ANÁLISIS INTERNO Y EXTERNO

One of the attitudinal components in Byram’s (1997 ICC model is an individual’s “readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures and belief about one’s own, which he further elaborated as one’s “willingness to question the values and presuppositions in cultural practices and products in one’s own environment” (p. 50). In this regard, analysis of this study’s data revealed participants’ development of this attitude in two different areas: one relates to the priority given to discarding stereotypes, while the other concerns the extent to which students can tolerate ambiguity and show empathy to cultural others.

Deterring stereotypes

Allport (1954) defined a stereotype as “an exaggerated belief associated with a category” (p. 191) which highlighted the potential inaccuracy between information held in the mind as a belief about other social groups and the reality, necessitating the need for critical awareness of stereotypes. In addition to curiosity and openness, to deter stereotypes and ‘not to judge’ was seen by most participants in this study as taking a decisive role in understanding interlocutors’ culture as well as their way of living in a more objective way:

I think the stereotype stuff is unfair. I think that it’s better to come to China with a more open-mind and just actually see for yourself what the culture is like here, what people are like, rather than relying on the stereotypes that the Americans come up with on the other side of the world. So, anything that I have heard, maybe negative stereotypes about Chinese people, I think those are just unfair, so coming here with an open mind definitely was helpful. (Steve)

I never really knew much about China before I came here. I like to keep an open mind, so I sort of go into something without judging and let me rather experience the place first and then I can make a conclusion as to what I feel about the place. So, I didn’t really have many preconceptions, I am open to anything, and I knew what I need to be in China. (Patrick)

Likewise, responses from home students also put emphasis on initiating intercultural communication and relationships in a nonjudgmental manner:

其实主要是心态，一个态度。就是你不能先预设， 让他能够很自然的在 课堂上表现出来，然后你不能去评价，或者是从你的角度去看他们怎么 做。 (夏)

In terms of teaching and communicating with foreign students in class, I think it is imperative that you put aside your preconceptions consciously, and let them express their own thinking and opinions more naturally, and avoid judging or navigating their behavior from your own perspective. (Xia)

我觉得就是一定要互相理解，就是不能有偏见。就比如说如果你要是对 一个国家有偏见，然后你跟那个国家的学生交流，就肯定会表现出来， 抵触啊或是什么之类的。就是我觉得我们在跟他交流之前应该抛弃就以 前自己有的那种观点。（甘）

As far as I am concerned, mutual understanding is the prerequisite for any relationship; that is, we need to discard our preconceptions or even bias before interacting with people from other countries, otherwise the chances are greater that we will be preoccupied by stereotypes towards some particular ethnic groups, and even bring them to the fore unconsciously. (Gan)

我觉得他的很多观点对我来说很有启发。比如说 don’t judge, 就不要判断，

不要比较，因为中国人很爱比较，就是对一个事情不要做出高低、价值 的判断, 我们不应该以我们自己的尺度去衡量别人。（刘）

I was quite inspired by the viewpoints of my language partner, such as don’t judge, since it is quite common that Chinese people tend to compare and make judgments about other’s values based on our own value system. (Liu)

Being acceptive and empathetic

To go one step further, some Chinese master’s students tended to entertain the idea that a fruitful intercultural relationship entails one not only discarding one’s prejudice, but also being accepting of cultural heterogeneity through mutual respect:

然后就是可能也还有一点吧，就是对这个对于不同文化的接纳度吧，也 是一个因素。比如我对某一个文化有偏见，或者不能接受，这个交流起

As far as I can see, except for disregarding our bias and prejudices, another crucial factor that is conducive to intercultural communication with people from other ethnic backgrounds is the extent to which we are accepting of the cultural differences between us. (Fan)

Reflecting on the positive influence that her sojourn experience brought to her, Mo placed high value on ‘tolerance’ and ‘acceptance’, and deemed these to be the basic principle of communication:

他们对我的影响可能是各方面吧，可能让我变得更加包容一些，碰到异 质的文化都能够接受，或者是从他们身上学很多优点。比如我去年去澳 大利亚一年，当汉语志愿者，然后我可以很快得融入当地的圈子。（莫）

I am aware that the more foreign friends I have made, the more tolerant and accepting I have become when faced with heterogeneous culture. Such attitudes even allowed me to get on pretty well with my working colleagues in Australia last year, and made the most of such precious experience. (Mo)

This view was also shared by Yu, who came to realise the importance of ‘being empathetic’ in initiating the relationship with her Korean language partner:

另外一个就是可能是对各自的文化比较认同的时候，就是比如说我觉得 韩国的东西有的还挺好的啊，就还挺喜欢，她就愿意介绍给我啊。(于)

I think perhaps being empathetic with each other, as regards to our respective cultures can also account for a closer intercultural relationship. For example, my Korean language partner was quite keen on introducing some Korean products to me when I showed my interest in and even craving for them. (Yu)

In addition, some participants also came to realise that having empathetic understanding of distinct systems and practices enriched their cultural and intercultural resources and repertoire, which, in turn, enabled them to mobilise their self-realisation and personal growth. While talking about the extent to which broad-mindedness changed her own way of thinking, Christina expounded:

It definitely geared me to see things internationally. Because when you have all these people from different countries, and different cultures, and they speak different languages, it makes me think more ‘big picture’, you know, instead of thinking about just my country, or myself, but to think about others, because those places and those languages, those cultures are just as important as your own, to be objective about things that I can’t understand. (Christina)

Concomitantly, Lin, a second-year Chinese postgraduate also put high value on interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds, as it broadened her mind to the extent of seeing things from another’s perspective:

然后也有一些国际化视角，就不会见到其他国家这种或是那种的行为方 式生活方式就会觉得大惊小怪，然后就觉得人家这样做是有理由的，背

后是什么什么样的. (林)

Instead of being astonished by their different ways of living and behaviour, I have now begun to see things from an international perspective, and to be alert to the cultural background that underpins their opinion and behaviour. (Lin)

The emphasis placed on acceptance and tolerance accords with Barrett’s (2008) conceptualisation of the attitudinal construct underlying interculturality which presupposes empathy, respect, and tolerance of ambiguity towards cultural others, and, in turn, was manifested in the participants’ growing awareness of the significance of empathy and acceptance (of difference) in successful intercultural communication.