Examining Communication in Cross-Cultural Interaction: The West African and Algerian Students at the Department of Mathematics and Electrical Engineering of Tiaret University as a Case Study.

Abstract

The present case study is drawn upon two main purposes. First, it investigates whetherthe Algerian and the West African students are interculturally competent, and therefore are able to manage successful intercultural communication. Second, it explores the main difficulties that encounter students from different cultural background while communicating. In this respect, the study takes 43 Algerian and 44 West African students as a sample, particularly, students at the Mathematics and Electrical Engineering department of Ibn Khaldoun University of Tiaret. The investigation was carried out based on qualitative and quantitative research instrument, viz, questionnaire and in-depth interview. The findings reveal that there are some barriers that contribute the intercultural communication failure between the Algerian and the West African students, which can be identified in the language, negative stereotypes, introversion, and shyness. Besides, the research reaches that the language is the main cause that hinders cross-cultural communication between the two groups. Accordingly, it outlines a set of recommendations and implications to help students develop their intercultural communicative competence.