A Comparative Study Of Intercultural Sensitivity Between International Business Major Students And English Major Students

Intercultural sensitivity (ISS) is a critical component of intercultural competence(ICC), which plays an important role in enhancing successful interculturalcommunication. In this study, intercultural sensitivity was defined as consisting ofinteraction engagement, interaction confidence, respect for cultural difference,interaction enjoyment, and interaction attentiveness. Using the InterculturalSensitivity Scale (ISS) developed by Chen and Starosta, this thesis presented acomparative study of intercultural sensitivity between175international businessmajor students in Huashang College Guangdong University of Business Studies and165English major students in Sontan College Guangzhou University, and howEnglish proficiency and IC course offered influence intercultural sensitivity wasinvestigated.Through analyzing the330valid questionnaires by means of Independent t-test,Multiple Regression, and Pearson Correlation Analysis, the results indicated that:1)The general ICS level of English major students and international business majorstudents was moderate, English major students had a significant higher level ofintercultural sensitivity than international business major students.2) For fivedimensions of ICS, both English major students and international business majorstudents scored highest in interaction engagement and lowest in interactionconfidence. In spite of these similarities, two samples still showed some differentfeatures in the five dimensions, international business major students and Englishmajor students differed significantly on the dimensions of interaction engagement,interaction enjoyment, and interaction attentiveness.3) This study also found thatboth English proficiency and IC course offered had positive significant on ICS.4)Through a semi-structured interview, more insight for results and suggestions forEnglish teaching were obtained.Three suggestions on how to promote students’ intercultural sensitivity based on the results of the empirical study were put forward in the thesis from the aspects oftraditional EFL teaching syllabus should be changed and systematic IC courses shouldbe offered, English classroom teaching should be reformed, and cultural tests andassessments should be applied in English examinations.This study provides new empirical data to enrich the research on interculturalsensitivity, and fills a gap in the research of international business major students’intercultural communication competence. The findings of the investigation will havean illuminative function in developing English major students and internationalbusiness major students’ intercultural sensitivity and intercultural communicationcompetence.