Intercultural Communication among Non-Chinese in National-Type Chinese Schools: Parents Perspectives

Abstract

Chinese education has been rooted in Malaysia as early as 1849. This paper explores the non-Chinese parents’ perspectives on intercultural communication among their children who were enrolled in National-Type Chinese Schools in Kelantan. A group of non-Chinese parents whom their children attended the schools, were interviewed. The data were analysed thematically. Results indicated that non-Chinese parents believed that the non-Chinese students were involved actively in communicating and interacting interculturally. The non-Chinese students’ intercultural communication was apparent from their activities and comments from parents. This paper suggested fine-tuning the quality of teaching and learning behaviour or ethical standards that helps both educators and students to gain more in a multicultural educational setting. Nevertheless, future work should extend beyond the current scope of merely understanding parents’ narratives of intercultural communication. It is recommended that future study includes the observations of the students’ multicultural life outside of classroom setting.