cultures in the church.

The Cultivation of Intercultural Communication Competence in the Unit Integrity Teaching of the Primary English

As China's international status rises, the country needs more and more talents with intercultural communication skills. This paper finds that primary school English teaching materials neglect the cultivation of students' intercultural communication competence, teachers lack the awareness of intercultural communication, teachers' own intercultural literacy is insufficient, and students lack the interest of intercultural communication. The author puts forward suggestions on these aspects, hoping to provide help for elementary school English teachers regarding the cultivation of students' intercultural communicative competence.

The Role of Online Education Forums in Promoting Chinese Learners' Intercultural Communication Competence

This paper explores the pivotal role of Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) in fostering global perspectives among students. It delves into the increasing significance of online educational forums as a tool for promoting cross-cultural communication and language practice. The literature review highlights the multifaceted nature of ICC, the benefits of online education forums, and their contribution to language acquisition and intercultural awareness. Despite their potential, the paper also addresses the challenges and limitations associated with these platforms in the Chinese context. Drawing from the review, the study then proposes localized strategies for optimizing online forums to cultivate ICC among Chinese students, emphasizing the creation of culturally appropriate content, promoting intercultural collaboration, developing awareness of intercultural communication, fostering intercultural conversations and considerations, etc.

UNIVERSAL VALUES SKILLS AND PRACTICES AMONG STATE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATES

Nowadays graduate’s success is frequently attributed to high-profile careers. Concurrently, graduates are also required to be re-dedicated on their success to the community and the country. However, without identity and mastery of universal values, their steps may slip and the desire to see them contribute to society may not be fulfilled. The objective of this study is to assess graduate’s competency in mastering universal values. Data collection based on questionnaire adapted from OECD PISA Global Competence Framework 2018. Respondents comprised of 436 first year students from an established state-owned private university. Most respondents are pursuing diploma and bachelor's studies. The ratio of their field of study is almost equal between social and physical sciences. Data analysis shown that respondents have the skills to practice universal values. This is demonstrated by the high scores recorded for all nine dimensions of universal skills which are awareness of global issues, self-efficacy regarding global issues, perspective-taking, adaptability, awareness of intercultural communication, interest in learning about other cultures, respect for people from other cultural backgrounds, global mindedness, and attitudes towards immigrants. The results of the study provide implications for policies development and operational strategies for private higher education institutions. This institution is suggested to engage in internationalization agenda through curriculum enrichment, cross-border research, and sponsorship, recruiting students and teaching staff and so on.

Intercultural Communication Interaction Among the Local and International ELS Postgraduate Students: A Case Study of International Universities in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Introduction The study aims to look at postgraduate students' perceptions of intercultural communication. It also looks at the difficulties that both local and international students face in terms of communication interaction in the classroom and on campus. Methods The researcher interview four participants who were chosen at random among postgraduate students in International Islamic University Malaysia. The researcher used semi-structured interview questions as the instrument and a thematic analysis is used to answer the research questions then generated the themes and subthemes for the analysis of the study. Findings The results yielded that the complexity of culture, language barrier, attitude towards foreigners; social interaction, individual differences, perceived laziness and stereotyping constitute students’ perceptions on intercultural communication interaction among the local and international ELS postgraduate students. Furthermore, Results show that in these groups, the majority opposed intercultural interaction amongst non-native speakers. The results of this work have implications for future research on intercultural communication awareness among both local and international students.

The Application of Situational Teaching Method in the Cultivation of Intercultural Communicative Competence

As the overall goal of international Chinese language education, the cultivation of learners' intercultural communicative competence has become one of the main tasks of international Chinese language education. The core of situational teaching method is to set up "real" situations that can stimulate learners' emotional experience, which helps to cultivate learners' intercultural communication awareness and improve their intercultural understanding ability.

