This study investigated the differences in willingness to communicate (WTC) between Americans and Chinese living in China and the United States, and the factors affecting WTC between these two nationalities. A battery of questionnaires was administered to 47 American and 54 Chinese college students in China, and 51 American and 42 Chinese college students in the US. Overall Americans were found to be more willing to communicate with Chinese than were Chinese with Americans. Participants living abroad reported higher levels of WTC than those living in their home country. Among Chinese, WTC was positively related to self-perceived communication competence, language competence, immersion time and motivation being positively correlated and negatively associated with CA. Similar results were obtained from Americans, except that immersion time and language competence were not related to WTC.As a recent issue of Time magazine (Wallis & Steptoe, 2006) pointed out, we are 21st century global citizens now and our ability to communicate well with people from different cultural and language backgrounds has become an essential skill for success in today's world. One of the most important factors for effective intercultural communication is our willingness to communicate with people of different cultures.
This study investigated whether cross-cultural differences in communication apprehension (CA) can be explained with regard to cultural orientations, personality traits and component theory. To this end, a total of 618 undergraduates, studying in Taiwan (n = 298) and the United States (n = 320), participated in this study. Participants filled out the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension along with SelfConstrual Scale, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Self-Perceived Communication Competence scale. The results indicated that Chinese in Taiwan scored significantly higher in communication apprehension than Americans. The influence of culture on CA was mediated by independence self-construal, neuroticism, extroversion, fear of negative evaluation, and communication competence. The strongest mediating effect was found for self-perception of communication competence. The implications of these findings were further discussed.
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