This paper describes the results of a series of surveys on communication with strangers that were originally developed by Dr. William B. Gudykunst and given in a book, Bridging Differences: Effective Intergroup Communication (Sage Publications, 1991). The surveys were given to graduate students at Toyohashi University of Technology who enrolled in Intercultural Communication as a selective core course for Master of Engineering Program during 1993-94 academic year.
The survey consists of 17 different questionnaires regarding basic intercultural communication skills with strangers. The basic factors as intercultural communication skills are uncertainty/uneasiness, iallocentric/idiocentric tendencies, cultural/ethnic identity, ethnocentrism, prejudice, stereotype, categorization, approach/ avoidance, knowledge of other groups, cognitive uncertainty, mindfulness, sympathy/empathy, he results of a series of questionnaire Publications, 1991). The questionnairehad the class the ls are uncertainty/uneasiness, s, category width tendencies, knowledge of another group, orientation tolerance for ambiguity, behavioral flexibility, reducing ability of uncertainty, conflict management communication satisfaction, and communication with strangers.
The tendency from the survey results seems to represent ideas of some young Japanese but they may not represent the Japanese as a whole. It was, however, possible to recognize the needs for the enhancement of their intercultural communication abilities. The writer recommends several actions to be taken for the improvement: (1) hiring a new staff to teach additional intercultural communication courses; (2) offering additional intercultural communication course by the current staffs; (3) offering some experiential programs for students; (4) improvement of computer assisted culture learning in a self-study style; (5) establishing additional financial aid for students to go abroad.