Abstract:

This paper is aimed at debating intercultural competences and intercultural dialogue issues within a multicultural learning environment. It supports the idea of cultural dimension and quality in higher education with a focus on intercultural sensitivity, intercultural dialogue and intercultural effectiveness. The study represents the starting point for a further investigation supported by University Politehnica of Bucharest on the degree of internationalization of our university. The design methodology will consist of the application of a shorter intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) proposed by Wang and Zhou(2016). The internal consistency of the scale is justified by statically parameters that allow the instrument to be considered as a valid one. This model was chosen because it takes into consideration all dimensions of intercultural communication competence, and has specific intentions to measure intercultural sensitivity of different groups of people.

The sensitivity scale has five factors on which its statements are based:
(1) interaction engagement,
(2) respect for cultural differences,
(3) interaction confidence,
(4) interaction enjoyment and
(5) interaction attentiveness (Chen & Starosta, 2000, p. 98).

The majority of the scholars noticed that the more interculturally sensitive person is the more interculturally competent can be (Penbek, Yurdakul&Cerit 2012). The ISS 15 instrument will be applied to Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Language at University “Politehnica” of Bucharest. Qualitative interpretation will be provided in a context of intercultural interactions among foreign and national students. The Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages being the only Faculty in the University who provides educational engineering programs in three different languages, English, French and German. Besides national students in our Faculty we benefit of foreign students enrolled in bachelor and master education as well as Erasmus students. In Romania previous studies concerning intercultural sensitivity have focus mostly on the ethnic dimension. The originality of our research regards the fact that it focuses mostly on topics such as intercultural sensitivity and communication in a Faculty that has 25 years of experience in a multicultural learning environment.

Keywords:

Intercultural education, intercultural sensitivity, multicultural education.