Dear Lydia Benmouhoub,

You have a very interesting topic there!! Naturally, we all know that culture is a communication problem since it is not a constant; it is a variable. As such, as cultural variance increases, so do the problems of communication. In point of fact, the communication process involves variables whose values are determined by culture. These variables affecting  our perceptions and meanings we attach to communicative acts are: (1) attitudes, (2) social organization, (3)patterns of thought, (4) roles and role prescriptions, (5) language, (6) use and organization of space, (7) time conceptualization , and (8) non-verbal expressions. For a more detailed account of cultural variability, I refer you to John Lucy (2004).

On the basis of the above, teaching method, selection and gradation of course content and techniques of presentation require teacher's intelligent use of leadership and innovation techniques in order to highlight the extant differences and similarities in L1 and L2. The core objective should be increasing learners' level of tolerance about what they found to be different from their own cultural norms.

Best regards,

R. Biria

The only real way for students to develop significant intercultural competence is for them to meet and interact with people of other cultures.  This can be hard for hte teacher to arrange, but with the contentedness of the Internet, maybe not as hard as it once was.

Hello Lydia, I would say that about 10% of my learners are culturally competent.  They are from homes where at least one close relative has had to move to work or live on foreign shores.  They are aware that we do not always get surrounded by familiar things.  They try very hard to learn English well, and some of them love many things British.  It's not difficult when Britain was the colonial power that gave independence through negotiations, without any loss of lives or property.  Thanks.

Dear Lydia Benmouhoub,

You have a very interesting topic there!! Naturally, we all know that culture is a communication problem since it is not a constant; it is a variable. As such, as cultural variance increases, so do the problems of communication. In point of fact, the communication process involves variables whose values are determined by culture. These variables affecting  our perceptions and meanings we attach to communicative acts are: (1) attitudes, (2) social organization, (3)patterns of thought, (4) roles and role prescriptions, (5) language, (6) use and organization of space, (7) time conceptualization , and (8) non-verbal expressions. For a more detailed account of cultural variability, I refer you to John Lucy (2004).

On the basis of the above, teaching method, selection and gradation of course content and techniques of presentation require teacher's intelligent use of leadership and innovation techniques in order to highlight the extant differences and similarities in L1 and L2. The core objective should be increasing learners' level of tolerance about what they found to be different from their own cultural norms.

Best regards,

R. Biria

My students are not inerculturally competent. Unfortunatelly, just a couple of them who had faced students' exchange. We must educate them!

Developing intercultural competence through education!

"The ability to understand one another across and beyond all types of cultural barriers is a fundamental prerequisite for making our diverse democratic societies work. As current events continue to show, there is an urgent need for a concerted effort to develop the necessary attitudes, skills and knowledge that contribute to intercultural competence in the everyday practice of teaching and learning, so that future generations may be equipped to participate in an increasingly global and complex environment. All the more so since intercultural competence addresses the root of a range of issues our societies face:  stereotyping, discrimination, all forms of racism, and so on, all of which are exacerbated in times of economic difficulty..."

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/education/pestalozzi/Source/Documentation/Pestalozzi3.pdf

I endorse the above contributions and reiterate that cultural competence is a key skill that instructors must possess in today's culturally and internationally diverse 21st Century classrooms. The attached help to provide some answers to your question that I hope will be useful to you.

Best regards,

Debra

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One thing is for sure: learners can 'cope' with intercultural situations much easier than most adults! It is as if they still have the openness to accept difference and the power to tolerate different viewpoints and opinions.

For most of them, a culturally different person 'just is that way - different from themselves' and not necessarily wrong.

This naïve and innocent viewpoint provides a splendid opportunity to confront young learners with other learners from different cultures, as they will certainly learn from them, as opposed to judging them because of their differences.

If only adults would practise the same approach.

Karen Junqueira

Great responses. Seems the younger generations are more open to learn and understand? Getting an understanding and respect for others should be facilitated as opposed to what is right/wrong.

There should be enough time made to check different culture understanding and sharing from different perspectives.

I guess that I am spoiled.  At my institution I am guessing that probably more than 40-60% of my students have served missions for the LDS church, many of them learning foreign languages, ranging from Russian, through Korean, and some African Languages, some of the European tongues. . . .  So even many of the students from more rural and isolated areas have this exposure. 

More importantly, even those without the experience find that their peers have had it.

Interesting comments that seem to let us know what both the research and our common sense 'knows.'  Our young people are indeed more culturally savvy than we think they are ...

