Intercultural Skills’ Assessment

1. When you are on university grounds, do you regularly hear different languages being spoken?

2. Age, gender, and nationality are essential characteristics of a person.

3. At your university, can you observe a growing cultural diversity?

4. How would you evaluate yourself on empathy on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

5. How would you evaluate yourself on curiosity on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

6. How would you evaluate yourself on cultural self-awareness on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

7. How would you evaluate yourself on verbal and non-verbal communication on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

8. How would you evaluate yourself on openness on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

9. How would you evaluate yourself on knowledge of cultural worldview frameworks on a 1-5 scale, where 1 means very weak, 2 weak, 3 neither weak nor strong, 4 strong, and 5 very strong?

10. Culture is:

11. There are different cultural identities in the different regions of my country.

12. Culture is given from one generation to the other and stays the same.

13. The national culture of my country defines my country and makes it better than others.

14. Cultural differences can also be observed between different generations.

15. I believe that nobody tasting my country's cuisine could dislike any of our traditional dishes.

16. Which of the following could describe culture?: A. Learned and dynamic; B. Static and unaffected; C. Shared and integrated; D. Based on symbols and inseparable from language.

17. Cultural bias is different from racism in that it targets cultural differences rather than anthropological characteristics like skin color.

18. I believe that the social conventions of my country are universal. People who do not follow those conventions are outcasts.

19. When stereotypes come up during a discussion, what do you usually do?

20. A stereotype is a form of bias.

21. I am aware that certain idiomatic expressions in my language may not be understandable in another cultural setting or translatable to another language.

22. In your class, there is a foreign student who, although he/she is sociable in general, never looks the professor in the eyes when talking to him/her. What do you most probably think?

23. How would you define empathy?

24. To be able to empathise with someone else’s feelings is more often a strength than a weakness.

25. Do you think that empathy and sympathy are synonyms?

26. Cultural empathy is the ability to empathise with the feelings, thoughts, and behaviours of members of groups with a different cultural background.

27. Communication is crucial in order to foster positive intercultural relations.

28. In your country, a person who does not speak your language asks you a question. How do you react?

29. Do you think that linguistic competences could support you with your communication skills?

30. Do you think that widely recognised hand gestures, like the thumps-up sign of approval or agreement, may have opposite, negative, or even insulting meaning in some countries?

31. When you are abroad, do you like to engage in a conversation with locals?

32. If a foreign student came to your class, how would you react?

33. Before, during, or after visiting a foreign country, are you interested in learning about its culture?

34. You have just arrived in a foreign country for a year of studying abroad. A local classmate invites you for dinner to his/her parents' house, where many things (the welcoming, manners, the food, etc.) will be new for you. How do you feel?

35. A culturally open individual judges other people.

36. Do you think that an open person is, consequently, a flexible person?

37. In a working group formed by students with different cultural origins, do you try to impose your working method or do you rather value diversity in finding a common approach?

38. During a friendly discussion, a foreign friend says something that seems insulting to you. How do you react?

39. Empathy implies approval.