Model Of Intercultural Communicative Competence Research Articles

Mobile-enhanced virtual exchanges through asynchronous video interaction: Learners as ethnographers in the L2 classroom to promote intercultural communicative competence

This practice report focuses on the integration of virtual exchange (VE) with mobileassisted language learning (MALL), where learners act as ethnographers within the context of language education. This VE model harnesses mobile technology capabilities to exchange personal and immersive cultural insights through asynchronous video content using Flip.com. The model consists of three integrated sections: Preparation, Intercultural Exchange, and Reflection. This report covers a pilot implementation of the mobile-enhanced VE model to evaluate the outcomes on Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). The project lasted eight weeks, covering various topics, such as greetings, food, and education. Participants were L2 learners of Spanish in the United States and L1 Spanish speakers in Spain. Outcomes were evaluated through a survey where students in the United States self-assessed their perceived ICC gains. This survey, grounded in Byram’s (2009) ICC model, measured changes in students’ attitudes, knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating, skills of interaction, and critical cultural awareness. Students reported substantial improvements in all areas of ICC, highlighting enhanced engagement and understanding of the target culture facilitated by the mobileenhanced VE model. This report provides insights for the incorporation of mobile technology for VE projects in L2 settings, emphasizing its role in expanding global interconnectedness and deepening intercultural learning among learners by offering a more dynamic, authentic, and immersive learning experience.

Understanding the interrelations between cultural empathy, intercultural communication competence, and the psychosocial adjustment of international students in Canada: A longitudinal examination

International education offers transformative potential for personal and professional growth. Yet, navigating a new culture can be challenging due to language barriers and cultural differences. This longitudinal research delves into the potential of cultural empathy in promoting adjustment-related well-being of international students, particularly through enhancing their intercultural communication competence (ICC). Drawing upon the Process Model of Intercultural Competence and the Integrated Model of Intercultural Communication Competence, the current study (1) examines the interrelations of English Proficiency, Behavioral Flexibility, Ease of Interactions, Communication Effectiveness, and Communication Appropriateness as factors underlying a higher-order construct of communicative competence; and (2) explores the cross-temporal associations between cultural empathy, the five factors of ICC, and the psychosocial adjustment of international students to their host country. Students from a western Canadian university (N = 213) participated in the current study, who were surveyed three times over a 7-month period. The findings from confirmatory factor analysis underscore the integral role of interaction comfort, as well as effective and appropriate intercultural communication in fostering ICC. The random-intercept cross-lagged panel models reveal differential associations between cultural empathy, psychosocial adjustment, and the ICC factors, highlighting the merits of examining ICC in its constituent elements, as well as the importance of harbouring empathic, effective, and appropriate intercultural communication in cultivating positive intercultural experiences for international students. Together, the present findings provide insights for (1) advancing research on intercultural competence, and (2) developing initiatives in building a more empathic and inclusive global community that welcomes and supports international students in their sojourn.

Intercultural Communication Competence: Theoretical Exploration and Practical Application from the Perspective of Foreign Language Education

As globalization continues to deepen, intercultural communication competence has become an indispensable key skill in international exchange and cooperation. This paper aims to explore the theoretical construction of intercultural communication competence and its practical application in foreign language education. By synthesizing reviews of relevant literature from both domestic and international sources, this paper proposes an interactive theoretical model of intercultural communication competence that integrates the dimensions of attitude, knowledge, and skills. The model emphasizes the dialogic nature of intercultural communication, the equality of cultures, and the dialectical combination of globalization and localization. Based on this, the paper further develops a practical model that organically integrates intercultural communication competence, teaching segments, and teaching activities into a three-ring structure, providing a specific operational framework for the cultivation of intercultural communication competence in foreign language teaching. Through empirical research, this paper has verified the application effect of the proposed model in college English teaching. The results indicate that the model can effectively enhance students' intercultural awareness, knowledge acquisition, and communication skills. Finally, the paper puts forward a series of teaching suggestions aimed at promoting the comprehensive development of intercultural communication competence in foreign language education and points out directions for future research and practice.