I have heard an interesting comment from a student.  I grew up in a community without any blacks, as we would have called them, for several hundred miles.  As a result when I met someone who was of that race and culture, to me they were just another person I didn't know.  I didn't "know better" than to treat them the same as I did anyone else. 

The student's comment was that he lost a couple of friends from minority cultures when they told him that they could no longer play with him because they were minorities.

While kids and youth do have natural tendencies to behave badly, it appears most seriously bad behavior (towards other cultures) really must be taught.  -Carefully taught, if you trust the lyrics to the South Pacific musical.

Intercultural interaction can be improved through several methods:

-experiential learning: You give your students experiences from other cultures, e.g., having Thanksgiving/Christmas food, decorating their classroom for a foreign cultural event, wearing clothes, dancing and singing songs from other cultures, having a pancake day....

-artefact- based learning: bring an object or objects to class from other cultures which they can explore, write about, discuss in groups, etc..

-Visits and speakers: visiting events or inviting speakers from the target culture, like a visiting artist, writer or cook or a foreign resident who can come and engage about certain cultural traditions where students can prepare questions to ask in the target language.

-A pedagogy or teaching which encourages open and critical inquiry into the students' own and other cultures.

-As for content, I would try a variety of reading material not just textbooks but also newspapers, magazines, simple novels, children's books, but also listening to news readers reading news on radio or recorded reports online say from the BBC website or the Guardian webcasts because they can discuss the content while developing an ear for the language and improving their pronounciation.

As I am teaching year one students who are not yet oriented to modules of this nature, I think some of them are interculturally competent, the reason being that these have had intercultural interactions at school level. Those with no such expose might to some extent exhibit some level of cultural competence as we know that culture is a very wide but sensitive theme. Culture shapes our very being-our perceptions of the world, our thoughts, language, interactions, etc. as my colleague Reza Biria has articulated above. I agree with Dima Khazem that students should be afforded an opportunity to critique their own and other cultures especially those of people they interact with as this might help in understanding what, how and why other people do as they do.

I think one of the best ways could be teaching through scenarios and case studies of various nature (derived from different cultural contexts) for students to critique. This is a very stimulating topic and for me it emerges when we deal with critical analysis of literary text (literature) in the second semester of the year. We have texts from various literary and culturally contexts.

Within Ambient Learning Spaces (ALS) students learn to tackle local multicultural issues as well as international/interculturally, together with students in other parts of the world - always in the context of real-physically experienceable events.

Whether they produce media on site, using the "Mobile Learning Exploration System" (MoLES), uploading the semantically annotated media in a shared web space - or using this media afterward with other applications, such as HyperVid (the hypervideo creator) or ActeMotion, in the context of performances ... intercultural competency will be enhanced.

You'll find more information about ALS in a multiplicity of publications, see Research Gate ;)

I would like to emphasize the value of Dima Khazem's comments.  I believe that putting a face on other cultures is very important. 

An example in another setting, hospital mistakes dropped dramatically when the hospital administrators met with grieving families who lost  loved ones due to mistakes and apologized to them.

Generally, No.

In my opinion, it is a rare individual who has the ability to move between cultures. The majority of individual with whom I work see cultural differences through their own cultural eyes. I circumvent this through dialogue and focused Training.

Developing Intercultural Communicative Competence through Online Exchanges!

The fields of second language acquisition (SLA) and foreign language education (FLE) both recognize the importance not only of linguistic and communicative competence but of intercultural competence as well. In theorizing about SLA, functionalist approaches focus on how language is used primarily for communication and therefore must incorporate multiple levels of language, including pragmatics ...

https://calico.org/html/article_866.pdf

I have taught Human Relations in a Multicultural Society to second-year university students in southern Minnesota for 7 years and assessed intercultural competency as the main learning outcome. For me, 'intercultural competence' is the gracefulness with which we interact and adapt our own behavior in order to achieve meaningful goals with persons from cultures different than our own. I have used the Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer, 2011) as the pre- and post-test.  My findings show that students may think they are accepting of other cultures, they are actually in stages where they focus on differences (e.g., between their 'normal' upbringing and more 'exotic' or 'foreign' upbringing) or on minimizing differences (because they are, after all, in the USA where everyone is equal). This is actually true of our international students or 'minority' students, too, because they have grown up in their own worlds and their own cultures. My experience shows that students need more than 'exposure' to other cultures. 'Exposure' is more like toddlers in parallel play in the same sandbox -- near but not interacting with each other. For undergraduate students to increase in their intercultural competency, we need to provide them with (1) knowledge about the meanings of values, beliefs, and behaviors of themselves and of others; (2) meaningful, in-depth interactions and experiences with persons in other cultures; (3) personal reflections about that knowledge and the interactions; (4) coaching and mentoring through their interactions and experiences. For students beginning this journey, I always start with their own exploration of their own cultural backgrounds. This is usually illuminating and life-changing. Then, they are required to complete activities that lead them through (1) through (4) above. I have had statistically significant results with this approach. Analysis showed that results were not due to maturation, academic major, race/ethnicity, year in school, temperament, learning style, gender, etc. 

