Intercultural competence: concept, definition and structure

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Intercultural competence is a necessity in a world where relations between people of different ethnic groups have become free. It leads to understanding, harmony, respectively, to a peaceful state of affairs between countries. The ability to objectively perceive the surrounding people and their views is a big step towards the creation of advanced civilizations with great potential. It is important to pay attention to the development and methods of forming intercultural competence in people so that the future is bright and radiant.

Deriving a definition of human competence

Intercultural competence is interpreted differently in different dictionaries. The main features inherent in this concept are a certain range of powers and rights in which a person is well versed.

Competence is a broad definition, as it can only be studied by taking into account a set of concepts. Personal qualities, knowledge, skills directed to a specific process, object, subject in the aggregate createconcept of competence.

When this concept was formed, attention was drawn to various situations where it can manifest itself. It turned out that this definition covers the whole sphere of human relationships, where there is a place for certain knowledge and human actions.

The concept of competence

The generally accepted definition is to make it clear that it is the specific ability of an individual to solve problems and problems. Also, the definition of intercultural competence is the totality of human skills, abilities and knowledge that he actively applies to any type of activity. In order for this process, respectively, and the methodology for the formation of intercultural communication to be successful, it is necessary to fully reciprocate cognitive and affective skills, which are supported by motivation, a specific set of emotions and values. Only with full interaction is this definition possible.

Developing intercultural competence

There are main ways to form MK:

1. You need to understand the features of your own, as well as other cultures.
2. It is important to constantly collect new knowledge about foreign traditions.
3. Need some baseline or plan for acceptable behavior in another country that would not be considered wild and unusual.

Intercultural communication and competence

The concept of MC is strongly associated with the process of interculturalcommunications. The latter means the connection of different types of relationships and communication between individuals who are part of different ethnic, racial or national groups.

MK is one of the main categories of intercultural communication that is constantly evolving.

MK involves the most effective communication between different cultures and peoples, as well as skills to make this communication enjoyable and rewarding. These include non-verbal and verbal communication, the availability of additional knowledge, the ability to behave in accordance with the values of foreign-speaking people, their attitudes and traditions.

The concept of intercultural competence includes a whole range of areas - linguistic, cultural and communicative. The secret of successful communication involves not only knowing these definitions, but also a specific set of personality traits.

Language competence

Language competence is an important component of intercultural competence. This concept also has a wide range of applications, so there are a lot of definitions and options for studying the formation of language competence.

The term has existed for a long time, it appeared in the 20th century thanks to the linguist N. Chomsky.

His view was that a linguistic person who learns a foreign language should not only understand a foreign-speaking person, but also have basic judgments about the statements of that country, concepts. This is necessary so that there is no dual picture of the world.

N. Chomsky suggests in his writings thatit is language competence that helps to understand the grammar and sign system of a foreign culture more easily. In the scientist's research, many human factors are not affected, since he takes into account individual, his own, linguistic aspects, excluding the possibility of social or situational factors.

E. F. Tarasov speaks about this most clearly, who believes that the process of learning a language involves taking into account diverse factors, since there are a lot of forms of existence of a language. For example, in non-verbal communication, a person uses a look, gestures, body movements. It is unreasonable to hope that in verbal, ordinary communication, this will be appropriate.

How does it work?

The process of forming language skills in relation to another language group requires certain knowledge about signs, grammatical rules.

All this is necessary for successful communication, so mastering language competence is important when learning a foreign language. YaK helps a person to understand a different mentality, features of articulation, habits and stereotypes of the culture of another country. Mastering competence, a person takes a step towards familiarizing with other people's traditions, understanding them and tolerance.

Before you learn a foreign language, you need to study the mentality of a person, find out more about traditions. Thus, familiarization with another language will not be so noticeable, which helps to avoid the appearance of different ideas and pictures of the world. Other traditions will be identified with their own, so they will no longer be perceived as alien.

Cultural competence

The structure of cultural competence, as part of MC, has its own specifics. It includes the general cultural and cultural-specific knowledge of the individual, the skill of real communication with foreign-speaking people, the intercultural susceptibility of a person in mental terms.

Many factors serve as the basis for the emergence of cultural competence:

• sensuality and confidence;
• the highest degree of understanding of other individuals and cultures, regardless of the level of mental, physical abilities;
• the ability to formulate one's thoughts clearly and competently;
• always be understandable, that is, demonstrate deep knowledge of a foreign language.

To become a person who understands other people's traditions and views, you need to find a middle ground, a balance between concepts:

• knowledge and experience of foreign traditions, people, ethnic groups;
• susceptibility and empathy, the ability to look at yourself from the outside and think as another person would think;
• confidence in one's own abilities and strengths, knowledge of weaknesses, which is expressed in the full emotional maturity of a person.

Communicative competence

Intercultural communicative competence is the relationship of skills and communication skills for the correct interaction with other people. Skills include speaking well, being able to speak and listen to people, and maintaining long lasting friendships.

Communicative competencealso means having knowledge and skills. Which ones? It all depends on the current situation, so the set may be completely different.

For example, if communication takes place with people in some formal setting, then it is necessary to have a large amount of information in order to constantly exchange it. It is also important to observe specific rules of decency and etiquette at work.

It is for this reason that QC is usually divided into formalized and non-formalized. Any option assumes the presence of certain skills that are important for this particular situation. Without taking into account these two groups, the normal functioning of communicative competence is impossible.

Conditionally, these skills include:

• wide vocabulary;
• the ability to correctly present information both orally and in writing;
• knowledge of etiquette and the ability to apply it in practice;
• analytical skills that will help when communicating with people;
• connectivity;
• the ability to calm down, listen to a person in order to prevent the development of a conflict.

Communicative competence plays a fundamental role, because in a world where globalization is a normal phenomenon, the ability to communicate and support is great for an individual's career and personal growth.

Using all skills is sometimes not enough, because knowledge of both colloquial or professional phrases, expressions, as well as a basic understanding of foreign cultures, the rights and obligations of that country, stereotypes and realpeople activities.

Competence is an important goal for a person who is not constantly within the same country. Foreign languages easily develop thinking, the level of human intelligence, and MC helps to overcome the cultural barrier, which helps to awaken such concepts as tolerance, tolerance, calmness, the ability to understand and listen.

Components

Communicative competence includes the following components:

• linguistic component;
• sociolinguistic;
• pragmatic.

They all help in overcoming barriers between cultures.

Probable Problems

There are some problems of intercultural competence that greatly hinder its functioning:

• apparent strong similarity between traditions;
• the language is too complex and not native;
• non-verbal codes are very different from each other;
• stereotypes about culture;
• human tendency to criticize things too quickly;
• constant stress, depression.

By crossing the perceived barrier between cultures, the individual will quickly be able to make the communication process successful.

MK Model

Conventionally, there is a model of intercultural competence, which implies the presence of several stages. One of the most understandable and logical models was compiled by Milton Bennett.

He says in his works that getting a good result in the process of communication depends on the presence of sensory perception in a person. Itnecessary in order to perceive a foreign-speaking person correctly, understanding the reason for his views and opinions.

The main stages of a person's reaction to a foreign culture and its individuals:

1. Negative of existing differences between peoples.
2. Defending the identity of one's ethnic group.
3. Minimizing all differences.
4. Accepting a foreign culture and accepting the existence of others.
5. Adaptation and getting used to the new course of life in a foreign country.
6. Integration.

Denial, defense and minimization are the stages that are called ethnocentric. Such a view of things suggests that a person puts his own culture at the center of the world, believing that it has no equal.

The ethnocentric person does not understand that there may be some strong cultural differences between representatives of different countries and nationalities.