Correlation Between College Students’ Pragmatic Competence And Intercultural Sensitivity

This study explored the intercultural sensitivity and pragmatic competence of a group of students from Dalian University of Technology. The purpose of the investigation is to discover the correlation between intercultural sensitivity and pragmatic competence. The investigation consisted of quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis.In the quantitative analysis, both intercultural sensitivity and pragmatic competence of the respondents’were evaluated effectively in the end. The experiment tools included two independent questionnaires-- intercultural sensitivity scale and pragmatic competence scale. After the collection of the questionnaires, the correlation analysis and regression analysis were done by SPSS 17.0. In the qualitative analysis, interviews of 20 respondents were carried out with 10 students of low level of ISS and PC and 10 from high level.The result of the quantitative analysis was positive. Intercultural sensitivity and each factor of it were related to pragmatic competence. For regression analysis, interaction engagement, interaction enjoyment and interaction confidence influence pragmatic competence positively. In the qualitative analysis, the attitudes and opinions toward language learning strategy and pragmatic competence of the respondent were collected. The result showed that high level of ISS and PC respondents were more likely to get involved into the communication activities with foreign people.The findings of both quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis proposed a number of important implications for the development of students’intercultural sensitivity and pragmatic competence:Focusing on creating active teaching methods to improve students’pragmatic competence is needed instead of teaching language manner or vocabulary; Instead of waiting for cross-culture activities, teacher could organize intercultural learning activities; Teachers should also develop some ways to assess students’pragmatic competence and intercultural sensitivity.