THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCES

Abstract

Globalisation and internationalisation have caused massive changes in several fields of life worldwide, with significant transitions in Hungary. The advent of multinational companies, including SSCs (Shared Service Centres), has impacted the labour market both internationally and domestically. The activity and the management of these companies have increasingly required good intercultural communication competencies and a high level of foreign language skills from graduate entrants. Considering multinational companies' predominantly culturally diverse environments, where employees can only complete their jobs effectively and successfully if they possess the necessary skills, the expectations are hardly surprising. Internationalisation has also influenced university education. International students often come to Hungarian higher education institutions to participate in international programmes offered by universities. Excellent intercultural communication competencies and foreign language skills may be the key to students' success.

Keywords

• intercultural communication competencies
• university language teaching
• non-parametric statistical procedure
• foreign language use at work