TITLE:
An Empirical Study on Intercultural Sensitivity of Foreign Language Majors and Related Influencing Factors
AUTHORS:
Meina Feng
KEYWORDS:
Foreign Language Students, Intercultural Sensitivity, Influencing Factors
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.8 No.9,
September
3,
2021
ABSTRACT: This study investigated the intercultural sensitivity of 220 students who majored in foreign languages by using intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) developed by Chen Guoming and Starosta (2000). Results showed that the intercultural sensitivity of foreign language majors is above average. In the five dimensions, respect for cultural differences is the strongest, interaction engagement is the second, followed by interaction attentiveness and interaction enjoyment, and interaction confidence is the weakest. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that interaction confidence is strongly correlated with interaction engagement and interaction enjoyment. The factors of gender, scores of CET4/CET6, overseas experience and different language major categories which may influence intercultural sensitivity were also surveyed. The results showed that there is no significant difference in intercultural sensitivity between male and female students, but there is a difference in the dimension of respect for cultural differences. And there is no significant difference in intercultural sensitivity between those who have passed CET4/CET6 or not and those who have short-term overseas experience or not. There is no significant difference among different language majors, but there is a difference in interaction confidence among them.