Moving From Communicative Competence to Intercultural
Communicative Competence: Working With MA TESOL and TFL Students
Dr. Lynn Goldstein Monterey Institute of International Studies, A
Graduate School of Middlebury College CERCLL Tucson, Arizona
January 25, 2014 Slide 2 Communicative Competence vs. Intercultural
Competence Communicative Competence (Canale, 1983) The theoretical
framework for communicative competence proposed here minimally
includes four areas of knowledge and skill: grammatical competence,
sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic
competence. Slide 3 Communicative Competence vs. Intercultural
Competence Communicative Competence (Canale, 1983) 1. Grammatical
Competence: Mastery of the language code itself 2. Sociolinguistic
Competence: Utterances are produced and understood appropriately in
different sociolinguistic contexts depending on contextual factors
such as status of participants, purposes of the interaction, and
norms or conventions of interaction. 3. Discourse Competence:
Mastery of how to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve
a unified spoken and written text in different genresUnity of text
is achieved through cohesion in form and coherence in meaning. 4.
Strategic: Mastery of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies
to compensate for communication breakdowns due to limiting
conditions or insufficient competence and to enhance the
effectiveness of communication. Slide 4 Intercultural Competence
Intercultural Awareness (Baker, 2012) For effective communication,
learners should know more than syntax, lexis, and phonology.
Importance of how to use linguistic and other communicative
resources in the negotiation of meaning, roles, and relationships
in the diverse sociocultural settings of intercultural settings of
intercultural communication through English. Skills of multilingual
communicators: Role of accommodation in adapting language to be
closer to that of ones interlocutor in order to aid understanding
and solidarity. Negotiation and mediation skills are also key,
particularly between different culturally based frames of
reference, which have the potential to cause misunderstanding or
miscommunication. These skills enable interlocutors to adjust and
align themselves to different communicative systems and cooperate
in communication Slide 5 Intercultural Competence (Byram, 1998) 1.
Attitudes: Curiosity and openness, readiness to suspend disbelief
about other cultures and belief about one's own. 2. Knowledge: of
social groups and their products and practices in one's own and in
one's interlocutor's country, and of the general processes of
societal and individual interaction. 3. Skills of interpreting and
relating: Ability to interpret a document or event from another
culture, to explain it and relate it to documents from one's own.
4. Skills of discovery and interaction: Ability to acquire new
knowledge of a culture and cultural practices and the ability to
operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of
real-time communication and interaction. 5. Critical cultural
awareness/political education: An ability to evaluate critically
and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices and
products in one's own and other cultures and countries. Slide 6
Transcultural Competence (Slimbach, 2005) 6 Categories of
Competence 1. Perspective consciousness: The ability to question
constantly the source of ones cultural assumptions and ethical
judgments, leading to the habit of seeing things through the minds
and hearts of others. 2. Ethnographic skill: The ability to observe
carefully social behavior, manage stress, and establish friendships
across cultures, while exploring issues of global significance,
documenting learning, and analyzing data using relevant concepts.
3. Global awareness: A basic awareness of transnational conditions
and systems, ideologies and institutions, affecting the quality of
life of human and non-human populations, along with the choices
confronting individuals and nations. Slide 7 Transcultural
Competence (Slimbach, 2005) 4. World learning: Direct experience
with contrasting political histories, family lifestyles, social
groups, arts, religions, and cultural orientations based on
extensive, immersed interaction within non-English speaking,
non-Americanized environments. 5. Foreign language proficiency: A
threshold-level facility in the spoken, non-verbal, and written
communication system used by members of at least one other culture.
6. Affective development: The capacity to demonstrate personal
qualities and standards of the heart (e.g., empathy,
inquisitiveness, initiative, flexibility, humility, sincerity,
gentleness, justice, and joy) within specific intercultural
contexts in which one is living and learning. Slide 8 COMPARING CC
to ICC A scene from Japanese Story COMPARING CC to ICC A scene from
Japanese Story Slide 9 What does it mean to develop and possess
Intercultural Communicative Competence ? Attitudes, Knowledge,
& Skills Understand that language and culture and the
interactions between them are situated and variable, that
intercultural interactions need to be ethical, and understand the
roles power and its distribution play in intercultural
interactions. Gain linguistic and cultural knowledge to understand
and interact effectively in multilingual/multicultural settings.
Develop an understanding of the roles linguistic and cultural
attitudes play in interactions across multilingual and
multicultural settings and how they influence the success of such
interactions. Slide 10 What does it mean to develop and possess
ICC? Attitudes, Knowledge, & Skills Develop the awareness
needed to successfully participate in multilingual/multicultural
interactions. This addresses not only the knowledge and attitudes
discussed above but also how communication/interaction is
structured across cultures and languages, how communication is
monitored while in interaction, and what factors support or hinder
successful interactions. Develop "tools" for understanding their
own and others' ways of interacting in order to be able to
participate effectively in multilingual/multicultural interactions
across a range of languages and cultures. Slide 11 How to Achieve
These Goals 1. Course content 2. Readings 3. Activities 4.
