Influence Of Bilingual Education On Intercultural Communication Competence Of High School Students

This study is designed to investigate the level of intercultural communication competence of the students of immersion Chinese-English bilingual education program in high schools. Based on the review of extant literature, dimensions of intercultural communication competence can be generalized into three perspectives:affective, cognitive, and behavioral. In this study, eighty-three Chinese-English bilingual students served as participants. They were assessed by two tests respectively on intercultural sensitivity and cultural awareness and one questionnaire designed to tap various cultural-related contents in the curriculum. After the evaluation, eight interculturally competent students were interviewed individually to further investigate the learning strategies they used in the acquisition of cultural knowledge and intercultural communication skills. The results of the study indicate that the students demonstrate a higher intermediate level of intercultural sensitivity and a lower intermediate level of cultural awareness. The analysis of both the questionnaire results and the transcripts of interviews suggest that immersion in a bilingual education program has a substantial impact on the participants’attitudes towards intercultural interactions although providing little guidance in the process of acquiring cultural knowledge. The students with high level of intercultural competence demonstrate high level of learning efficiency and autonomy in the grasp of intercultural communication knowledge and skills though they just have occasional interaction with their native-speaking teachers out of classroom. Finally, it is suggested that intercultural communication competence may be enhanced through developing students’ learning autonomy, providing professional intercultural instruction, and teaching English as an international language. Limitations and suggestions for future research are explored.