The Impact of English Films and TV Series on Non-English College Students’Intercultural Competence

ZHOU Qin,LI Jing

Based on the related theories of intercultural competence and extensive analysis of literature， this paper employed questionnaires and interviews to do a research with 200 non-English college students about the general situation of their intercultural competence and the impact on it caused by English films and TV series in Wuhan University of Technology. The findings of the study indicate that non-English college students have relatively good intercultural competence while the deficiency of intercultural knowledge and skill exists； the appreciation of English films and TV series is positively correlated with the four dimensions of non-English college students’ intercultural competence， namely intercultural knowledge， attitude， skill and awareness. Based on these findings of the research， the author brings up some specific and constructive suggestions on improving non-English college students’intercultural competence with the help of English films and TV series for college English teachers and non-English college students.

Keywords： intercultural competence， English films and TV series， impact， Non-English college students

1 Introduction

1.1 Research Background

Whether the international cooperation can be successful depends on whether each country can have cultural understanding， which gives a higher requirement for competent people’s quality， especially in intercultural competence （IC）. Meanwhile， compared to the traditional way to improve students’ IC， real-life video or film materials are always preferred （Zhu， 2018）， which makes up for the weakness in traditional English learning， for it brings language to life， and for it liberates college students form the rote-learning of vocabulary and grammar.

1.2 Previous Researches on Intercultural Competence

The study of IC abroad began in 1950s and rapidly developed with the economic globalization. Those researches covered the topics on the concepts and components of IC. At first， Hymes （1972） introduced the new term communicative competence that means the ability to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meaning with other speakers. Later， it was Byram （1997） that complemented the notion of communicative competence as IC in an attempt to rescue the substantial presence of the cultural dimension that language contains. Then， Deardorff （2006） claimed that IC was an ability to do effective and appropriate communication in the intercultural situation based on individual intercultural knowledge， skill， awareness and attitude. Wu， Fan and Peng （2013） find that IC involves six main factors： knowledge of self， knowledge of others， attitudes， intercultural communicative skills， intercultural cognitive skills， and awareness in the Chinese context. However， while some scholars discussed the connotation of IC， others focused on functions of films in promoting IC. E.g. Wu （2016） elaborated on the importance， advantages， functions and ways to enhance students’ IC with the help of English films. Wei and Zhang （2020） pointed out that the appreciation of English films can develop students’sensitivity and tolerance to cultural differences in a subtle way.

2 Research Methodology

2.1 Participant

The participants of the research were selected from non-English undergraduate students in different grades at Wuhan University of Technology. All of them major in different fields of studies except English. Among all questionnaires， 189 are effective， 94.5% of the ensemble； 11 are invalid， accounting for 5.5%.

2.2 Instrument

2.2.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire is based on Wu and Fan’s questionnaire （2013） written in Chinese， comprising three parts. The first part is personal information. The second part is IC assessment scale， covering four dimensions： awareness， attitude， skill and knowledge within 28 items. The third part is the situation of students’ appreciation of the English films and TV series.

2.2.2 Interview

Causal interviews were used after the questionnaire investigation. All of them are face-to-face interviews with 16 specific students among the 189 from diverse majors. The questions cover three sections in 8 items.

2.3 Data Analysis

Students in Wuhan University of Technology finished the questionnaires mainly online. Most of them were randomly invited to answer the questions by scanning QR code and were required to finish it within 7 minutes.

With the help of SPSS26.0， the data of the questionnaire was smoothly obtained and thorough analyzed. The IC assessment scale is able to collect data precisely from non-English students with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.945.Validity includes construct validity， content validity and criterion validity. In terms of content validity of the questionnaire， the author adapts the authoritative scholars’ questionnaire.

3 Results

3.1 Results of Non-English College Students’ IC

The descriptive statistics of IC assessment scale in the second part were shown in Table 2.

As the above table 2 shown， the minimum score （1.00） and the minimum mean score （3.08） distribute in the dimension of intercultural knowledge； the maximum score （1.53） and the maximum mean score （4.05） can be seen in the dimension of attitude. The results show that among the four dimensions， non-English college students’intercultural knowledge is a little bit weak， but they have a good attitude toward intercultural communication.

