Studies on competence in a multinational environment

Abstract

In today's multicultural world and at the age of globalization it goes without saying that possessing language skills, intercultural competence, cultural intelligence, knowledge, skills, mindset, awareness and other essential skills, attitudes and competencies for effective communication is imperative. The article introduces the basic concept of competences, supporting and emphasizing the importance of linguistic and cultural competence with examples. The aim of this paper is to describe the process of the development of sociocultural competence and its components based on the analysis of many sources in the international literature. In the first part of the study, social, cultural, and linguistic competencies, as well as their diversity are analysed. Cultural diversity is underpinned by a variety of factors, including age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, origin, race, religion, and gender, among others. Conceptual definitions of culture are also presented. We also deal with linguistic diversity that accompanies cultural diversity. The analysis of language, culture, and communication follows a brief description of communication competence. Cultural and linguistic competence is vital, as today peoples and nations are intensely intermingled, living in the same society and interacting in the workplace, so the problem of developing socio-cultural competence is currently of particular importance. The developed socio-cultural competence guarantees effective communication between cultures, i.e. proper interaction with representatives of other cultures. At the end conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made.