scholarly journals Acquiring Intercultural Communicative Competence through Virtual Exchange

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-61
Author(s):  
Gabriela Tutunea
Keyword(s):  
Formal Education ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Educational Goals ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Specific Training ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Task Types ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is an indispensable skill when interacting with people from other cultures, given the clash of perspectives that intercultural encounters may bring about. Being a skill that can be taught and learned, there is a wide concern for developing ICC through formal education. This involves designing specific training tasks that can enhance the acquisition of ICC with the help of virtual exchange (VE) activities. The aim of the present paper is to highlight a specific way in which the educational goals associated with ICC development can be achieved. To this end, an analysis of 55 eTwinning intercultural projects has been conducted in order to determine the relationship between ICC and VE. The statistical data described here indicate that VE fosters the development of ICC. Moreover, they are indicative of the fact that the VE task types that are most effective in the development of ICC can be identified through computation.

Intercultural communicative competence: Are Greek EFL teachers ready?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
Evangelia Petosi ◽  
Ioannis Karras
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Cultural Teaching ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Intercultural Encounters ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
State Schools

AbstractOver the years and because of globalization, English has undoubtedly become an international language, a lingua franca. In this interconnected context, a new reality for the EFL educators has arisen: the need to prepare learners for intercultural encounters, that is being able to learn and use English, for effective and appropriate interaction with other native or non-native speakers of English worldwide. It is, thus, imperative that teachers become aware of the importance of this competence so they can adapt their teaching approaches and incorporate them in the EFL classroom.This exploratory study investigated the beliefs and attitudes of EFL teachers, with regards to incorporating intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in their classroom. The aim of this study was to gain more understanding of the current status of teaching English for Intercultural Communication in the Greek EFL state classroom in terms of teachers’ understandings and attitudes towards cultural teaching and ICC. To this end, an online questionnaire with closed questions was employed to collect data from sixty-two EFL teachers teaching at Greek state schools. Statistical analyses showed that EFL teachers have high appreciation of integrating ICC in English teaching. Moreover, they seem highly value the affective and behavioural components of this competence. These findings are hoped to contribute to a better understanding of intercultural teaching in ELT so that implications should be made to enhance the quality of ELT in Greece.

scholarly journals Standardizing Differences? Standards for Intercultural Competence in Formal Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-265
Author(s):  
Ana Jovanović
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Contemporary Education ◽  
Do So

The importance intercultural communicative competence plays in contemporary education of foreign languages has provided the latter with an approach that is frequently termed intercultural education. Nevertheless, the topic is still quite controversial, to say the least, and especially so in respect to issues related with the evaluation of intercultural communicative competence. In addition to the difficulties of defining the concept and criteria for its evaluation, we need to address the fundamental question of whether it is possible to evaluate intercultural competence at all, and, if this is the case, whether it is moral to do so. Here we explore the case of Serbia and a project whose goal was to define the standards of competence for foreign languages in formal primary education. As a member of the working group, and thus with the privilege of an insider’s perspective, I analyse the steps that were followed in the development of the standards for intercultural competence. This auto-ethnographic exposition aims at offering a critical analysis of intercultural competence in the curricular documents of foreign languages, but also at providing a space for reflection and self-evaluation.

A plea for a socio-cognitive perspective on the language-culture-cognition nexus in educational approaches to intercultural communicative competence

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 224-252
Author(s):  
Ariadna Strugielska ◽  
Katarzyna Piątkowska
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Grounded Cognition ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Educational Context ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Holistic Model ◽  
Culture And Cognition ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) links three notions, i.e. language, culture and cognition, which are declared crucial in approaches to ICC in educational context. Despite the announced importance of the notions, none of the ICC models specifies the relationship between these elements in a motivated way and hence unjustified dichotomies arise. Educational approaches to ICC can be divided into cognitive or social ones with the former emphasizing an autonomous nature of language, culture and cognition and the latter focusing on social aspects and thus marginalizing cognition. The article aims to stress the need for a socio-cognitive approach to ICC which will view language, culture and cognition in a holistic way. While this approach is based on complexity science, cognitive psychology, grounded cognition and intercultural pragmatics, we demonstrate that cognitive linguistics can become an encompassing framework for a holistic model of ICC.