Learning Chinese and making meaning – ways to develop intercultural citizenship in the foreign language classroom

Abstract Using Chinese language teaching in an engineering department as an example, this paper explores how language teaching can meet the challenges of globalisation and the advancement of technology by fulfilling its educational function as described in Byram’s model of intercultural communicative competence. By adapting theories and practices from counselling psychology, the proposed curriculum focuses on emotions to help learners uncover emotional barriers that arise when confronted with differences. It will support learners in raising awareness and developing their capacity to negotiate differences, leading to more effective cooperation with others. The paper discusses the use of experiential exercises in the classroom. They include those developed in Chinese language pedagogy, namely the performed culture approach and those developed in humanistic psychotherapy, such as body psychotherapy. The aim is to help learners notice their own feelings, attitudes, and behaviour as well as the otherness of the other in the classroom. This approach is powerful because it is in the here and now. It utilises movements and different senses as well as cognition. It helps uncover barriers to intercultural communication hidden under the surface by making the unconscious conscious. Reflection is a key part of this process. Learners are expected to reflect on their own thinking and feelings and to make sense of the dynamics in the classroom. Learners are expected to develop reflexivity, subjectivity and intersubjective awareness while acquiring linguistic competency and social cultural rules of use.

USING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE DIMENSIONS IN MANAGING MULTICULTURAL TEAM PERFORMANCE

This article provides the relevance and effectiveness of intercultural communication competence for managing multicultural teams within Kazakhstan-based international companies. This research seeks to assess project managers and team members’ knowledge, attitudes and skills related to intercultural communication competence. Byram’s model of intercultural communication competence will be utilized with its emphasis on cultural knowledge and attitudes. This study’s significance lies in its focus on cross-cultural management and communication in diverse work environments, using quantitative survey research methodologies conducted among project managers and team members in Kazakhstan international companies. The purpose is to investigate whether project managers and team members from multinational companies in Kazakhstan, operating in diverse cultural settings, possess the ability to identify elements of cross-cultural communicative competence while overseeing their teams and supervising the performance of their subordinates. Data analysis offers insights into intercultural communication competence knowledge, attitudes and skills within their specific context. These findings contribute to existing knowledge on intercultural communication competence and its application in managing multicultural teams, emphasizing the significance of cultural knowledge, positive attitudes toward diversity and effective communication skills for achieving successful project results. Furthermore, the results can provide practical implications for project managers and organizations looking to enhance their intercultural communication competence.

The Impact of Street Interviews on Chinese EFL Undergraduates’ Intercultural Communicative Competence

The study adopts Byram’s Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) model as the theoretical framework, and structured interviews were conducted to explore the impact of street interviews on the participants’ ICC. Analysis results revealed street interviews help students acquire knowledge in intercultural attitudes, intercultural knowledge, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness, aligning with the four components of Byram’s ICC model. Meanwhile, they have positive perceptions of street interviews. Therefore, street interviews have a positive effect on the development of participants’ ICC.

Systematic Review (2003–2023): Exploring Technology-Supported Cross-Cultural Learning through Review Studies