What it is interculturally competent? Mainly students (adults) must do the great effort to get good education. Nobody can expect that host country will change its cultural and legal practices in order to meet habits foreign students.

No one has the right to impose the host country own cultural and legal opinions.

Anyone can show their culture, but it can not obtrude anything.

Simply the guest should behave decently - as a guest, not as a conqueror.

Hello Lydia,

I recommend to follow the 7 abilities by Baber 2002.

Best,

Prof. Hernandez

I have found that in rendering instruction in Intercultural Communications, for most learners, it is something that has to be taught.

Dr. Williams

Cultural awareness and cultural knowledge fall short by failing to include a key concept found in cultural competence: operating effectively in different cultural contexts by transforming and integrating knowledge of individual students and groups of students into specific standards, policies, and practices. Cultural competence helps educators meet accountability. Culturally competent educators are better equipped to reach out to students.

I like to use what is called Connected Classrooms by introducing classrooms from other parts of the world using Google Hangouts or Skype, for example I will take our school on a Global Experience with Crossroads in Hong Kong to learn what it is like not having access to running water, then we will talk to a school in Kenya that needs to bring water in via trucks. The IB curriculum supports  international-mindedness and this is a way to introduce cultural literacy into the classroom  http://www.ibo.org/  In answer to your question are learners interculturally competent, then it would depend on their experiences and as teachers we can help them with that!  ED Hirsh wrote a book called "Cultural Literacy" you might find that interesting https://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic469725.files/hirsch.pdf  

Theory Reflections: Intercultural Competence Framework/Model !

"Successful intercultural interactions are at the heart of what international education is all about. So what does it mean to interact successfully with those from different cultures? This is the key question underlying the concept of intercultural competence, the focus of my research which led to the development of an intercultural competence framework, or model. Through my research, I worked with leading intercultural scholars in reaching consensus on a definition and elements comprising intercultural competence, resulting in the first grounded research-based framework, or model, of intercultural competence. The framework is comprised of the following:

• Attitudes
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Internal Outcomes
• External Outcomes

This framework illustrates that it is possible for an individual to have the requisite attitudes and be minimally effective and appropriate in behavior and/or communication, even without further knowledge or skills. Adding the necessary knowledge and skills may ensure that an individual can be more effective and appropriate in one’s intercultural interactions. With the added flexibility, adaptability, and empathy, one can be even more effective and appropriate in intercultural interactions.

This framework also illustrates that intercultural competence is a process – a lifelong process – there is no one point at which an individual becomes completely interculturally competent. Thus, it is important to pay as much attention to the development process – of how one acquires the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes – as one does to the actual aspects of intercultural competence and as such, critical reflection becomes a powerful tool in the process of intercultural competence development...."

https://www.nafsa.org/_/File/_/theory_connections_intercultural_competence.pdf

Our diversity should enrich us and not set us apart. Critically reflecting upon, where we come from and where we heading to, will ensure a Pedagogy of connectedness and an  intercultural competence. We need to write what we reflect upon and document the rich, authentic stories we gather about cultural knowledge and awareness so that we never loose sight of such. Yes, the world has become a global village and education is the most powerful tool, we have to gain wisdom, firstly, about your own culture and secondly, about the cultures within the world. A paradigm shift is to be envisaged for learning to be, so as to accommodate intercultural differences and thus fill the gap in becoming interculturally competent, as they are not. Teaching too, must be towards facilitating and visualizing for the people in the world to become less incompatible.

Dear Lydia,

I would recommend several references:

1.Baiutti, M., (in corso di pubblicazione), Rethinking the concept of intercultural conflict: Italian returnees’ attitudes towards others during a cultural conflict, FLEKS Scandinavian Journal of Intercultural Theory and Practice.

2.Byram, M., 1997, Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

3.Byram, M., 2008, From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

4.Deardorff, D.K., 2006, Identification and assessment of intercultural competence as a student outcome of internationalization, Journal of Studies in International Education, 10 (3), pp. 241-266.

5.Deardorff, D.K., 2009 (ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence, Thousand Oaks: Sage.

