An Empirical Study On Intercultural Sensitivity And English Learning Motivation In The Context Of Sino-foreign Cooperative Education

In the context of globalization,cultivating students’ intercultural communication competence has increasingly become an important goal of college English courses.Through perception,comparison,analysis,and appreciation of different cultures,learners improve their sensitivity to cultural differences and their flexibility in dealing with cultural differences,which is consistent with the connotation of intercultural sensitivity.As an important affective components of intercultural communication competence,intercultural sensitivity has aroused in-depth research in the academic world.On the other hand,motivation,as another important affective factor affecting learning outcome,has been concerned by scholars in the past few decades.However,studies that combine the two affective factors of intercultural sensitivity and motivation,which exploring the correlation between the two,are rare.This study selected 174 non-English major sophomores from a science and engineering university in Beijing as subjects.Of the students,87 are from the Sinoforeign cooperative program in international school,and 87 are from other schools.Using quantitative and qualitative methods,this study conducted an empirical study on intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation of non-English majors in Sinoforeign cooperative program.The study aims to explore non-English majors in the international school and those in other schools:(1)What is the status quo of intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation respectively?(2)Are there any statistical significant differences in intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation respectively?(3)Is there any statistical significant correlation between their intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation?The findings are as follows:(1)The overall intercultural sensitivity of subjects is at a high level.Subjects’ general English learning motivation and the motivation intensity are at a medium level.Non-English majors in the international school have higher levels of intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation than their counterparts in other schools.(2)There are statistically significant differences in intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation respectively between nonEnglish majors in the international school and those in other schools.(3)There is a statistically significant positive correlation between intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation respectively of all subjects,and the correlation coefficient between intercultural sensitivity and English learning motivation of non-English majors in the international school is higher.Based on the research above,in the context of Sino-foreign cooperative education,teachers should formulate reasonable English teaching strategies to initiate students’ English learning motivation,and then improve the level of intercultural sensitivity,which enriches the related research on teaching practice to a certain extent.