ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the literature on international and Chinese students’ intercultural competence in global and local contexts. Based on the literature review, it is found that overseas learning experience of international students has influenced their intercultural competence, but such type of influence requires some conditions, such as the length of sojourn, intercultural contact, and co-learning between international students and domestic students. Many researchers have suggested that universities, educators, and peers should systematically engage in creating an intercultural context to develop students’ intercultural competence. At the individual level, international students also can improve their intercultural competence through more intercultural contact, interaction and experience, and mutual understanding with people from different cultures. In comparison, most Chinese domestic students stay in the university campus of their homeland and experience the internationalization at home. Some studies have shown that such students’ intercultural competence is more affected by language level, international curriculum, extracurricular practice, communication between domestic and international students, conjoined management of international and Chinese students, as well as personalities. To improve these students’ intercultural competence, organizations can utilize English teaching, intercultural-related school courses, and information and network technology.
