Abstract:

The paper discusses the results of an exploratory study of specifics and limits of undergraduate students’ stereotype awareness as revealed during an intercultural communication course conducted in English as a foreign language. The empirical materials for the case study was obtained from a sample of thirty students in the form of an analytical essay produced individually, in which students had to expose and reflect on cultural stereotypes of various types (gender, age, nationality, race, or profession) that are widespread in their home culture and society. The qualitative analysis of students’ essays indicated a number of issues that concern both the respondents’ readiness to recognise the stereotypical nature of a commonly held assumption and the degree of the internalisation of stereotypical beliefs despite their conscious identification as such. Compared to other types of stereotypes outlined in the assignment, national/ethnic stereotypes appear to be most readily identifiable, which might indirectly point to the tendency of limiting the phenomenon of stereotyping to the sphere of interethnic relations. The sample also revealed a marked avoidance strategy resulting in various deviations from the assignment in actual task performance. Some of most common deviations detected include the shift in perspective, whereby respondents chose to discuss stereotypes concerning their own nationality/ethnicity instead of stereotypes that are common to their national/ethnic environment, or respondents’ attachment to their preconceived understanding of the notion of stereotype as a fixed and repeated pattern of behaviour despite being introduced to the target interpretation of stereotype as an overgeneralised idea about a particular group of people. The results of the study can be used in the development of curriculum for undergraduate intercultural communication training and might help to increase the efficiency of learning activities aimed at tackling stereotypes in foreign language education.

Keywords:

Stereotype awareness, intercultural communication, ELT.