Abstract:
This study was conducted at the Namibia University of Science and Technology
(NUST) to investigate the challenges of intercultural communication between lecturers
and first year students in the Faculty of Human Sciences, Windhoek, Namibia. The
study followed a mixed methods research design. A total of 40 respondents formed
the study inclusive of lecturers, local and foreign students following a simple random
sampling method. The researchers selected 40 respondents who could speak different
languages and belong to diverse cultures. Out of the 40 respondents, 10 lecturers who
dealt with first year students were selected to be part of the study. A total of 11 foreign
respondents were included in the study and the other 19 were local Namibian
students. Cultural and linguistic diversities were the main selection criteria. Primary
data was collected through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. It was found out
that the main barriers to intercultural communication amongst students and lecturers
were the use of English as a medium of communication, anxiety and fear, generalizations
including prejudice, poor listening skills (noise: distractions such as cell phone
use and unclear messages), physical separation – the space between lecturers and students
during classes, lack of knowledge of others’ cultural background, ignorance, and
lack of knowledge of others linguistic background. Therefore, it was recommended
that English with intercultural communication content should be offered to all firstyear
students in the Faculty regardless of the programme. On the other hand, since
NUST offers language classes for foreigners and beginners, students who struggle
with English as a medium of instruction and communication are advised to enrol for
extra language classes to help them to effectively communicate with lecturers and fellow
classmates. It was further recommended that to enhance the competence of students
and teachers in intercultural communication and interlanguage pragmatics, lecturers
and students should expand the existing knowledge to enable them embrace
cultural diversity.
