The Current Situation and Improvement of College Students' Intercultural Awareness the dimensions of intercultural awareness on intercultural competence

. The study is based on the theoretical model of intercultural competence proposed by Chen & Starosta and the self-assessment scale of Chinese college students’ intercultural communicative competence compiled by Wu Weiping. Combining with the actual situation of Chinese college students, the author compiled a scale of intercultural awareness among college students contains a set of evaluations including consciousness, emotion and behavior. The results of the study found that although the overall situation of college students' intercultural awareness is good, there are certain differences in different dimensions of awareness. College students perform better in cultural confidence and self-control, flexibility and adaptability, tolerance and patience, while they need to improve communication skills, curiosity about different cultural knowledge and customs, and a sense of humor.


Foreword
With the rapid development of globalization, the coexistence of multi-values, multi-language and multi-culture makes the interaction and collision between individuals and groups of different cultural backgrounds more and more directional and multi-level. All kinds of intercultural talents are playing an increasingly important role in the exchanges between China and the world. Therefore, it is especially important to develop one's intercultural competence.
We need to strive to achieve cultural coexistence and adapt to any culture in the world. The achievements in the era will depend on the success of intercultural communication. The good news is that both the government and the foreign language education community are fully aware of this: the national Outline of Medium and Long-Term Educational Reform and Development Plan (2010-2020) also proposes to "train a large number of talents with an international perspective and proficient in international rules, as well as participating in international affairs and international competitions". The Teaching Guide for Undergraduate Foreign Language and Literature Majors in General Colleges and Universities emphasizes the cultivation of intercultural competence of students majoring in English, translation and business English. Therefore, based on the background of globalization, this study uses the theoretical knowledge of intercultural communication to investigate the intercultural awareness of college students, and their attitudes and ways of doing things facing intercultural situations.

Intercultural Communication Competence and Intercultural Awareness
Intercultural communication is the communication between people in different languages and cultural backgrounds, and its essence is to try to fully understand all aspects of human culture and understand how different cultures interact with each other. Intercultural competence refers to the ability that people need to communicate successfully across cultures. Intercultural competence transcends knowledge, awareness and sensitivity as it is the digestion, integration and transformation of all acquired skills and information, and it is able to create cultural synergy in the communicative setting.
Intercultural competence can be analyzed from three levels: affective process, cognitive process and behavioral process.

Literature Review
Intercultural awareness represents the cognitive aspect of intercultural competence that emphasizes the process of changing one's perception of the environment through understanding of one's own and interacting counterparts' cultures (Trlandis, 1977). Foreign scholar Hanvey (1979) believes that intercultural awareness refers to the sensitivity of participants in intercultural communication to cultural factors, which indicates that intercultural awareness and intercultural communication are inseparable. He further divides intercultural awareness into four levels: the first level is the cognition of superficial cultural phenomena that are considered incomprehensible; the second level is the cognition of other salient cultures that are contrary to the native language and culture and are therefore considered inconceivable; the third layer is the cognition of the characteristics of other cultures through rational analysis; the fourth layer is the ability of participants to "empathize" and "cultural integration", and to understand the cultural differences or conflicts with their own national culture. Communicators should have a full and correct understanding of phenomena, customs, habits, etc., as well as accept and adapt to it with an inclusive attitude on this basis. Hanvey (1979) divided the four levels of intercultural awareness from the shallower to the deeper, expounding the process of communicators from the surface awareness to the deep understanding and analysis, and finally accepting and adapting to the host country's culture.
In China, Chen Guoming (2009) divided intercultural awareness into self-awareness and cultural awareness. Self-awareness refers to the self-monitoring of communicators or the perception of oneself as a member of a specific culture, that is, cultural identity. Its development status directly affects the degree of progress of intercultural adaptation. Cultural awareness refers to the understanding of cultural conventions that influence how people think and communicate. It involves both the commonality of human behavior and the differences between different cultural models, including factors such as social values, customs, conventions, and social institutions. Gao Yongchen (2014) proposed the "integration of knowledge and action" in the intercultural competence model, in which intercultural awareness is divided into two parts: in intercultural communication, it contains sensitivity and consciousness that include global cultural awareness, local cultural awareness and self-identity awareness; in intercultural interaction, it contains the sensitivity to the similarities and differences between self and other cultures, as well as the self-adjustment to realize the consciousness of intercultural communication. Sun Youzhong (2016) believes that in attitude, intercultural awareness includes respect for cultural diversity. And in consciousness, it includes empathy that helps to understand the emotions and concepts of different cultures, as well as reflection to rationally judge the culture of oneself and others in a neither humble nor arrogant way.
According to the above classification, this study defines intercultural awareness as: to correctly understand cultural similarities and differences in intercultural situations through insight and tolerance, thereby reducing misunderstandings and conflicts in intercultural conflicts.

