Journal of Languages for Specific Purposes (Mar 2016)
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON EASTERN AND CENTRAL EUROPEAN STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL SENSITIVITY. RESEARCH CONDUCTED IN ROMANIA, HUNGARY AND SLOVENIA
Abstract
The following study is meant to be an extension of and completion to a former research paper entitled “The Role of Foreign Language Teachers in Developing Students’ Intercultural Communication Skills” concluding that students of the University of Oradea, Romania, generally lack intercultural sensitivity and it falls to a great extent to foreign language teachers to change this state of affairs. When the former study came up with proposals for methods of enhancing students’ cultural awareness (see simulation games on cultural differences like Barnga, BaFá BaFá, Randömia Balloon Factory and others), the present study focuses on an international comparison, though limited to only three academic institutions in three countries, regarding Eastern and Central European students’ intercultural sensitivity. The initial idea was to see to what extent students of the University of Oradea, Romania, studying Economics, Medicine and Law dispose of intercultural skills. For this reason a Likert-type scale questionnaire was applied to more than 200 students of the above mentioned faculties. The survey was extended in the second round in Oradea, Romania, also to the Faculty of Environmental Protection and that of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, respectively to an international level asking students of the University of Debrecen, Hungary and the University of Maribor, Slovenia, the same questions. Although we are aware of the limitations of present study, – only three institutions included in the research, having in Debrecen and Maribor less respondents than in Oradea and only from some fields of study, Slovenian students not getting a Slovenian version of the questionnaire, which may have influenced their level of understanding issues, responses not always being consistent – its results have still an informative value. They confirm the author’s initial hypothesis that in spite of the extended international relations and travel opportunities Romanian students are not really aware of cultural diversity and its overwhelming impact upon people’s behaviour, reactions and way of thinking. As to our surprise there are no better results with the other two nations either, specific measures are to be taken in this respect including not only valuable contribution of foreign language teachers – as proposed in the former study – but also curriculum change by incorporating some form of intercultural training, too