Technology-supported cross-cultural learning (TSCCL) is essential for effective intercultural communication, fostering global understanding, and facilitating collaboration in an interconnected world. Although previous studies and review articles have explored this field, a comprehensive analysis of trends and key findings in these reviews is lacking. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a thorough examination of existing review studies. We employed a narrative synthesis approach consisting of three phases: preparation, organization, and abstraction. We selected and systematically reviewed thirty-one review articles published in twenty-five journals between 2003 and 2023. Our findings highlight key aspects of the reviewed articles, such as keywords, databases, selection criteria, theoretical foundations, content analysis, research questions, findings, and limitations related to technology-supported cross-cultural learning. We found that the researchers used various strategies for literature searches, including single, double, or multiple keywords depending on the study’s focus. The most commonly used keywords were telecollaboration, intercultural, communication, competence, language learning, and technology, indicating their significance in current research and practice. The number of papers reviewed varied across studies, as did the timeframe coverage, ranging from a few years to several decades. Researchers employed different databases, with Web of Science, ERIC, Scopus, and Google Scholar being the most popular choices. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were established to ensure methodological rigor and relevance. Theoretical foundations, such as the telecollaboration model and intercultural communicative competence model, were frequently employed. Open coding was the dominant content analysis approach used. Research questions were present in some studies but not explicitly stated in others. These findings shed light on the strategies and considerations used by researchers in conducting review studies on technology-supported cross-cultural learning, providing guidance for future research. The study presents a reference table encompassing all previously published reviews, which can be valuable for future scholars. By gaining insights from past studies and identifying unexplored research avenues, researchers can benefit from this report. Additionally, the implications and suggestions derived from this review study are valuable for educators and researchers in the TSCCL field. This review addresses gaps in the existing literature and contributes to advancing knowledge in the field of TSCCL.

Construction of Input-Comparison-Output (ICO) Intercultural Mode for Sustainable Development in EFL Education

The cultivation of college students’ intercultural communication competence (ICC) for sustainable development is a hot research topic in English foreign language (EFL) education. What competencies are they required to have, and how to cultivate them in EFL education? The study is based on Byram’s model of ICC for cultivating students’ ICC for their sustainable development. To this end, an empirical study was conducted by constructing an intercultural comparative teaching mode called Input-Comparison-Output (ICO) in the research by integrating Chinese culture into EFL education for cultivating students’ ICC among Chinese college students. The study emphasizes the importance of the Chinese culture as the native culture by comparing similarities and differences with the targeted culture in EFL education. There are some existing research works on English and its culture, but few of them focus on the role and integration of Chinese culture in China’s EFL teaching. In order to seek some evidence of the function of the Chinese culture as the first culture in EFL education, the authors constructed the ICO intercultural mode, and 58 participants were recruited and divided into two groups randomly as the controlled group and experimental group in the empirical study. Some research methods were used in the study, such as questionnaires, term papers, statistical analyses and interviews. The data were collected through the Star of Questionnaire, the automatic assessing system of the I-write Platform, Excel and WeChat videos. Quantitative and qualitative statistics were adopted to assess the students’ changes of attitudes towards the integration of the Chinese culture into the course and academic development in the research. The ICO intercultural mode creates a novel teaching mode of cultural comparison between first culture and targeted culture, breaking down the traditional monocultural teaching one in the EFL teaching. The results of the research show that the integration of the Chinese culture into the EFL course is important, which can promote the students’ ICC thanks to the application of the ICO intercultural mode in the course. The initiative findings can be used as references for further intercultural teaching in EFL education.

Research into Intercultural Communicative Competence: A Model Test

This study intended to propose a model of intercultural communicative competence integrating international posture, L2 motivational self-system, autonomy, and cognitive learning strategies. To do so, 180 EFL learners in the Iranian EFL context, selected by convenience sampling procedure, participated in the study. The findings, derived from structural equation modeling, showed that the model adequately fits to the data. That was discussed that interest in seeking international affairs and making intercultural friends, desire to bridge the gap between their current and future selves, taking responsibility for learning, and employment of deep/surface learning strategies direct learners to open conversation with the speakers of other ethnicities. Finally, implications for language teachers and policymakers to inspiring learners to be competent in intercultural communication were provided.