Thesis Framework
This project studies the intercultural awareness of college students, and aims to provide support for the design of international talent training programs and the improvement of teaching models and methods in colleges and universities. Through a questionnaire survey on 402 college students of different majors, effective data are collected and analyzed. Finally, it discusses the situation of college students' intercultural awareness and the influence of intercultural awareness on intercultural competence. This paper aims to answer the following two research questions: First, what is good intercultural awareness? Second, do contemporary college students have good intercultural awareness?

Research Methods
This study is based on the theoretical model of intercultural competence (emotion, cognition, and behavior) proposed by Chen & Starosta, and refers to the self-measurement scale of Chinese college students' intercultural communication competence compiled by Wu Weiping (2013). The scale covers four dimensions of knowledge, attitude, skills and awareness. After merging and screening the previous scales, the author compiled a scale with 35 items including three modules of awareness, emotion and behavior.
The intercultural awareness module sets 15 items to examine from 6 dimensions (flexibility and adaptability, tolerance and patience, sense of humor, curiosity about knowledge and customs of different cultures, cultural confidence and self-control, and communication skills) to examine college students' intercultural awareness. The intercultural affect module examines students' intercultural affect from 4 main dimensions (self-concept, openness, neutral attitude, and social comfort) and 10 descriptive items; intercultural behavior module from 2 main dimensions (communication appropriateness, effectiveness) and 10 descriptive items to examine students' intercultural behavior status. The questionnaire adopts the Likert scale scoring method and a 5-point scale, with "1" for "strongly disagree", "2" for "disagree", "3" for "not sure", and "4" for "agree" , "5" stands for "strongly agree". After completing the data collection of the scale, SPSS26.0 was used to conduct reliability test, descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis to investigate the intercultural awareness of college students.

Test Sample
The sample of this study is from 402 college students from 5 universities in Guangdong. These students are mainly from science and engineering, humanities majors, while some students are from economics and management, medicine, and art majors. And most of them are undergraduates. A total of 430 questionnaires were recovered, of which 402 were examined valid. The questionnaire effectiveness rate was 93.4%. And the background information of valid subjects is shown in Table 1.

Overall Situation of the Scale
After the calculation of SPSS26.0, the overall reliability of the scale is 0.932, and the reliability coefficients of the three modules are between 0.759-0.933. It shows that the scale has strong internal consistency, high reliability, and good homogeneity, which is credible. The overall situation of the scale is shown in the table below.  Table 2 shows that the overall situation of intercultural competence of college students is general, among which the level of intercultural awareness is the highest (mean value is 3.61), and the difference is large (standard deviation is 0.59); on the contrary, the level of intercultural behavior is not ideal (mean value is 3.40), and the difference is small (standard deviation 0.37). This disparity objectively reflects that although college students have good intercultural awareness as a whole, there is a large gap in the awareness among individuals, and the level of intercultural behavior of college students is generally low.
The reasons for the above conclusions are as follows: First, college students have to learn English courses through the compulsory education system, and more than half of the students have been exposed to intercultural related courses. There is also a strong awareness of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures and the cultural identity of the two sides of communication. However, due to differences in university majors, some students have less exposure to foreign languages or intercultural related courses and lack of understanding of intercultural knowledge, thus resulting in a gap in intercultural awareness among individuals; Second, their understanding of foreign cultural knowledge is limited to textbooks, and they have few assess to participate in intercultural exchanges, resulting in their deficiency in intercultural behavior.  Table 3 shows that although the overall situation of college students' intercultural awareness is good, there are certain differences between different dimensions. College students are at a relatively high level in cultural confidence and self-control, flexibility and adaptability, tolerance and patience, among which cultural confidence and self-control are the highest (mean value is 3.85). While, some dimensions are at a relatively weak level, such as communication skills, curiosity about different cultural knowledge and customs and sense of humor. And the ability in sense of humor is the lowest (mean value is 3.52). The dimension gap shows that although college students can have a good level of cultural self-confidence, respect and understand different cultures, and can identify their own prejudice against different cultures and make appropriate adjustments, they lack understanding and curiosity about foreign cultures, as well as the other party's message and expression, and the ability to use humor to bring closer relationships or resolve conflicts.

