An Intercultural Survey On Space Intrusions Perceived By Chinese And Pakistani Students

Nowadays many international students have pursued higher education in China.Theintercultural communication in Chinese universities has become more and more frequently.With the Belt and Road initiative,there is a rapid growth in the number of Pakistani students in China.Pakistan has become the third largest source of international students studying in China.However,Pakistani groups have been relatively neglected by researchers who studied intercultural communication at universities.Intercultural space intrusion is one of the major fields of intercultural communication.People from different cultures may have different perceptions of the same space,resulting in unconscious space intrusions.This research studied space perceptions of different cultures in terms of three aspects: interpersonal distance,personal territory and individual privacy.The research adopted postmodernist approach of studying impoliteness,in which impoliteness is defined from the view of recipients’ evaluation.Designed on the basis of pilot study,the questionnaire which involves scenarios about space intrusions required respondents to grade the frequency of and evaluations on these space intrusions from the view of victims or imaginary victims.107 Chinese students and 63 Pakistani students from a key Chinese university filled out the questionnaire.Of whom,20 Chinese students and 20 Pakistani students participated in the in-depth interview.The conclusion was drawn on the basis of data from questionnaires and interviews.It is found that some Chinese students and Pakistani students have suffered space intrusions in the Chinese university.The most frequently perceived space intrusion by Pakistani students who have regular interaction with Chinese students is about interpersonal distance.Chinese students and Pakistani students had different perceptions about privacy and distance.They held opposite views to the following three aspects: speaking distance,touching clothes,and teachers’ care,which Chinese students considered relatively polite but Pakistani students regarded as space intrusions.There are also other differences in space intrusions perceived by two sides.Generally,Chinese students are not sensitive enough to interpersonal distance,personal territory and individual privacy,while Pakistani students have strong awareness of them.Compared with Chinese students,in interpersonal distance,Pakistani students prefer longer distance in interaction with people on campus and avoid touches.Inpsychological interpersonal distance,they want to be closer to Chinese students but keep some distance from Chinese teachers.In personal territory,there are two main differences.First,Pakistani students have higher territoriality about personal places and stronger sense of ownership of personal objects.Second,Chinese students could not tell the difference between personal and public spaces.However,Pakistani students regard doing personal matters in public places as a kind of space intrusion.When it comes to individual privacy,Pakistani students do not want to talk about either themselves or other people’s private lives.Pakistani students regard over care from others,even the elder and the senior,as individual privacy intrusions,while Chinese students accept it easier.Different perceptions in interpersonal distance,personal territory and individual privacy may result in unconscious space intrusion in intercultural communication.This research explored the influence of gender and hierarchy on perceptions about space intrusions.It is suggested that to achieve better intercultural communication and construct a harmonious internationalized Chinese campus,both Chinese students and other international students should strengthen the mutual understanding and mutual respect,and increase the cultural tolerance in intercultural communication.