摘 要

近年来，在全球一体化和多元文化的背景下，中国与国际上的跨文化交流活动日益频繁，中国高校也愈加重视培养大学生的跨文化交际能力，因此，探讨文化产品和文化活动对跨文化交际能力的影响并以此选择合适的文化产品和文化活动接触路径，对于提高跨文化交际课程的教学效果和促进大学生的跨文化交际能力具有一定现实意义，近几十年来，国内外关于跨文化交际能力的研究不胜枚举，但在中国语境下探讨文化产品和文化活动与大学生跨文化交际能力相关性的研究较少。

本研究以吴卫平的《中国大学生跨文化能力维度及评价量表分析》为基础，采用定量研究的方法，以武汉地区高校为例，通过调查问卷的方式收集了武汉19所高校的研究数据，共回收有效问卷333份，对收集的定量数据用SPSS25进行相关性分析。本研究的调查问卷是由文化产品和文化活动接触情况调查和大学生跨文化能力自我评价量表两部分组成，大学生跨文化能力自我评价量表是基于吴卫平、彭仁忠、樊葳葳（2013）的跨文化能力评价量表。

研究结果显示：（1）武汉高校大学生的文化产品接触处于中下水平，其文化产品和文化活动接触路径有待完善和发展；（2）武汉高校大学生的跨文化交际能力处于中等水平，其跨文化交际能力有待进一步提高；（3）武汉高校大学生的文化产品和文化活动接触路径对其跨文化交际能力有显著的积极影响。

本次研究结果有助于了解当前中国大学生文化产品和文化活动接触以及跨文化交际能力现状，文化产品和文化活动接触对跨文化交际能力的影响，对于高校进行相应的教学改革和完善跨文化交际课程有一定的借鉴意义，也有助于高校实现培养具备跨文化交际能力的复合型人才的教学目标。

关键词：文化产品和文化活动；大学生；武汉高校；跨文化交际能力；正相关；影响作用

Abstract

In recent years, with the accelerating process of global integration and cultural diversity, China has played an increasingly active role in internationally intercultural communicative activities, and intercultural communicative competence of Chinese university students has been paid more attention. Accordingly, it has a profound and far reaching significance to enhance the teaching effect of intercultural communicative course and promote university students’ intercultural communicative competence. In several decades, foreign and domestic researches on intercultural communicative competence is too numerous to count, while relevant research that aims to explore the relationship between cultural products and activities and university students’ intercultural communicative competence in Chinese context is relatively rare.

Based on Wu’s research, an analysis of the assessment tools for Chinese college students’ intercultural communicative competence (2013), this paper adopts quantitative research methods and, by means of questionnaires, collects data from 19 universities in a case study of universities in Wuhan. With 333 valid copies of questionnaires, the collected data are put into SPSS25 to conduct correlation analysis. The questionnaires consist of two parts: the survey of contact with cultural products and activities and self-evaluation scale of university students’ intercultural communicative competence. The latter is based on Wu and other researchers’ study (2013).

The research results reveal that: (1) The level of cultural products and activities of university students in Wuhan is low, so it is necessary to improve and perfect cultural products and activities contact pathways; (2) The intercultural communicative competence of university students in Wuhan stands at medium level and it has still to further enhance; (3) Students’ contact with cultural products and activities has a positive and significant impact on their intercultural communicative competence.

The research results may be helpful to have a better understanding of general situation of Chinese university students’ cultural products and activities contact level and their intercultural communicative competence level, and also the impact of cultural products and activities on intercultural communicative competence. In the meantime, for universities, not only does it provide references to promote teaching reform and perfect intercultural communicative courses, but also conducive to the teaching goal of cultivating complex talents who are equipped with intercultural communicative competence.

Key words: Cultural products and activities; University Students; Universities in Wuhan; Intercultural Communicative Competence; Positive correlation; Impact

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research background 1

1.2 Research purpose and significance 1

1.3 The organization of the study 3

2 Literature Review 4

2.1 Research on contact with cultural products and activities 4

2.2 Research on intercultural communicative competence 5

3 Methodology 7

3.1 Research Questions 7

3.2 Subjects 7

3.3 Instrument 8

3.4 Data Analysis 15

4 Results and Discussion 16

4.1 Current situation of university students’ contact with cultural products and activities 16

4.2 General state of college students’ ICC 18

4.3 The correlation between students’ contact with cultural products and activities and their ICC 23

4.3.1 The correlation between cultural products and activities and all dimensions of ICC 24

4.3.2 The correlation between cultural products and activities and native culture and knowledge 24

4.3.3 The correlation between cultural products and activities and foreign culture and knowledge 26

4.3.4 The correlation between cultural products and activities and attitudes 28

4.3.5 The correlation between cultural products and activities and intercultural communication skills 30

4.3.6 The correlation between cultural products and activities and intercultural cognitive skills 33

4.3.7 The correlation between cultural products and activities and awareness 35

5 Conclusion 37

5.1 Major findings 37

5.2 Limitations 38

5.3 Suggestions 39

Appendix 44

Acknowledgments 58

The impact of cultural products and activities on university students’ intercultural communicative competence——A case study of universities in Wuhan