Overall Situation of the Scale
The reasons for the above conclusions are as follows: First, college students understand and learn a lot of their own cultural knowledge through their own language textbooks and extracurricular books, and have established a good understanding of their own culture and cultural confidence. The era of globalization allows college students to widely learn about current events in different regions and diverse cultural views from the news media, so they can minimize their prejudice against different cultures and respect and understand different cultures; The understanding of other cultures is limited to textbooks, and they rarely expand their knowledge of other cultures outside the classroom. They also lack opportunities for intercultural communication. Therefore, they lack understanding and curiosity about foreign cultures, as well as strategies and skills for intercultural communication. Third, due to the lack of intercultural knowledge and experience, most students do not understand the difference between Eastern and Western humor, so it is difficult to use humor in intercultural communication to build good relationships and resolve conflicts.

Situation of Different Dimension
(1) Flexibility and adaptability This dimension focuses on examining college students' understanding and respect of different cultures, their recognition of their own prejudices, and appropriate adjustments made accordingly. From Table 4, it can be concluded that college students have good flexibility and adaptability as a whole. They have a certain ability to identify their own prejudices, and they can understand and respect different cultures, but they lack the ability to adjust their interaction behavior.

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(2) Tolerance and patient Note: Question 3 = I have the ability to reflect, learn and seek appropriate solutions when there is a misunderstanding of intercultural conflict. Question 4 = When there is an intercultural conflict and misunderstanding, I have the ability to negotiate with the other party and explain the culture of my country to achieve the satisfaction of the other party.
This dimension focuses on examining the ability of college students to accept diverse cultures and viewpoints, and their ability to listen to each other sincerely, suspend judgment or not make judgments. According to Table 5, it is found that college students have good tolerance and patience. They are capable to reflect themselves when faced with intercultural conflicts and misunderstandings, and they can rationally view conflicts and misunderstandings is lacking.
(3) Sense of Humour Note: Question 5=When there is a misunderstanding of intercultural conflict, I can use humor to soften the atmosphere. Question 6 = When communicating with foreigners, I am able to draw a distance from each other by telling jokes. I try to avoid prejudice and prejudice against foreigners.
This dimension focuses on examining the ability of college students to use humor to build relationships and alleviate conflicts in intercultural communication. From Table 6, it is not difficult to see that college students have a lower level of awareness of using humor in intercultural communication. Compared with using humor to moderate intercultural conflicts and misunderstandings, college students are less confident in using humor to establish good relationships with foreigners.
(4) Curiosity about Different Cultural Knowledge and Customs This dimension focuses on examining college students' understanding of foreign surface and depth perception of culture, and their ability to understand the nature and function of culture, as well as the curiosity of culture and communication. Table 7 reflects that the curiosity level of college students is not high in general. Most college students have a basic understanding of foreign surface culture and can make cultural comparisons. But when it comes to the understanding of the depth perception of culture, such as cultural taboos, lifestyles and values, most college students lack certain awareness and understanding. This dimension focuses on examining college students' understanding of the surface and deep culture of their country, as well as their control and attention to self-behavior in intercultural social situations. From Table 8, it can be concluded that on the whole, college students have a better understanding and mastery of the surface and deep culture of their own countries, and at the same time they are aware of their own cultural identity and pay attention to their own behavior in intercultural communication.