Assignments: Blogs Other Group Analysis Professional Needs Analysis
Slide 12 Course Content/Topics Slide 13 READINGS February 26 th :
Politeness and Face Across Languages and Cultures Foundational
Kachru & SmithParameters of Politeness Language and
Professional: Choose one from either Language or Professional below
Language Mursy & WilsonTowards a definition of Egyptian
Complimenting Hua, Wei & YuanThe Sequential Organization of
Gift Giving in Chinese Felix-BrasdeferDeclining an Invitation: A
Cross-cultural Study of Pragmatic Strategies OrecchioniPoliteness
in Small Shops in France OhashiJapanese Culture Specific Face and
Politeness Orientation: A Pragmatic Investigation of Yoroshiku
Onegaishimasu RashLinguistic Politeness and Greeting Rituals in
German-speaking Switzerland Professional Lindsley & Braithwaite
You Should Wear a Mask: Facework Norms in Cultural and
Intercultural Conflict in Macquiladoras (Business and Policy)
JacobsenInteractional Pragmatics and Court Interpreting: An
Analysis of Face (T&I) MortensonCultural Differences and
Similarities in Seeking Social Support as a Response to Failure: A
Comparison of American and Chinese Students (IEM/TESOL/TFL) Slide
14 April 29 th : Examining The Causes of Miscommunication in
Intercultural Communication Foundational Wilson & Will and
Power: Towards Radical Intercultural Communication Wilson Research
and Pedagogy Hua What Are The Key Factors That May Cause
Misunderstandings In Intercultural Communication? Hua What
Contributes to Successful Communication Professional Choose One
Guido Cross-cultural Miscommunication in Welfare Officers
Interrogations Spencer-OateyManaging Rapport in Intercultural
Business Interactions: A & Xing Comparison of Two
Chinese-British Welcome Meetings Slide 15 May 8 th : Intercultural
Communicative Competence and Awareness Foundational Byram A Model
for Intercultural Communicative Competence Hua How to Develop
Intercultural Communicative Competence ProfessionalChoose One
Simbach The Transcultural Journey (Policy) Peppas Business Study
Abroad Tours for Non- Traditional Students: An Assessment Outcome
(Business) Deardorff Intercultural Competence in Foreign Language
Classrooms: A Framework and Implications for Educators (TESOL/TFL)
Young & Intercultural Communication Competence: Exploring
English Sachdev Language Teachers Teachers Beliefs and Practices
(TESOL) Goode The Role of Faculty Study Abroad Directors: A Case
Study (IEM) Paige & Goode International Education Professionals
and the Development of Intercultural Competence (TESOL/TFL/IEM)
Jackson Assessing Intercultural Learning Through Introspective
Accounts (TFL/T&I) Slide 16 Activities: Personal, Experiential,
Visual, Tangible, Comparative, and Real World Personal: Cultural
History and Repertoire Experiential: Alpha versus Omega: (Ting-
Toomey and Chung) Visual: Sleeping Babies (DIE); Stereotypes;
Written Artifacts Slide 17 Activities: Personal, Experiential,
Visual, Tangible, Comparative and Real World Tangible: Good Will
Huntinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnZ0Y4rv
z6E&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnZ0Y4rv
z6E&feature=related Pushpaka
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW5BeHNF- e0&wide=1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW5BeHNF- e0&wide=1 Japanese
Story http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIQH_msbZ2o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIQH_msbZ2o Real World: Visa
applications, Healthcare on the border Slide 18 Assignments A. Blog
Sample All observation posts should include the following
information: Who the participants are: Their relationship to each
other (relative status, degree of solidarity, degree of intimacy),
approximate age, gender, race, ethnicity if known, native language
if known, language of the interaction. Purpose of the Interaction:
For example checking books out of the library, ordering/serving a
hamburger, asking for/giving directions, making plans, asking
for/offering assistance and so forth. Observe an interaction
between participants from different groups (age, gender, socio
economic status, occupation, status, religion, expertise, and
knowledge, field of study): Observe to see if the participants
interact in ways that signal their solidarity, intimacy, and/or
their perceptions of higher or lower status, or more or less power.
What aspects of the interaction led you to believe that the
participants were enacting solidarity, intimacy, status and/or
power through language? Slide 19 Assignments Other Group Analysis
The goal of this assignment is to observe and analyze an entirely
unknown discourse event. Attend an event (social, religious,
educational, sporting, civic, and so forth) you have never attended
before in a culture different from your own /culture you are
unfamiliar with. Note that I am using culture broadly hereit could
be religious, occupational, sports, social, avocational and so
forth. You could go to a religious service different from your own,
attend a sports event of a type you have never attended/watched, go
birding having never done so before, go surfing, take a cooking
class, go to a Board of Education meeting, a Rotary club meeting, a
city council meetinguse your imagination. Please make sure to get
permission to observe (unless it is a public venue to which all are
welcome). You can let your contact person know that you are doing
an assignment to observe a setting you have never been in before.
Slide 20 Assignments Professional Needs Analysis Step One: For this
project you will locate participants (3 people if you are taking
the class for 3 units, 5 people if you are taking the class for 4
units) to interview who are currently working in your professional
field, i.e., people who are ESL or EFL teachers, or foreign
language teachers of your FL, or interpreters or translators, or
involved in international business, or involved in policy/ policy
administration, or involved in international education management.
All should be in job settings where they regularly interact with
people from different language and cultural backgrounds. Step Five:
Summarize your participants views, including where they are similar
and different, in response to all of the above questions, regarding
working with people with diverse language and cultural backgrounds.
Step Six: Given your participants answers that you have addressed
in steps 3-5, consider (1) what they already possess in terms of
the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed for successful,
ethical, intercultural interactions in their work place and (2)
what they need to learn to be more interculturally competent. In
doing so, bring in the pertinent concepts, constructs and
literature from our course and readings as the lenses through which
you decide what they already believe/ know/can do and what they
need to develop in terms of beliefs/attitudes, knowledge and
skills. Step Seven: Given your analyses in step six, identify and
justify the topics, readings, and activities you would engage your
participants in to develop ethical, sound intercultural attitudes,
develop their knowledge of intercultural communication in ways that
will lead to successful, ethical intercultural interactions in
their work place, and develop the skills and practices needed for
successful, ethical intercultural interactions in their
workplace.