A Study On Intercultural Communication Competence Of Postgraduate Students Majoring In English

Language is closely related to culture,and its formation is inseparable from customs.The knowledge of language structure alone cannot correctly handle the communication and conflicts of various ethnic groups and different cultures.The rapid development of science and technology has accelerated information dissemination speed,and international exchanges have become frequent.Economic development has brought multinational companies and cooperation,and the use of intercultural communication competence(ICC)plays an important role in negotiation and competition.Studying abroad,traveling,and working have become more accessible and manageable,which in turn affects the formation of multiculturalism.Due to the need to promote and develop our country’s international status,our society has higher requirements for communicators’ language ability,and cultivating ICC has become one of the important goals of English teaching.However,language proficiency and ICC have not received equal attention,and English talents who pass the test may not necessarily have good ICC.This research aims to explore the status quo of the ICC of the postgraduate students majoring in English and research the factors that affect students’ ICC and the problems in the process of competence development.The research questions are as follows:1.What is the status quo of ICC of the postgraduate of English majors in universities?2.What are the factors that affect students’ ICC?149 English majors from different schools and grades participated in the survey as subjects.The research tools are questionnaires and interviews.The questionnaire used Assessment of Intercultural Competence of Chinese College Students(AIC-CCS)by Wu,Fan,and Peng(2013)and socio-cultural test by Wang(1990).Five students were invited to participate in the interview.The data obtained by the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS27.0.The main findings of this research are as follows:First,the overall ICC of the postgraduate English majors participating in the research is at a middle level.Among them,intercultural attitudes(AT),knowledge related to domestic culture(KNA),and intercultural awareness(AW)are relatively good,but intercultural communicative skills(SKA)and intercultural cognitive skills(SKB)are average,especially knowledge related to foreign cultures(KNB)is low.Second,through regression analysis,among the six dimensions of ICC,SKA,KNB,and AT have a more apparent positive impact on the overall competence level.Third,gender,length of time to learn English,master’s research directions,and language proficiency have no obvious influence on ICC.The ICC level of postgraduates who are transdisciplinary is obviously lower than that of students in the same major in terms of AT and AW.Whether a student has a plan to study abroad has a certain impact on ICC,especially in KNB,AW,and intercultural skills.The ICC of those who have participated in intercultural courses and academic exchanges is significantly better than students who have not participated in KNA,AT,and AW.In terms of cultivating strategies,the author believes that students’ understanding of ICC’s importance should be strengthened.The emphasis on language proficiency and ICC should be balanced.The popularization of theoretical knowledge related to ICC should be increased,and intercultural teaching materials should be updated.Besides,increase related courses and activities,increase the ICC assessment in the language test,pay more attention to and help students who may be weaker or have a purposeful need to enhance ICC,and make full use of current technology conditions for intercultural communication or learning.The present research provides data for further understanding of the ICC of English majors at different stages,broadens the research objects,and provides some references for students and teachers to understand the insufficiency of ICC.