A Study Of Intercultural Communication Competence Of Students In Tourism Management Programs In Hainan Province

On January 4,2010, the State Council of China issued the Several Opinions of the State Council on Boosting the Development of Hainan International Tourism Island. It clearly proposed that the Hainan Province should improve its tourism management and service levels by utilizing its special features. As a significant strategic deployment of the nation, China aims to build Hainan as an international first-class recreational tourist attraction. With more and more foreign visitors coming to Hainan, tourism management will face great challenges in intercultural communication (IC). Therefore, the education of IC is of great importance. This thesis aimed to investigate the current level of the intercultural communication competence (ICC) of the tourism management students in Hainan Province, taking Hainan University (a university level educational facility) and Hainan College of Economics and Business (college level) as an example. A questionnaire based on Byram's (1989) ICC theory was used to reveal students' ICC level as well as factors that influence it.264 students in total from both universities participated in this study, and their average ICC was revealed to be low, that was 3.5640 out of the total score of 5. This thesis proposed six hypotheses to determine the factors that influence ICC based on Byram's theory and other studies related to this area in China and abroad, and the six hypotheses are age, gender, IC training, IC experiences, teachers' performance in the classroom and students' awareness of the importance of ICC. In which, three of the hypotheses were accepted, and three were rejected. It turned out that age, IC experiences as well as teacher's performance had a weak relationship with students'ICC, while gender, IC training, and students' awareness of the importance of ICC were closely related to students' ICC. It is recommended that universities and colleges in Hainan Province or other provinces should all open up IC courses to improve students' ICC level, and create IC contexts by mixing Chinese and international students in the class. In addition, gender difference should also be paid attention to by teachers during the class, since male and female students have different behaviors and communication modes in the class. Mixed-up activities or classes should be established for international and Chinese students to learn together, thus improving Chinese students' multi-cultural experiences and their ICC. Cultural activities outside the classroom, such as short-term overseas language learning programs, and cultural travel programs should be organized to effectively promote their ICC.