Value Surveys As a Pedagogical Instrument in the Testing of Intercultural Communication (Report‪)‬

The outcomes of empirical value studies (e.g. Hofstede, Schwartz, Inglehart, House, et al., etc.) not only deepens our understanding of cultural behaviors, but also offers standard frameworks and dimensions for cross-cultural comparisons. Therefore, values have always been conceived and advocated as the core concept in the teaching of intercultural communication (Guan SJ, 1995; Hu WZ, 2002; Hu WZ & Gao YH, 1997; Jia YX, 1997; Zhang HL, 2007). Yet, when teachers start with the theoretical frameworks and dimensions developed in those studies, students often feel they are too general and abstract and fail to see the insights they provide. This often results in students' more stereotypical views of other cultures rather than enhanced intercultural sensitivity. The paper proposes that a possible approach to this issue is to incorporate value surveys as a pedagogical instrument for updated and tailored elaborations on the abstract and broad theories. Based on several years of teaching introductory courses of IC, the authors argue that integrating value urveys as an in-class activity is a worthy and conducive endeavor. It can provide fresh data for explaining the frameworks or dimensions; facilitate explanations of value-related statements or behaviors based on the theoretical constructs; and inform researchers on the possible difficulties of indigenizing such value measurements in future studies.