Determinants of Intercultural Communication Awareness: Evidence from PISA 2018

Determinants of Intercultural Communication Awareness: Evidence from PISA 2018

The Innovation and Application of Computer Multimedia-assisted Teaching Methods in College English Teaching

Abstract The multimedia-assisted teaching model has entered the practice of English teaching (ET) in colleges and universities and has greatly influenced English teaching. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study on multimedia-assisted English teaching. Firstly, we propose a neural machine translation model based on multi-granularity features combined with dynamic word vectors to improve the problem of inaccurate English translation. Secondly, we propose a grammatical error correction model based on a generative adversarial network to correct grammatical errors in teaching English. The experimental results show that the improved model obtains 35.58 and 45.71 BLEU values in the experiments by comparing the neural machine translation models, and the translation accuracy is improved by 23.9% compared with the traditional model. In the experiments through multimedia-assisted teaching, the multimedia-assisted teaching model improved student performance by 9.8%, while the traditional teaching model improved by only 1.9%. The multimedia-assisted teaching model proposed in this paper has a positive effect on students’ performance, intercultural communication (IC) awareness, learning initiative, and interactivity, and also provides a valuable reference for multimedia-assisted language teaching.

Cultivating and Exploring Students' Intercultural Communication Skills in Middle School English Teaching under the Perspective of Cultural Confidence

The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education (2022 Edition) (from now on referred to as "the new standards") mentions students' intercultural communication many times in the curriculum objectives. Under the requirements of the new standards, teachers should pay attention to cultivating students' intercultural communication awareness and ability. In the era of economic globalization, diversified modes of thinking, and information networking, the practice and exploration of cultural self-confidence have become vital prerequisites for cultivating students' cross-cultural communicative competence. Therefore, this paper explores the enhancement and development of junior high school students' intercultural communicative competence from the aspects of the meaning of intercultural communicative competence, the problems and challenges encountered in cultivating students' intercultural communication, the current situation of the cultivation of junior high school students' intercultural communicative competence, the necessity of improving junior high school students' intercultural communicative competence, the principles of the cultivation of junior high school students' intercultural communicative competence, as well as the strategies of the cultivation of junior high school students' intercultural communicative competence.

Analysis of College English Reading Teaching from the Perspective of Cross-cultural Communication

With the development of globalization and the surging demand for foreign language talents, it is particularly significant to foster intercultural communicative awareness and enhance intercultural communicative competence. Undoubtedly, English reading serves as a crucial part of English learning, and improving the ability of English reading is also one of the important ways to cultivate students' cross-cultural communicative competence. However, both linguistic and non-linguistic differences between Chinese and English create cross-cultural barriers to English reading. Therefore, this paper probes into the training strategies for college English reading ability from the perspective of cross-cultural communication, so as to better train college students' cross-cultural English reading ability and further improve the teaching level of college English reading. All in all, this paper has indicated that teachers should not only introduce some cultural context to learners, but also help build up their cross-cultural awareness in foreign language teaching. Only by combining these two steps mentioned above can the purpose of cross-cultural communication be exactly achieved.

Research on Translation Strategies of Foreign-oriented Publicity Translation from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication

With the rapid development of Chinese economy, the foreign-oriented publicity translation becomes increasingly significant. The purpose of foreign-oriented publicity is to show a real China to the overseas and establish a great national image. Foreign-oriented publicity translation has become an important medium for spreading Chinese culture. Apart from following the standards of “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance”, translators of publicity literature should be guided by the criteria of “three closeness”, which caters for the reality of China’s development, foreign audience’ needs for authentic Chinese information and foreign audiences’ thinking habits. Finally, translators should have the awareness of intercultural communication and ensure the effective implementation of intercultural communication by flexible omission, addition and adaptation.

Insights into intercultural communication from a global citizenship framework: Voices of South Korean university students

ABSTRACT The aim of this phenomenological study was to explore South Korean university students’ views of the importance of intercultural communication. It also sought to obtain participant recommendations on how to improve awareness of intercultural communication in their personal lives, on campus, and in society. Intercultural communicative competence is becoming increasingly important as the world becomes more interconnected online and through intercultural exchanges that take place in a variety of capacities. This study was conducted during the spring semester of 2020 at a university in central South Korea. Participants included 14 South Korean university students who were enrolled in an intercultural communication class that was conducted online and designed for English language learners. Data comprised individual interviews, a focus group, and essays. Data analysis centred on examining commonalities and key statements made by participants. In terms of why it is important to study intercultural communication, results highlighted the need for people to be understanding and knowledgeable about diverse cultures, have respect for other people and cultures, and ensure that past intercultural conflict does not happen in the future. Students provided a wide range of recommendations for improving their awareness of intercultural communication. This paper concludes with practical implications.