(5) Cultural Confidence and Self-control
(6) Communication Skills This dimension focuses on examining whether college students can use language ability to understand the meaning of the other party and express their own intentions, and to understand the meaning of the other party's verbal and non-verbal information. It can be clearly seen from Table 9 that the overall communication skills of college students are poor. Although they have the awareness to avoid offending foreigners, they lack the ability to interpret non-verbal messages and use corresponding intercultural communication strategies and skills. Based on the data collected by the questionnaire, this study further analyzes the influence of the intercultural awareness module on the overall level of intercultural competence.

The Influence of Intercultural Awareness
From Table 10, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) The fitting degree of this linear regression simulation is good, R²=0.95>0.9, which means that the results of this calculation can reflect the six dimensions of intercultural awareness (flexibility and adaptability, tolerance and patience, sense of humor, curiosity about knowledge and customs of different cultures, cultural confidence and self-control, communication skills) on intercultural competence.
(2) There is no multicollinearity among the six independent variables, and the VIFs are all less than 5. It means that there is no high correlation between the six dimensions of intercultural awareness, and it can accurately reflect the influence of each dimension and intercultural competence.
(3) The regression equation is significant, F=1396.49, P<0.001, which means that at least one of the six dimensions of intercultural awareness can significantly affect intercultural competence.
(4) All six independent variables can significantly and positively affect the dependent variable, and the significant P values are all 0. It means that the six dimensions of intercultural awareness can significantly and positively influence intercultural competence. Among them, flexibility and adaptability have the greatest positive impact on intercultural competence (β=0.20), and curiosity dimension has the smallest positive impact on intercultural competence (β=0.06).
(5) According to the β coefficient, the following regression equation is obtained between the variables: Intercultural competence = 0.79 + 0.20 * flexibility and adaptability + 0.15 * cultural confidence + 0.14 * communication skills + 0.13 * tolerance and patience + 0.07 * sense of humor + 0.06 * curiosity Finally, the regression analysis draws the conclusion that intercultural awareness has a significant positive impact on intercultural competence.
Combined with the specific connotations of the three modules of intercultural competence (awareness, emotion, and behavior), the author analyzes the reasons for the above conclusions as follows: First, appropriate and effective intercultural behavior requires a good sense of flexibility and effectiveness. If you want to be a culturally competent communicator, you need to consciously aware of what kind of intercultural behavior is appropriate and effective, and you had better reflect on the feedback from your communication partners, while constantly adjust your behavior according to different cultures and situations.
Second, cultural self-confidence is crucial for communicators to understand another culture and conduct intercultural communication smoothly. As the saying goes: Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles. If communicators can understand how to explain the cultural meaning behind their own behavior when they encounter intercultural conflicts and misunderstandings, they can help resolve misunderstandings in intercultural communication.
Third, communication skills include understanding each other's verbal and non-verbal messages, and using appropriate language and etiquette to complete intercultural communication. It can help communicators to make behaviors that are expected, consistent, appropriate in a specific cultural context. Communicators with good intercultural skills tend to have excellent communication skills.
Fourth, tolerance and patience can help to understand and respect cultural diversity and accept different viewpoints. This is closely related to the open-mindedness and neutral attitude in the intercultural emotional connotation, which can help control the anxiety of intercultural communicators and help them better cope with the symptoms of culture shock.
Fifth, a sense of humor can help intercultural communicators build a good relationship with each other and help resolve conflicts. Curiosity about different cultures and customs can enhance communicators' understanding of each other's culture, thereby reducing misunderstandings in communication. The two also play a role in the formation of intercultural competence.
It can be seen that good intercultural awareness plays a crucial role in the cultivation and application of intercultural competence. The cultivation of intercultural competence must first establish correct intercultural awareness.

