Intercultural competence as an aspect of the communicative ...
Intercultural competence as an aspect of the communicative ...
Intercultural competence as an aspect of the communicative ...
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prevent students from gaining true intercultural <strong>competence</strong>. Finally, Jur<strong>as</strong>ek (1995),<br />
Robinson-Stuart <strong>an</strong>d Nocon (1996) claim that <strong>the</strong> only learning that c<strong>an</strong> take place in <strong>the</strong><br />
cl<strong>as</strong>sroom will be along <strong>the</strong> cognitive lines, <strong>an</strong>d that it will be only ‘cognitive boundary<br />
crossing’ (Robinson-Stuart, Nocon 1996: 43) without <strong>an</strong>y reflection on learners’ attitudes.<br />
Some authors, like Herzog (2003) for example, claim that ICC must be b<strong>as</strong>ed in a<br />
particular knowledge <strong>of</strong> one culture. Herzog believes that generalised intercultural<br />
<strong>competence</strong> is a just <strong>as</strong> hollow a concept <strong>as</strong> non-specific foreign l<strong>an</strong>guage <strong>competence</strong>.<br />
Such views would <strong>the</strong>n equate ICC with <strong>an</strong>d narrow it down to specific cultural<br />
<strong>competence</strong>, <strong>an</strong>d would be in a contr<strong>as</strong>t to observations that individuals who have<br />
experienced foreign environments would be better equipped to navigate through o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
unfamiliar situations (<strong>as</strong> cited in Rathje 2007).<br />
DeVoss et al. (2002) <strong>of</strong>fer a discussion on possible challenges that teaching<br />
intercultural <strong>competence</strong> may face. These are: focusing on <strong>the</strong> characteristics <strong>of</strong> students’<br />
own cultures, replacing notions <strong>of</strong> cultural stereotypes (positive <strong>an</strong>d negative) with more<br />
fluid, dynamic underst<strong>an</strong>dings <strong>of</strong> tendencies, avoiding limiting <strong>the</strong> guidelines for good<br />
intercultural communication to guidelines for good technical communication in general,<br />
developing a more sophisticated sense <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> design considerations necessary for<br />
intercultural communication, encouraging students to move intercultural communication<br />
beyond <strong>the</strong> cl<strong>as</strong>sroom (p. 76).<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r challenge is <strong>the</strong> age <strong>of</strong> learners when <strong>the</strong>y are ready to be engaged in<br />
intercultural training so that <strong>the</strong>y benefit from it. Byram et al. (1994) <strong>an</strong>alysed available<br />
research <strong>an</strong>d concluded that while learners differ in <strong>the</strong>ir ability to mediate between<br />
cultures <strong>an</strong>d decentre from <strong>the</strong>ir own <strong>an</strong>d feel empathy with o<strong>the</strong>rs, teenage years – from<br />
12 years <strong>an</strong>d older, are <strong>the</strong> years when it c<strong>an</strong> be expected that learners c<strong>an</strong> do t<strong>as</strong>ks that<br />
involve intercultural issues.<br />
It is impossible to equip students with all possible intercultural <strong>competence</strong> that<br />
would l<strong>as</strong>t <strong>the</strong>m a lifetime. Therefore, <strong>the</strong> acquisition <strong>of</strong> ICC is never complete <strong>as</strong> it is not<br />
possible to <strong>an</strong>ticipate all <strong>the</strong> situations in which a learner would need it which makes ICC<br />
a life-long activity. This is in keeping with <strong>the</strong> current idea <strong>of</strong> life-long learning – that<br />
academia does not give students knowledge that will l<strong>as</strong>t <strong>the</strong>m all working life, but<br />
equips <strong>the</strong>m with necessary skills with which <strong>the</strong>y will keep acquiring new knowledge<br />
<strong>an</strong>d <strong>competence</strong>s.<br />
Finally, <strong>an</strong>d perhaps most import<strong>an</strong>tly, <strong>the</strong> criticism against ICC teaching goes<br />
against a considerable difficulty <strong>of</strong> <strong>as</strong>sessing it, <strong>as</strong> learning <strong>an</strong>d teaching ICC is a fairly<br />
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