ABSTRACT
For many of today’s highly educated young migrants, learning a foreign language is no longer an insurmountable challenge because they are usually already experienced in learning a foreign language and their self-efficacy is therefore high. However, what still causes difficulties for them is a style of communication that differs from that of their mother tongue. The present study examines (a) the influence of migrants’ experienced recognition and appreciation (in and by their host country) on the sensitivity to perceive intercultural differences; (b) the ability to rationalize these differences; and (c) the willingness to adopt the foreign communication patterns. In the case of young highly educated Spanish migrants in Germany, it has been demonstrated that experienced recognition does have a positive influence on the migrants’ perception and rationalization of culture-specific features, namely those of relative directness and relative reservedness. These two traits of German communication pose a major challenge for native Spanish speakers.