1 Introduction

1.1 Research background

With quickening globalization and increasingly frequent international exchanges in the 21th century, China is playing a significant part in the world and Chinese students are having more opportunities to communicate with people from different cultures. As culture diversifies, therefore, demands for talents with more intercultural communicative competence will rise. Among these talents, university students are the vast majority. As for higher educational institutions, cultivating more distinguished students who possess intercultural communicative qualities has been regarded as a measure of internationalization. Moreover, as the backbone of promoting intercultural communication and exchanges, highly qualified personnel who are equipped with intercultural communication skills are vital for China to move further toward the world. Accordingly, in the new era, the significance of fostering university students’ intercultural communicative competence is self-evident.

1.2 Research purpose and significance

Since Hymes (1972), a celebrated American social linguist, firstly proposed the term of communicative competence, researchers at home and abroad (Beamer 1992; Arasaratnam amp; Doerfel 2005; Yang amp; Zhuang 2007; Hismanoglu 2011; Liu amp; Liu 2015; Sarwari amp; Wahab 2017) have been discussing intercultural communication competence constantly. It is generally thought that speaking frequent foreign language is equal to making good intercultural communication. However, intercultural communication is quite different because different cultural backgrounds may lead to communicative barriers. Therefore, it is indispensable for non-native speakers to be acquainted with the social and cultural norms of the target language country, namely to possess intercultural communicative competence. However, English teaching, an obligatory course in Chinese university, has long been focusing too much on language skills training, disregarding intercultural communicative skills teaching. For example, it is impolite to ask women’s age and men’s salary in western context, but our textbooks still fill with some impropriate sentences like “how old are you” and there is quite few information about intercultural knowledge. According to Liu (2004), little intercultural communicative knowledge is involved in College English Test, thus contributing to the state where teachers are helpless to cultivate students’ intercultural communication skills. Over the last decade, however, the cultivation of university students’ ICC (intercultural communicative competence) has been valued. In English Teaching Syllabus for English Majors (2013), for example, it is required that English majors should have a good command of language skills, communicative competence and cultural knowledge. Additionally, Standards for Teachers of Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (2019) has made a requirement that a teacher ought to master the basic rules for cross-cultural communications. In a word, the focus of English teaching is switching to the development of English learners’ ICC.

Hu (1999), a senior intercultural communication expert, pointed out that the most valid approach to improve one’s ICC is to interact with the speakers from targeted language as well as experience culture shocks in some particular situations. The influencing factors of ICC are various and it has direct connection between cultural products and ICC. Through literature retrieval in the past two decades, it can be found out that domestic research about ICC is fruitful while the research aiming to explore the correlation between cultural products and activities and ICC is far from enough. Foreign scholars Kormos amp; Csizér (2007) hold that besides direct contact and indirect contact with native or non-native speakers of the target language, intercultural contact also involves the contact with culture products. According to current domestic research (Peng amp; Wu 2016), Chinese university students mainly make intercultural communication by means of indirect contact involving cultural products and activities. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the correlation between college students’ contact with cultural products and activities and their ICC. What’s more, the previous studies on ICC and cultural products and activities have some limitations such as the lack of empirical analysis. Hence, further empirical analysis is made in this study to reveal the current situation of university students’ ICC and explore the correlation between cultural products and activities and ICC. In addition, this study attempts to make some beneficial suggestions on how to improve university students’ ICC in Chinese context.

1.3 The organization of the study

This paper consists of five chapters. Chapter One largely introduces the research background as well as the purpose and significance of the study. Chapter Two, namely literature review, mainly demonstrates the previous research on cultural products and ICC at home and abroad. Chapter Three is the methodology, which is comprised of research questions, the participants, instruments, and data analysis. Chapter Four discusses the results of the questionnaires after conducting the descriptive analysis and correlation analysis. Chapter Five is conclusion, including the research findings, limitations and suggestions for future study.

2 Literature Review

This chapter is the overall literature review about contact with cultural products and activities and ICC. Details are as follows.