Student Attitude to Intercultural Communication and Intercultural Interaction in Social Networks

• Published in: Contemporary educational technology Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 21 - 29
• Main Authors: Akhmadieva, Roza Sh, Guryanova, Tatyana Yu, Kurakin, Aleksey V., Makarov, Alexandr L., Skorobogatova, Anna I., Krapivina, Victoria V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Eskisehir Ali Simsek 01.01.2020; Contemporary Educational Technology
• Subjects: College Students; Cultural Pluralism; Culture; Ethnic Groups; Ethnicity; Ethnocentrism; Foreign Countries; Interaction; Intercultural Communication; Minority & ethnic groups; Selection Criteria; Social Networks; Student Attitudes; Students; Russia
• ISSN: 1309-517X; 1309-517X
• DOI: 10.30935/cet.641762

The relevance of this article is conditioned by the need to analyze and study the student views and positions on the issue of intercultural communication and intercultural interaction, as it is obvious that in the foreseeable future we will continue to live in a multi-ethnic, multicultural society and strive for the successful coexistence of many different cultures in social networks. The aim of the study is to identify the attitude of students communicating in social networks to ethnocentrism. The leading methods for the study of this problem are the methods of questioning and testing, allowing making a qualitative analysis of the peculiarities of the attitude of students communicating in social networks, to ethnocentrism, and allowing identifying the position of students on the issue of intercultural communication and intercultural interaction. The article reveals the criteria peculiar to the representatives of different ethnic groups with a high level of ethnocentrism. These students consider everything that happens in their culture to be natural and correct, and in others to be wrong; consider the customs of their group as universal: “what is good for us is good for others”; consider the norms, roles and values of their group to be absolutely correct; act so that the representatives of their group feel like winners; feel hostility towards external groups. It is determined that the presence of a set of these criteria and properties (or most of them) in the ethnic consciousness of the individual, allows us to talk about a high level of ethnocentrism. The novelty and originality of the study lies in the fact that a set of criteria characterizing the opinion of students, supporters of cultural relativism is revealed: they are often in contact with representatives of other ethnic groups and nationalities in social networks; absolutely do not feel discomfort in communicating with foreign cultural representatives, on the contrary, such communication is of great interest; in the formation of any group do not give preference to representatives of their own people, and are guided by other selection criteria; do not regard the culture of their people as a role model for other Nations. A set of criteria is identified for supporters of ethnocentrism: they believe everything that happens in their culture, natural and correct and others wrong; consider the customs of their group as universal; consider the norms, roles and values of their group is certainly correct; feel hostility towards external groups; in General, are rarely in contact with the representatives of other ethnic groups and nationalities; feel discomfort in communicating with other cultures representatives; believe that the loss of identity of their ethnic group is an unambiguously negative phenomenon; they do not consider the cultures of all peoples equally important and equal.