A Comparative Study Of The Intercultural Sensitivity Of Domestic High School Students And Students Studying In Overseas High Schools

Globalization and the economic development in China have made various kindsof intercultural communication increasingly diverse and colorful. Today Chineseteenagers choose to go to college by directly receiving high school education overseas.However, as adolescents under eighteen, they are confronted with more challengesboth in self-identity building and in intercultural settings. On the other hand, domestichigh school students are also engaging in intercultural communication throughdifferent types of exchange programs, during which they experience various problemsand feelings as well. Thus these high school students are worth studying, becausetheir intercultural sensitivity matter in their intercultural communication.The author has two groups---100domestic high school students and70studentsstudying in overseas high schools---from high school students in Jiangsu Province,using the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale by Guo-ming Chen and William J. Starosta.With SPSS, a quantitative method is adopted to study the two groups’ interculturalsensitivity level and the factors affecting their intercultural sensitivity. The findingsmanifest that Chinese students studying in overseas high schools perform better thandomestic students in terms of intercultural sensitivity, with the former performingbetter than the latter in four out of the five dimensions reflected by the scale. Bothgroups are worst in interaction enjoyment and there exist the most correlation betweeninteraction engagement and their levels of intercultural sensitivity. In terms of thefactors affecting their intercultural sensitivity, there is no significant correlationbetween gender and intercultural sensitivity and between language proficiency andintercultural sensitivity. As to domestic students, there is a significant correlationbetween overseas experiences and intercultural sensitivity; while in regards to thestudents studying in overseas high schools, there is no positive correlation betweenduration of overseas experience and their intercultural sensitivity. Based on thefindings and analysis, suggestions on how to strengthen both groups’ interculturalsensitivity respectively and how to improve current high school curriculum areproposed. This thesis supplements the research of intercultural sensitivity with the focus ona new group from a quantitative perspective and promotes further research on theintercultural sensitivity of this group. The findings can provide the consultancycompany the information about its clients’ emotional status and adaptation in overseasstudy from a new perspective so as to better serve them and design its ownpre-departure training for its clients. The study of the intercultural sensitivity ofdomestic students can strengthen their intercultural awareness and provide referencefor improving their intercultural sensitivity.