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¶ … Intercultural Relations Studies as "analysis of intergroup behaviour within contexts of cultural diversity." To explore this issue, they studied Spanish students in an English course at a Spanish university. They found that positive contacts between two cultures was not enough to create positive views of the culture unfamiliar to the participant.
Data was gathered by using a questionnaire that measured ethnic attitudes and intercultural assumptions. It covered contacts with foreign people and the quality of those contacts. It also looked at attitudes, intercultural problems and conflicts, stereotypes, prejudices, and assumptions/expectations. It was used by analyzing the variables defined in the questionnaire. The subjects were 74 Spanish university students who had contact with foreign students. Participation was voluntary and anonymous.
Major Findings
The major finding was that for these students, contact with people from other cultures was not enough to foster positive opinions. The international students and Spanish students did not interact much; 87% of the Spanish students did not interact with them. When interactions did occur, they were sporadic and superficial. Some of the participants viewed this...
Analysis showed that the groups polarized themselves into homogeneous groups. About 63% of the Spanish students saw the foreign students as unwilling to interact with them. Paradoxically at the same time, about 90% said the international students were as accepted as any other student, although this clearly wasn't so. The Spanish students said they felt anxious around other with a different language, culture, and world view, and 86% said there was a fear of those who were different than them.
Conclusion
It was surprising to see how insular the Spanish students were. They did not seem to see any need to get to know the students from other countries. The study suggests that simply putting people of different cultures together is not enough to foster real cross-cultural interactions.
ARTICLE 2:
Short purpose statement; preview main points of paper
This report explains how to use intercultural questionnaires of the type used in the first study. The instrument is a self-assessment tool designed to help students understand the link between communication and business success in intercultural situations. However, it can be used in…
It seems that most people need to actively work at learning how to interact with people from other cultures. A systematic way to teach business people to learn these skills seems useful, and it seems likely that companies who adopt such programs might be more successful in intercultural business relationships.
Parks, Calvin. 1995. "Self-assessment of communication behavior: an experiential learning exercise for intercultural business success." Business Communication Quarterly; March.
Sanchez, Jose Saura. 2004. "Intergroup perception of international students." Academic Exchange Quarterly, Mar. 22.
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