scholarly journals About the transmission of cultural knowledge in teaching Vietnamese to foreign students

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-107
Author(s):  
Vinh Thuy Tran
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Students ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Behavior Patterns ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cultural Features

This paper discusses the relationship between language and culture, the goals and the approaches to convey culture in language teaching in order to improve linguistic competence and intercultural communicative competence for learners. The paper also presents a number of methods and contents to convey culture in teaching Vietnamese for foreign learners; to clarify the socio-cultural communication information, the typical utterances or behavior patterns which are used in communication as well as cultural features which are reflected in Vietnamese vocabulary; and at higher step to assist students in naturally expressing this sociocultural knowledge in the Vietnamese language.

scholarly journals Teachers' experiences, beliefs and conceptions concerning intercultural communicative competence

Interacción ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 69-81
Author(s):  
Julio César Torres Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Autobiographical Accounts ◽  
The Relationship

This is a report of a study on teachers’ experiences, beliefs and conceptions concerning intercultural communicative competence (ICC). The study explored the relationship between teacher cognition, professional identity and intercultural competence. To stimulate reflection as well as to collect data, autobiographical accounts and semi-structured interviews were used. This exploratory case study showed that even when teachers have intercultural experiences in English speaking countries, as it is the case with the three informants in the study described, they continue to have essentialist perspectives of target cultures that, in turn, affect their vision of the development of ICC. Results revealed how teachers’ previous personal experiences are influential in their belief and conception formation of ICC. Besides, they do not master the knowledge, skills and attitudes involved in ICC, in spite of their awareness of the essence and purpose of the development of ICC at different levels.

scholarly journals Intercultural Communicative Competence Awareness of Turkish Students and Instructors at University Level

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Irfan Tosuncuoglu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
The Relationship

Competence in intercultural communication requires an understanding of both the L1 and L2 cultures, and many now believe that language learning is, in many respects, cultural learning. The relationship between language and culture, as well as the role of cultural competence in communicative competence has come increasingly under the microscope and as a result, educators have gained a greater appreciation for the role culture plays in language acquisition. Intercultural communicative competence refers to the ability of an individual to navigate within a given society appropriately. In other words, individuals are able to use appropriate gestures, understand the unspoken meaning within the words, appreciate the cultural underpinnings in any communication, and make appropriate cultural references to aid understanding. From this viewpoint, in order to understand the perception of Intercultural communicative awareness (ICC), a survey was performed among instructors and students of English. This survey was distributed to 42 Turkish instructors of English and 183 Turkish students from the English Language and Literature Department of Karabuk University, a total number of 225 respondents. The participants were aged between 18 and 55. By means of set scientific instruments such as (Anova, Spss, etc.) the data collected from the participants was analysed and evaluated.

Discourse Analysis

2019 ◽  
pp. 239-261
Author(s):  
Soe Marlar Lwin
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Authentic Texts ◽  
Knowledge For Teaching ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Linguistically Diverse Learners

This chapter introduces discourse analysis as a sub-discipline of linguistics. Relevant concepts from pragmatics, another closely-related sub-discipline, are also discussed within the context of discourse analysis. The chapter begins by explaining the relationship between pragmatics and discourse analysis, and key terms such as “text” and “discourse.” It then examines the distinctions between linguistic and non-linguistic contexts, and situational and sociocultural contexts. To help readers understand the importance of culture in using language to make meanings, the introduced concepts are illustrated with sample authentic texts as well as examples from English and a few other languages. Placing discourse at the core of language teaching and learning, the chapter recommends a discourse-based approach to help ELLs develop not only communicative competence but also intercultural communicative competence. The chapter provides ESOL teachers with knowledge of discourse analysis and the implications of this knowledge for teaching culturally and linguistically diverse learners of English.

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