Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science (Jul 2020)
STUDENTS’ FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCIES BASED ON A SURVEY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DEBRECEN
Abstract
Globalization, internalisation and the development of information technology have led to enormous changes in the labour market all over the world. The spread of international companies entails some new trends in employers’ requirements. Graduate entrants consider being employed by an international company as an attractive opportunity in their careers. When selecting new entrants, companies are increasingly looking for ‘soft skills’, intercultural communication competencies and foreign language skills. Some employees may have plans for international careers and assignments. Even if they do not want to work abroad, employees at international companies may have to work in an intercultural environment in their home countries. The new requirements of employers encourage institutions of higher education to offer educational programmes and courses which prepare young graduate entrants for these new requirements. The internationalisation of colleges and universities is also a challenge because they should offer international educational programmes in a foreign language. Universities need to adapt their programmes, their facilities and teaching staff for international students. English language knowledge is essential for graduates in the labour market and employers also require intercultural communication competencies and other ‘soft skills’. Universities have significant responsibilities in providing the means necessary to achieve and develop the level of foreign language knowledge required to fulfil the expectations of employers. Acquiring intercultural communication competencies is indispensable for working in an international environment. Institutions of tertiary education ought to help their students to obtain the skills needed to develop cultural awareness and sensitivity which can contribute to their chances for better employability. This study describes the results of a survey which was carried out at the University of Debrecen concerning students’ foreign language and intercultural communication competencies. The collection of data took place in autumn, 2019 at three different faculties of the University of Debrecen with the help of personally assisted data collection procedure. The survey instrument consisted of two parts. In the first part, there were questions regarding the respondents’ age, gender, forms of language studies, language exam certificates. The second part of the survey questionnaire consisted of a 20-item Likert-type scale with 5-point responses. The items were formulated based on literature about measuring intercultural communication competencies. The results show that 71,9 % of students possess an intermediate general language exam certificate and 14,4 % of them have already acquired the intermediate professional language exam certificate. The majority of students surveyed stated that being able to communicate in a foreign language is essential today. Furthermore, they like learning about other cultures and languages. Travelling abroad, watching films in a foreign language and interacting with foreigners were considered to be essential for them too.