Exploring Batik Semarangan as a medium to develop intercultural communication awareness and global competence

People doing work from home are mostly depending on what the internet has to offer for communication. Because people want to make good use of the Internet for communication, such information is available in English as a global language. One of the advantages of having ready information in English is that local cultural products can now have better chances to compete globally with products from other cultures. One of those products is Indonesia’s Batik Semarangan, which is produced in Semarang, the capital city of Central Java. Through studying the motifs found in Batik Semarangan, an intercultural communication awareness of rich hybrid culture can be achieved. To ensure awareness, a group of English Department’s literature students was trained to do library and field research on Batik Semarangan. By applying Roland Barthes’ semiotics, students were encouraged to explore the hidden reasons for the unique choice of Batik Semarangan motifs. By doing this activity, not only were the students equipped to be more critical in researching local products but the lecturer has also helped preserve and elevate Batik as a traditional heritage that has global potentiality. Keywords: Batik Semarang; cultural hybrid; traditional heritage; global competence; intercultural communication awarenessMenggali Batik Semarangan sebagai media untuk membentuk pengetahuan komunikasi antar budaya dan kompetensi globalKebanyakan orang yang melakukan pekerjaan mereka dari rumah mengandalkan media komunikasi mereka dengan apa yang ditawarkan oleh internet. Karena orang ingin memanfaatkan internet dengan baik untuk komunikasi, maka banyak informasi tersedia dalam bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa global. Salah satu keuntungan memiliki informasi dalam bahasa Inggris adalah produk budaya lokal sekarang dapat memiliki peluang yang lebih baik untuk bersaing secara global dengan produk dari budaya lain. Salah satunya adalah Batik Semarangan Indonesia yang diproduksi di Semarang, ibu kota Jawa Tengah. Melalui mempelajari motif yang ditemukan di Batik Semarangan, kesadaran komunikasi antarbudaya akan budaya hibrida yang kaya dapat dicapai. Untuk memastikan kesadaran tersebut, sekelompok mahasiswa Sastra Inggris dilatih untuk melakukan penelitian kepustakaan dan lapangan tentang Batik Semarangan. Dengan menerapkan semiotika Roland Barthes, mahasiswa didorong untuk mengeksplorasi alasan-alasan tersembunyi dari pemilihan motif batik Semarangan yang unik. Dengan melakukan kegiatan ini, siswa tidak hanya dibekali untuk lebih kritis dalam meneliti produk lokal tetapi dosen juga turut melestarikan dan mengangkat Batik sebagai warisan tradisional yang memiliki potensi global.Kata kunci: Batik Semarangan; hibrida budaya; warisan tradisional; kompetensi global kesadaran komunikasi antarbudaya

Study of strategies to enhance students’ intercultural communication awareness and competence

In an era of globalization where international cooperation becomes a must in most fields, talents with international vision and intercultural communication skills are in great need. In response to the demand of this market, colleges must pay attention to their cultivation of students’ intercultural communication awareness and competence. This paper explores possible strategies that can be applied in college English teaching and learning to meet this need.

Cultivation of the intercultural communication ability of English learners in the epidemic era from the perspective of the metaverse—taking China as an example

Due to the influence of large class teaching and exam-oriented education, Chinese students’ English learning, often intercultural communication ability, is weak; however, with the advancement of globalization, China, which is increasingly involved in international affairs, plays an increasingly important role in the world. [1] For applied Chinese and Western countries in the values, social system and cultural differences, there are often cultural conflicts in the actual communication and communication barriers. Therefore, it is crucial for Chinese students to enhance their awareness of intercultural communication, enhance their sensitivity to cultural differences, and strengthen their ability to process and screen information in intercultural communication. In the epidemic era, English teaching has to face more restrictions, such as social distance, the cultivation of intercultural communication ability is more restricted, and the transformation and upgrading of education is imminent. Based on the met-verse perspective, this paper discusses the competence of intercultural English learners in the epidemic era and aims to provide a direction for the cultivation of English learners’ intercultural communication awareness in future higher education.