6. Spitzberg, B.H. & Changnon, G., 2009, Conceptualizing Intercultural Competence, in D.K. Deardorff (a cura di), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence, pp. 2-52, Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Best wishes,

Mattia (Italy)

Being culturally competent has more to do with affect (in this case, felt conviction ) than on cognition, which is instrumental. Paul 

Basically teaching to the students from various cultural background leads to innovation in teaching techniques. Generally, I prefer to cite examples from various cultures covers diversified student stuff. As a teacher, we should try to address every student keeping in mind their background and diversity.

I think students are culturally diverse. Specifically, students can adapt to many different environments.

Intercultural competence is so crucial. And it has become vital to the success of our students as they leave the academy and relate to a world that has turned cross-cultural encounter into conflict and violence. In answer to your question, the answer among my students is mostly no. A few have this competence, usually because they have lived in many countries through their early years and have parents or others in their lives who have guided them carefully and thoughtfully in understanding and participating in various cultures. Cultural competence is grounded in identity. And students' grasp of their own cultural identity is a key element in the equation of their learning. I'll suggest, as well, that religion and culture are tandem elements that students must learn about and understand. All humans are, at their core, people of faith. And when a teacher understands that part of who students are, it takes their learning about culture to a much deeper level, a necessary level, and one that will better prepare them for a world where faith experience is engrained in every aspect of human relations. Peter Berger has written on this, and has refined his views on it in the last decade or so. Cross-cultural learning is best learned in dialogue and experiential learning. Michael Polanyi  (Tacit Dimension) has suggested this, and his work is insightful as a foundation for understanding how faith and inquiry work together.

One idea that could be interesting is that you do role play with your students in EFL classroom . In this case you can create situations in which participants must assume certain learning to give an alleged consistent response to the demands of the culture in question .

In role play students will learn from others, and maybe you too. Greetings and successes

One is unlikely to be even culturally competent if one doesn't have an open mind. The fundamental qualities of open-mindedness and inclusivity produce a culturally competent individual who can effectively enter the relational zones of intercultural communication. I will be publishing a book in November on how to realize and operationalize open-mindedness through perceptual awareness (Riding the Unicorn, Incursions into Visual Intelligence).

Best, Jose

Some related research questions follow. There are fine responses and resources.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_guidelines_should_be_taken_into_account_in_order_to_develop_the_Intercultural_Competence_in_university_students

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_Internationalisation_at_Home_the_way_forward_Will_these_initiatives_make_domestic_students_interculturally_competent

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_do_you_approach_the_goal_of_developing_your_students_intercultural_communicative_competence_ICC

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_cultural_competence_leads_to_more_effective_teaching

The ongoing research on intercultural competence is important for our students and for scholars. But my sense is that students' competency with cultures requires physical interaction with people very different than themselves. Experiential learning (Dewey) is a vital element in this teaching/learning journey, and I've been reading recently Michael Polanyi about plausibility structures. It's crucial to help students rethink the cultural plausibility structures in their lives and experience, and in the worlds they navigate. In-class role play is a beginning, but projects outside of class are even more important. I have students interview someone who doesn't speak their language, who does not share their faith background, and who has come to the U.S. within the last few decades. The assignment is to hear, to understand, to learn. It's been a successful teaching model — stressful for some students, but overall a fine vehicle for their cross-cultural learning.

As a nephrology social worker, I see that the lack cultural understanding of the patients and staff can lead to conflict between staff members, patients and patients with staff. Education levels vary with individuals, from PhD to 1 year, in a different country and different language. Teaching opportunities with/for patients are almost non-existent. With staff, we have regular in-service opportunities that also need to address the nuts and bolts of providing life sustaining treatment.

Dear Lydia

Intercultural competence is a rather instrumental concept. I would suggest a different descriptor: intercultural awareness, perhaps. A competence strikes me as a mechanical skill, but finesse in cultural communication is, I think, a more intricate quality. When cultural awareness is lacking, then clearly this can have adverse effects on say, a social worker and a service user. Such effects concern not only misunderstandings over practical matters, but also the signaling of disrespectful messages, intentional or otherwise. In that latter context, consider the different ways of referring to a person who is not in paid employment: a job-seeker; unemployed etc. Best wishes Paul

It is quite sad that stereotypes displace thinking openly about others. Even among the elderly, research makes clear, Ageism stereotypes continue to limit their capacity to live fully in a world that is closing in on them. I teach Humanistic Gerontology and without the awareness of constricted thinking elders tend to live stressfully. The answer to this sad state of affairs is to begin developing that awareness now. Intercultural learning rather than simply developing "competency" is a growth opportunity.