How to Improve Intercultural Awareness
As shown above, the connotation of intercultural awareness includes six dimensions: flexibility and adaptability, tolerance and patience, sense of humor, curiosity about knowledge and customs of different cultures, cultural confidence and self-control, and communication skills. To improve intercultural awareness, we must focus on improving and enhancing: (1) Flexibility and adaptability. Flexibility means that communicators must know how to be flexible, be able to adjust their communication style according to different cultures and situations, be able to adjust their communication style according to different cultures and situations, and have the skills to respond appropriately to different situations, people and situations. In order to seek common ground while reserving differences, achieve effective communication. Adaptability refers to the ability to self-reflect through the feedback of different cultural communication objects in communication, and to be able to identify the attitudes, prejudices, judgments and prejudices that affect one's communication. Know your likes and dislikes, reveal them, and understand how they affect your interactions with others. A well-adapted communicator can discards prejudice, and they can tolerate cultural ambiguity, as well as dealing with tension and frustration in a new and uncertain environment, and can quickly adapt to changing requirements.
(2) Tolerance and patience. Tolerance refers to the communicator's ability to master the multiplicity of entities and accept a life style different from their own psychologically and socially. Communicators with tolerance are able to recognize, appreciate, and accept different viewpoints in communication. Patience refers to suspending judgment or not judging things, and refers to an attitude of sincerely listening to the other person. Maintaining tolerance and patience in intercultural communication can help communicators successfully resolve conflicts and contradictions in intercultural communication.
(3) A sense of humor. The sense of humor refers to the ability of communicators to establish good interpersonal relationships with each other through appropriate humor when communicating, and to use humor to ease the atmosphere when there is a intercultural conflict and misunderstanding, so as to resolve conflicts smoothly.
(4) Curiosity about the knowledge and customs of different cultures. People of different cultures have different communication methods and thinking habits. Only by knowing the different cultural knowledge and customs of each other and understanding the surface and deep culture of each other , can we avoid misunderstandings in intercultural communication. The superficial features of culture include language, behavior, clothing, food, music and literature, etc., and the deep cultural features include the understanding of viewpoints, culture, attitudes, preferences, thinking patterns and values, etc. The communicators continue to deepen their understanding of the deep cultural features through the superficial features of culture understanding, which involves both the understanding of the commonality of human behavior and the perception of the differences between different cultural models.
We must be curious about the knowledge and customs of different cultures in order to modify our thinking and behavior, and further try to match the communication style of the interacting party. Curiosity drives intercultural communicators to understand the nature and role of culture, and how culture and communication are intertwined with contradictions.
(5) Cultural confidence and self-control. Cultural self-confidence is based on the understanding of one's own culture, observing other's culture from the standpoint of one's own culture, reflecting on one's own culture from the perspective of other cultures, strengthening a deep understanding of different cultures, and being able to be neither humble nor arrogant, just and rationally judge the culture of oneself and others, maintain cultural awareness and initiative in the era of cultural diversity, and enhance cultural self-confidence. Having good self-control requires communicators to have a certain degree of self-awareness, to be able to pay attention to whether they behave appropriately in social situations, and to be able to control and adjust their own behavior in various situations to communicate appropriately.
(6) Communication skills. The connotation of communication ability is the ability to use language ability to understand the meaning of the other party and express one's own intention, and to understand the meaning behind the other party's verbal information and the intention of non-verbal information in the process of communication. In the process of communication, they can achieve a certain degree of self-disclosure, establish a basis for mutual understanding, be able to correctly process and adapt to information, and use different behavioral skills to achieve the purpose of communication, and change the choice of words to match the status and relationship to each other to properly construct and maintain the entire conversation.

Conclusion
The results of this study show that although the overall situation of college students' intercultural awareness is good, there are certain differences in different dimensions of awareness. College students perform better in cultural confidence and self-control, flexibility and adaptability, tolerance and patience, while they need to improve communication skills, curiosity about different cultural knowledge and customs, and a sense of humor.
In addition, intercultural awareness plays a pivotal role in the development of intercultural competence. The six dimensions of intercultural awareness affect intercultural emotions and behaviors, thereby affecting the level of intercultural competence. Therefore, to cultivate intercultural competence, we must first cultivate intercultural awareness.