Using Business English as a Lingua Franca for Written and Spoken Communication: Challenges Encountered by Thai Human Resources Professionals in An American Multinational Company

Unquestionably, English is a medium for international communication, particularly in multinational companies (MNCs). In this regard, professionals who work in MNCs, including human resources (HR), inevitably encounter challenges in using English in the workplace environment where people are from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This study attempts to examine how Thai HR professionals perceived the role of business English as the lingua franca (BELF) and how they faced the challenges in using English for workplace communication. This survey study employed a mixed-methods approach for data collection. A questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview were developed to collect the data. Thirty-nine Thai HR professionals at an American oil and gas subsidiary in the Bangkok metropolitan area were purposively selected. Data collected from both instruments were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis, respectively. Our data analysis demonstrates that most of the respondents had a positive attitude about using BELF in their organisation. However, it was necessary for them to be aware of their interactants’ diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds and to effectively use BELF and avoid serious mistakes in their written and spoken communication. In summary, this study reveals that the Thai HR professionals understood the BELF concept and faced more difficulties in spoken communication tasks (e.g., press briefings and business negotiations) in comparison to written tasks. The findings can be beneficial for educators and HR trainers in terms of awareness of intercultural business communication and guidance for developing BELF-oriented courses for university students, graduates and HR professionals. Keywords: Business English as a lingua franca; spoken communication; written communication; communication challenges; Thai HR professionals

A Study on Cultivation Strategies of Intercultural Communication Awareness in PEP Textbooks for Primary School English

A Study on Cultivation Strategies of Intercultural Communication Awareness in PEP Textbooks for Primary School English

Towards intercultural communication effectiveness (congruence) in Sino-African interactions

Within the field of intercultural communication, the position of theorist is adopted, to re-thinkand reframe existing insights by creatively combining them in a more useful and holistic way,towards intercultural communication effectiveness (congruence). More specifically, this paper ispremised on the view that intercultural communication awareness resulting from an understandingof communication cultures of those in interaction can enable development of appropriatestrategies for enhancing intercultural communication effectiveness (ICE). Thus, with referenceto the Sino-African cultural context, a synthesis of literature on culture and communication inWestern, African, and Chinese cultures on the basis of a conceptual framework for interculturalcommunication effectiveness is conducted. The result is a framework reflecting potential synergiesand differences in communication culture and patterns, while also suggesting low culture distancebetween African and Chinese culture. A higher culture distance is reported when African andChinese cultures are compared to Western cultures. Patterns of similarity and difference in Africanand Chinese communication culture are also presented. This paper contributes to the limitedknowledge of intercultural communication in Sino-African interactions by providing insights intoAfrican communication culture and comparing three cultures (Chinese, African, and Western).

A Simple but Unaware Matter: Cultivating Intercultural Communication Awareness through a Non-Formal Education of Office Personnel in Bangkok

This study, focusing on cultivating intercultural communication awareness through a non-formal education of office personnel in Bangkok, aims to highlight the prominent influence of an Intercultural Communication (IC) training program in promoting business workers to have some extent of Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) applied at their workplace. The concurrent mixed-method study comprised three approaches employed for collecting data. Two sets of self-reflection questions before and after the training program and the semi-structured interview were the main research instruments to assess the participants’ intercultural communication competence after the six-hour training. The data analysis and interpretation stage entailed transforming quantitative data into qualitative themes or codes, then relating them to quantitative outcomes for interpretation and integration. The findings suggested that the business workers had a low to moderate intercultural communication competence with particular areas to be developed prior to the training program. Nevertheless, the results drawn from the study concluded that the participants gained IC awareness from the six-hour training in a relatively high manner. The outcomes of this study could be used as a guideline for educational institutions to prepare graduates with intercultural communication competence ready for the labor market, along with human resource departments and corporations to equip their employees with IC assets by designing or offering training programs to enhance productivity at the workplace.