Intercultural Communicative Competence Model Using English Literature: A Case Study at Some Islamic Universities in Indonesia

The acquisition of intercultural competence is considered paramount in enabling learners to engage comfortably with individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The ability to communicate and interact appropriately with individuals from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds is increasingly recognized as a fundamental component of the 21st century learning skillset. To investigate the attitudes, knowledge, and skills of students in relation to intercultural activities, this study employs a literature-based instructional approach. The implementation of the Intercultural communicative competence through English Literature (ICC-EL) paradigm among 92 students enrolled in the English Education Study Program at an Islamic higher education institution is the subject of this study. The research adopted a mixed-method approach to generate both quantitative and qualitative data. Specifically, a questionnaire was administered to students upon the completion of the course to elicit quantitative data, while qualitative data was obtained through observation of the students' performance by the course lecturer. The results demonstrate that the implementation of the ICC-EL model has proven to be successful in stimulating the students' intercultural communication skills. Furthermore, the study of literary materials in the form of English novels has encouraged students to administer their awareness of intercultural communication skills. The incorporation of a variety of techniques has provided students with greater exposure to diverse languages and cultures, thereby encouraging them to manage their intercultural communication skills. The assessment of intercultural communication competency employed in the ICC-EL model is deemed appropriate and adaptable for implementation in different language teaching and evaluation contexts.

On Communicative Competence and Intercultural Understanding through the Lens of the Japanese Government-Approved English Language Textbook

It has been more than decades since English education in Japan started focusing on communicative competence. Textbooks and lessons in public schools are chosen based on a government-made Course of Study (Guideline). The Guideline puts emphasis on communicative competence and intercultural understanding in terms of English language education. The Government’s efforts to enact reform measures have failed, and the outcomes of various international assessments of Japanese English proficiencies are unsatisfactory. It implies that despite great effort the goal set by the Guideline has not been achieved yet. Students are motivated to learn English not for communication purposes but for test taking. This study examines a government-approved textbook for high school students’ required course from Sanseido Press to see how the Guideline’s objective is reflected in it. Since it is important to raise cultural awareness, this study tries to figure out how this textbook helps students understand other cultures. This study uses Alptekin’s model of intercultural communicative competence and analyses the content of this textbook. This model is best for figuring out what makes effective intercultural understanding for nonnative English learners, which requires knowing about different cultures and being able to use that knowledge appropriately in any situation. The findings revealed a clear bias towards Japanese cultures and US citizens. It is assumed that American English is considered an ideal model for English education in Japan. It is recommended that textbooks accept the concept of World Englishes, include a more diverse culture, and get nonnative speakers involved. Keywords: English education in Japan; intercultural understanding; cultural awareness; World Englishes; intercultural communicative competence

Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC): A Comparison of Thai and International Teachers of English in the Thai Vocational Context

This study aims to investigate English teachers’ levels of ICC within five components, which are knowledge, attitude, skills of interpretation and relating, skills of discovery and interaction, and critical cultural awareness, and to compare the differences between levels of ICC and its components between Thai and international teachers of English. This study also seeks to understand the influences of aspects of intercultural background, consisting of international travel experiences, international seminars/training experiences, and intercultural contact. The participants were 113 Thai and 36 international teachers of English who were chosen using a multi-stage sampling methodology. The research instruments consisted of ICC scales adapted from the Byram ICC model (2020) and an intercultural background survey. Descriptive statistics, a t-test, and a two-way ANOVA analysis were used to analyze the dataset. The results showed that international teachers had greater levels of ICC. Of the five components, the attitude component was found to be at the highest level in both groups. Critical cultural awareness was at the lowest level among Thai teachers, while international teachers’ skills of interpretation and relating were at the lowest level. Regarding international travel experiences, contact with international friends, social media contact, and frequency of co-worker contact were found to affect the ICC score of two groups; however, no effect on ICC score was found in regard to international seminars/training experiences. This study suggests that ICC components could be integrated into vocational education. Moreover, travel experiences and intercultural contact could contribute as extra activities for developing ICC in ELT.

