This study explored the intercultural contact of a cohort of undergraduate students within the framework of the Sino-German study program at a double first-class construction university in Shanghai through an online anonymous survey. It found that these students’ intercultural contact was achieved mainly through indirect contact, among which the indirect cultural product contact and indirect interpersonal contact were the most frequent, whilst the direct oral contact and written contact were relatively rare. This situation had impacts on the further development and improvement of their intercultural competence. It hopes to provide empirical references to teachers, researchers and educational administrators in the field of intercultural communication, and to offer a new perspective on further exploration of the developmental paths of university students’ comprehensive intercultural competence.
Cite this paper
Xu, R. , Zhang, X. and Rao, X. (2024). Exploring University Students’ Intercultural Contact within the Framework of the Sino-German Joint Study Program. Open Access Library Journal, 11, e2018. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1112018.
Government Portal of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (2024) Statistics on Students Studying Abroad in 2019. https://hudong.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/s5987/202012/t20201214_505447.html
Kormos, J. and Csizér, K. (2007) An Interview Study of Intercultural Contact and Its Role in Language Learning in a Foreign Language Environment. Sys-tem, 35, 241-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2006.10.010
Bi, J.W. (2005) The Main Task of Second Language Teaching is to Develop Students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence. Foreign Languages in China, 1, 66-70.
Zhang, H.L. and Wu, S.Q. (2022) Development of a Reference Framework for Teaching Intercul-tural Competence in Foreign Language Education. Foreign Language World, 5, 2-11.
Clément, R. (1980) Ethnicity, Contact and Communica-tive Competence in a Second Language. In: Giles, H.M., Robinson, W.P., Smith, P.M., Eds., Language: Social Psychological Perspectives, Pergamon, 147-154.
Clément, R., Kruidenier, B.G. (1983) Orientations in Second Language Acquisition: The Effects of Ethnicity, Milieu and Target Language on Their Emergence. Language learning, 33, 273-291.
Peng, R.Z. and Wu, W.P. (2016) A Study of Chinese University Students’ Intercultural Contact Paths under the Perspective of Intercultural Competence. Foreign Language World, 1, 70-78.
Wu, S.Y. (2021) A Survey Study on Intercultural Exposure of College Students in Applied Undergradu-ate Colleges and Universities. Journal of Pingdingshan University, 36, 119-122.
Zou, M.J., Sun, J. and Zhou, J.Y. (2022) A Survey Study on Intercul-tural Contacts of Students in Chinese Medicine Colleges and Universities. Overseas English, 13, 4-6.
Li, C. (2023) A Study of Intercultural Contact Paths and In-tercultural Competence Cultivation of College Students in Higher Education. Shanxi Education, 1, 42-44.
Han, H.Y. (2011) The Cultivation of Intercultural Commu-nication Competence in the Online Teaching Environment. China Educational Tech-nology, 4, 101-104.
Wu, L. (2019) Tridimensional Cultivation of College Stu-dents’ Intercultural Communication Competence under Network Environment. Jour-nal of Higher Education Finance, 22, 55-58.
Li, Y.M. (2021) A Research on the Interaction Ritual Analysis of Foreign Internet Celebrity Fans and its Significance from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication. Master’s Thesis, Chongqing University.
Zhou, Y.L., Liu, X.M. and Sun, J.A. (2021) Intercultural Communica-tion Competence of Chinese and American University Students under the Condition of New Media. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2, 1-14 109.