3.2 Results of Non-English College Students’ Appreciation of English Films and TV Series

The analysis of frequency shows that most of the non-English college students spend more or less time in a week on watching English films and TV series. More than half of them take 2 to 6 hours to enjoy different English Films and TV series. On the percentage of the time that they enjoy English films and TV series among their spare time in a week， about 65% of them takes a quarter to three quarters of time on appreciating English visual works. It’s clearly that most of the non-English college students choose English films and TV series as a major way to spend their spare time.

3.3 Results of the Impact on IC Caused by English Films and TV Series

The Pearson Correlation analysis was implemented to examine the correlation coefficients between the appreciation of English films and TV series and Non-English College Students’ IC in table 4.

Table 4 indicates the mean score and standard deviations of all the variables， and the correlation coefficients between each variable are positive. Although the appreciation of English films and TV series has a weak correlation with non-English college students’ intercultural knowledge with the lowest coefficient of 0.434， the appreciation of English films and TV series has a positive correlation with both non-English college students’intercultural knowledge， awareness， skill and attitude. Among all of them， the non-English college students’intercultural awareness is more strongly correlated with their appreciation of the English films and TV series with the highest coefficient of 0.563.

4 Discussion

4.1 General Situation of the Non-English College Students’ IC

Although this study shows that non-English college students’ IC are in a little higher level than the medium level， there are still some problems remaining. On the one hand， they are lack of intercultural knowledge， especially in the understanding of foreign culture. However， the abundant intercultural knowledge accumulation is the foundation of IC’s formation. From the research results， the author finds that most of the non-English college students just take English learning as a tool to take enough credits or to obtain scholarship， which results in the situation that they only focus on the grades instead of the actual use and communicative function of language. On the other hand， the deficiency of intercultural skills is a barrier in the improvement of their IC. The intercultural skills are related to the cultural appropriateness and is the key to intercultural communication. However， the fact is that most of the non-English college students are not able to communicate effectively. In the interview with some non-English majors， the author finds that although they hold a positive attitude toward intercultural communication and have the willingness and awareness to take intercultural communication， the deficiency of intercultural skills hinders the successful intercultural communication.

4.2 General Situation of the Impact on Non-English College Students’ IC by English Films and TV Series

Firstly， the appreciation of English films and TV series establishes non-English college students’ awareness of IC. English films and TV series as the intrinsic part of culture， mirror， spread and accelerate the development of culture. Therefore， students may gradually hold the awareness of studying western culture. Secondly， it can broaden students’ intercultural knowledge in a diverse range to a higher level. English films can provide real language contexts that contain rich information about linguistic forms as well as intercultural knowledge. Thirdly， various English films and TV series motivate students to learn more on their own. The visual materials present a real English spoken environment， which can give them unforgettable feelings， arouse their learning interests and hold a positive attitude to IC. Lastly， it sets some examples for students to advance their communicative and cognitive skills. The visual materials prepare a relatively actual language situations for them to learn.

4.3 Implication for College English Teachers and Non-English College Students

Since the non-English college students’ IC needs to be developed while English films and TV series can do a favor to its improvement， college English teachers and non-English college students should grasp the chance.

From the perspective of teachers， they should choose some appropriate English films and TV series for students to coordinate with the textbooks and to avoid negative content is important. In addition， the films and TV series should match students’ language proficiency with cultural appropriateness. Moreover， the role-play games or other activities can also be organized to do simulated intercultural communication.

From the perspective of non-English majors， they should pay much attention to the language and cultural aspects instead of only treating English films and TV series as a mere entertainment tool. Before they choose the suitable one， it is better for them to have some cultural background knowledge and other relative information about the work. While they are enjoying it， they should remember part of the classical lines， take notes about the unfamiliar vocabulary， grammar and cultural phenomenon and imitate or repeat some of the words or lines with the characters. After the whole films or TV series’ ending， write down the feedback， summary the differences between Chinese and western culture， think back of its main plot and discuss or recommend it with friends.

5 Conclusion

The research investigated the impact of English films and TV series on non-English college students’ IC. The results indicate that non-English college students’ IC is around the medium level. Among them， they are good at attitude while the knowledge and skill are a little bit weak. Besides， appreciation of English films and TV series has a positive correlation with non-English majors’ IC. It has the practical implications for teachers to help improve students’ IC. Due to the curriculum， the courses and materials they shared are consistent， which may lead to a single English level and relatively closely IC. In the future studies， it is better to do a research in a wide range of colleges and participants.

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