EFFECTIVE METHODS OF TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS AS A MEANS OF SUCCESSFUL INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

The article is devoted to the problems of speaking skills in a foreign language, which cause barriers in communication with native speakers among students of language faculties. After analyzing various scientific works devoted to this problem, the authors come to the conclusion that the development of speaking skills is an important part in teaching a foreign language, since knowledge of individual words, phrases and grammatical rules of a foreign language does not guarantee successful communication. Due to the modern requirements of society, speaking skill is closely related to the concept of "intercultural communication", without highly developed speaking skills, effective intercultural communication is impossible. Nowadays, the world needs such specialists who will be able to enter into intercultural communication by understanding the culture of a foreign country. For this reason, the article discusses the problem of teaching speaking skills in the context of intercultural communication. The authors also showed a model of intercultural communicative competence. In the practical part of the study, the author demonstrated several effective tasks for the development of speaking skills among students of language faculties. In our research work, we used such methods as theoretical analysis of literature, pedagogical observation, experiment, and statistical data analysis. Key words: competence, brainstorming, discussion, speaking skills, intercultural communicative competence, logical support scheme.

“Tesla in Grünheide”: Growing Intercultural Competence Through Role‐Play Simulation

AbstractThe development of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) becomes increasingly important in the world language curriculum and a crucial goal to prepare students for real‐life communicative situations outside of the classroom. This article discusses how a simulation exercise based on the contentious construction of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide, Germany, facilitated the growth of students' ability to take perspectives other than their own – a crucial step toward ICC. Using the controversies about the Tesla Gigafactory as a real‐world case study, students participated in a role‐play simulation, set up as a town hall meeting, where they had to develop arguments whether Tesla should be given the official construction permit or not. This project‐based and student‐led exercise was designed to develop critical awareness of the cultural intricacy of the Tesla case by considering authentic dilemmas and conflicting perspectives. The activity was implemented in a virtual study abroad, advanced‐level German course. Comparing responses from a student feedback survey with Byram's ICC model (2021) suggests that the exercise helped students increase their factual knowledge, skills of interpreting, relating, discovering, and interacting, and develop differentiated understanding of other perspectives – important 21st‐century ICC skills for a global life and work environment.

Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence in Foreign Language Classrooms: A study of EFL learners in China

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) has been accentuated with the wave of globalization. Universities in China have highlighted ICC in language classrooms. Following Byram’s (1997) ICC model (including knowledge, skills, and attitudes), this study focuses on the efficacy of explicit instruction in developing ICC among EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners in classrooms in China, and to discover how this development is related to the English proficiency. This research, therefore, has two purposes: (1) to use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to assess ICC including questionnaires through self and others after explicit instruction. And (2) to investigate the relationship between the development of ICC and English proficiency. The results show that (1) explicit instruction is effective in raising students’ development of ICC, especially the knowledge and skills, and (2) English proficiency is significantly related to better acquisition of ICC. In order to promote learners’ ICC based on the mentioned results, some methods can be adopted: refine the intercultural content, manifest the teaching objectives, improve the involvers’ initiatives and implement the scientific evaluation.

Болашақ мұғалімдердің мәдениетаралық қарым-қатынас құзыреттілігін Интернет-ресурстары негізінде қалыптастырудың әдістемелік негіздері

The relevance of all issues related to culture has now become widespread. Each lesson of a foreign language is a link of cultures. It is an experience of intercultural communication as each word is a reflection of another culture, another world: Each word is the national identity of the people. Therefore, the formation of intercultural communication competence in the English language lesson helps to prepare future teachers for Intercultural Communication in the dialogue of cultures, that is, to educate them to be competitive. In this regard, in the modern era of globalization, the growing demand of society for citizens who have absorbed our national cultural, historical, and spiritual values at the stage of socio-economic development of the country, the rapid growth of industry, and the transition to the world level suggest the need to raise educational achievements to the level of education of civilized countries by absorbing national values in schools for the younger generation. This article is devoted to the problem of methodological foundations for forming the competence of intercultural communication of future primary school teachers based on internet resources. A description of the types of information and communication technologies used recently in the process of teaching a foreign language was given. We also focused on the advantages of using the internet resource in foreign language lessons. In addition, ways of using Internet resources in communication were shown. A methodological model of intercultural communication competence was drawn up. A set of tasks and exercises for the development of information and communication competence was presented through methodological recommendations and internet resources that demonstrate the effectiveness of this mode

Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence in the Process of Teaching English to Future Interpreters

The successful functioning of both the state and individual in the conditions of updated intercultural communication is impossible without adequate mastery of the universal language of international communication, which is currently the English language. The development of intercultural abilities of future interpreters in the field of business communication is aimed at continuous improvement of existing educational programs of institutions of higher education. The relevance of our research is due to the growing demand in modern business society for highly qualified interpreters with intercultural communication competencies. The purpose of the study is to develop and practically implement a model of intercultural communicative competence in the process of teaching business English. The mentioned educational program is for applicants for higher education in the field of translation who are studying in a bachelor’s degree program at Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design. Changes in the development of intercultural communicative competencies of students were recorded experimentally using diagnostic techniques. The research results are reflected in the educational program “The English language: translation in business communications” and designed on the principles of developing the intercultural communicative competence of future interpreters. It is created to train highly qualified specialists who can analyze, organize and conduct interlingual and intercultural business communication, plan and carry out successful complex translation projects, and act as intermediaries in the process of interlingual and intercultural communication of business partners.

Integrating MOOCs in Formal Education: To Unveil EFL University Students’ Self-Learning in Terms of English Proficiency and Intercultural Communicative Competence

This study employed a blended learning approach to investigate 98 medical university EFL students’ perceptions and analyzed the learning trajectory of their LMOOCs in formal education. Meanwhile, Byram’s (1997) intercultural communicative competence (ICC) model was adopted to explore if students’ English proficiency and ICC abilities could enhance or hinder their LMOOCs. Participants of this elective two-credit course, “English Presentation Skills,” were all required to complete one LMOOCs course to earn official certificates for the credits. Questionnaires about self-learning background and intercultural communicative competence, weekly reflections on self-learning, assistant-student interviews, and personal presentations at the final stage are conducted to test the consistency between student self-evaluation and class performance. The rubric of the TOEFL iBT Test was adopted to evaluate students’ oral expression. Video clips collected in class were analyzed to track the differences in students’ target skills. Findings revealed that before integrating LMOOCs in formal education, it is essential for instructors to equip students with enough self-learning skills through orientations and stress time management in MOOCs learning strategies, and scaffold sufficient English communication skills before students are thrown to sink or swim on their won. A revised version of the ICC model was proposed at the end (the context may vary) in the hope of drawing more attention and voice to this research area. The integration of LMOOCs in formal education, be it for language teaching or self-learning, should be directed toward the level of “precision instruction” in the future.

Analyzing Intercultural Communicative Aspects in English for Palestine 12th Grade Textbooks

This study probed the intercultural communicative competence (ICC) aspects introduced in English for Palestine 12th grade textbooks. Byram’s ICC model (1997) was employed as a theoretical framework to analyze content of the textbooks. The main findings, among others, revealed that ICC aspects were not distributed evenly throughout the curriculum. The textbooks lacked numerous basic aspects required for developing students’ ICC. Little attention was devoted to raise students’ critical cultural awareness and understanding about other cultures. In light of these findings, the study recommended placing due emphasis on more ICC aspects in the curriculum and maintaining proper balance among them.

Transnational higher education partnerships in China: exploring the impact of Chinese students’ intercultural communicative competence on their motivation to study abroad

ABSTRACT This study explores how transnational higher education partnerships in China influence Chinese students’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and their motivation to study abroad. There is a growing trend for Chinese students to experience cultural diversity. However, not much research has been conducted to understand how transnational higher education (TNHE) partnerships play a role in preparing students for motivation and cultural skills. The current research is a qualitative case study of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, a university exemplifying TNHE partnerships in China. Byram’s model of ICC, published in 2009, was adopted as the basis for deductive thematic analysis. Research findings show that Chinese students purposively choose to study at a TNHE university for its English teaching and learning environment. This research found that TNHE partnerships in China positively affect students’ ICC development, and that ICC plays an important role in their intention to study abroad.