What Happened in Dialogical Classes of Intercultural Understanding?: An Analysis of Exchanging Classes between Chinese and Japanese University Students

Integr Psychol Behav Sci. 2017 Sep;51(3):391-402. doi: 10.1007/s12124-017-9393-7.

Abstract

Chinese and Japanese university students make an exchanging of opinions regarding the topic "making a mobile phone call in the bus". Both sides of the communication can achieve different changes of cognition through different ways. This paper focuses on Chinese university students, and analyzes their cognition of the traffic etiquette in Japan and China. Unlike Japanese university students' change of cognition, Chinese university students have made more negative evaluation on Japanese traffic etiquette after the communication. However, this does not mean to shield their traffic etiquette. They have the two-way changes of cognition in both social etiquette and personal behavior. These changes may be related to the unbalanced dialogue relationship, as well as the generation of hot issues. How to generate the hot issues, and promote the two-way movement of understanding are the important clues for the design of communication curriculum to enhance the cultural understanding.

Keywords: Exchanging classes; Hot issues; Two-way change of cognition; Unbalanced dialogue relationship.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • China / ethnology
  • Communication*
  • Comprehension*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations*
  • Japan / ethnology
  • Male
  • Social Behavior*
  • Social Norms*
  • Students* / psychology
  • Universities
  • Young Adult