چکیده:
The present study aimed to investigate the attitudes and perceived nature of thinking and understanding towards intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among International English major students. Accordingly, this study employed the paradigm of a sequential mixed-method research, in which it comprised a qualitative phase followed by a quantitative phase. The participants of the first phase of the study were 30 undergraduate English major students in their third year at Isfahan Islamic Azad University in Iran; and the participants of the second phase of the study included 30 international ESL students in their first year at Gonzaga University (GU), in Washington, U.S. The analysis of narratives in the first phase of the study indicated that the participants had diverse attitudes towards intercultural encounters. The results of the statistical analyses of the second phase of the study showed that the most important individual difference variables directly influencing students’ intercultural communicative competence were their communication apprehension and their perceived communicative competence. This study also showed that students’ self-image as communicators were of utmost importance: if students believe they are good communicators in English, they are more likely to be self-confident and are more likely to take part in intercultural encounters. Thus, instructors should help students achieve a realistic self-image about their performance in English and support them if they lack self-confidence.
خلاصه ماشینی:
2. 22 Abstract The present study aimed to investigate the attitudes and perceived nature of thinking and understanding towards intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among International English major students.
Table 1, illustrates the identified patterns of the students' narratives analysis: Table 1 P a ttern s in S tu d en ts’ Na rra tives Knowledge Factors : IC Knowledge Ignorance Language proficiency Awareness Affective Factors : Motivation Anxiety Attitudes Anger WTC Topic : Successful Unsuccessful Surprise Context : Country Setting Interlocutor Iran, Abroad Private, Public Social Status, Linguistic background Focus : Language use Differences English, Farsi Life style, Meals, Tradition, Religion Participants’ Topics of Narratives The participants' narratives were analyzed on the basis of what kind of memory they wrote about: Table 2 Participants’ Topics of Narratives Type of Encounter No. of Students Successful communication encounters 14 students Unsuccessful communication encounters 5 students Surprise in lifestyles 11 students With the exceptions of three students, almost all participants' narratives presented situations in which actual interactions of individuals were involved, in which they talked in English with either a native speaker (NS) of English, or a non-native speaker (NNS) such as people from European countries, or Asians; the other three participants' narratives described surprises at the differences of lifestyle when they visited other countries or observing people from other cultures in Iran (Table 3).
Table 6 Students Patterns Related to their Affective Variables Affective Variables Percentage Attitude 35% Motivation 28% Willingness to communicate (WTC) 25% Anxiety 12% Summary of the Second Phase of the Study The first phase of the study revealed that students’ behaviors in intercultural situations were affected by situational aspects, knowledge aspects, and affective aspects.