Defining Intercultural Competence

Intercultural competence

Is the knowledge, skills and personal attributes need to live

and work in a diverse world.
- Nichols Byram et al. (2000)

It includes cultural sensitivity, intercultural communication

skills, personal and collective attitudes toward other cultures
and knowledge about other cultures.
 also means knowing how to act in a responsible way
and to recognize the ‘’ otherness’’ of individuals.

Is being cautious and respectful to the unwritten rules

of other cultures, as well as acting in culturally
congruent ways, especially when one is in their own
country.
 Eight Basic Behaviors for Intercultural Competence

1. Display of respect

 means becoming aware of different cultural rules,

especially those acceptable norms or standards of behavior.
Demands every individual’s need to know what is culturally
acceptable in one’s intercultural encounter since what is
respectful to one culture may not be to others.
2. Orientation of knowledge
Means determining the context or where the individual
comes from that shapes his way of thinking and behavior.
 an individual’s ability to recognize and acknowledge that
people explain the world around them in different ways
with differing views of what is ‘’right and true’’.
3. Empathy
The capacity to feel how others feel.
It is a conscious effort to know the reality of others,
rather than physically sharing their sadness or happiness.
4. Interaction Management
 means taking initiative, taking turns during conversation
and knowing how to talk to others appropriately and
effective.
It includes respecting the local communication formalities
and style and watching for any change in body language to
discern attentiveness, responsiveness and perceptiveness
in the interaction.
Knowing how to initiate and terminate a conversation
would lead individuals to be competent in interaction.
-John Wiemann(1987) and Brent Ruben(1979)
5. Task role Behavior

Is important during intercultural communication, because

it leads to group harmony, teamwork and productivity.
Underscores group problem solving skills. This is
imperative when two or more people or groups combine
their efforts toward the attainment of a shared goal.
6. Relational Role Behavior

Refers to the serious attempt of the person to

participate in establishing and preserving a personal
relationship that is trusting, harmonious and supportive
to each other.
It is essential for mutual co-existence , which means
living together in peace and harmony in a commonly
shared place or space.
7. Tolerance for Ambiguity

Tolerance means openness to experience social

acceptance, while ambiguity refers to confusion.
 tolerance does not mean openness to what is
unreasonable, but it is respecting , accepting and
appreciating the rich diversity of cultures and various
forms of human expression.
8. Emotional Expression and Interaction Posture

For effective intercultural communication to be ensured,

understanding emotional expression and intercultural is
very indispensable.
Barriers to Intercultural Communication
-( La Ray Barna (1994)

1. Anxiety
Refers to being so conscious about oneself. This is feeling
that one appears awkward to others or feeling of being
out of place in a social group.
In sociolinguistics, anxiety is diminished when a stranger
comes from culture that is highly individualistic, which
means that he may be more willing to communicate with
strangers
However, anxiety is heightened when a stranger comes
from collective culture, where he regards strangers as
‘’non persons’’ and to whom the rules of politeness and
social etiquette do not apply.
2. Assuming similarity instead of difference
When people meet other persons from other cultures, the
automatic response is to assume or find similarity between
their cultures and not to see their important differences.
3. Ethnocentrism
The attitude or belief that one’s culture is the best and that
one can understand or judge another culture in terms of his
own cultural spectacles.
Sociologist and anthropologists

Saying that all societies are ethnocentric as every group has the
tendency to view one’s culture as superior and to apply one’s
own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people
raised in other cultures (Kottak, 2008).
4. Stereotype and Prejudice
Are terms which mean making judgment about an individual or
group which play a big role in intercultural miscommunication.
Stereotyping
 is presenting an image of a person, a group or a culture
based on an assumed range of activities, characteristics or
behaviors.
Prejudice
Are irrational opinions, attitudes, suspicions or hatred
about a particular groups because of their race, religion,
sexual orientation or ethnic origins.
5. Non-verbal misinterpretations
Is a critical barrier to effective intercultural communication. Such
as posture, touch, eye contact, facial expressions and hand
gestures are culture-specific in terms of interpretation, therefore,
have exciting meanings only to a particular group of people.
6. Language
is regarded as a great intercultural barrier because, basically, no
language is spoken precisely in the same way by all those who use
it.
Intercultural Communication in School
Culture is everything that makes us who we are. It
conditions our mentality denoting that how we think is
cultural.
The school administrators, faculty and students come
from different places, families, economic status, religion
and ethnic affiliation and they relate with one another
based on the orientations.
 these things make the school ‘’ melting pot’’ of a large
number of interangled personalities and social
relationship.
Intercultural Communication is critical in understanding
the dynamics of school as an institution of learning.
The teacher’ lack knowledge, sensitivity and appreciation
of the cultural norms and styles of their students in
communicating may put them at risk socially and
academically.
Teachers may perceive these differences as problems and
respond to students’ diversity with:
1. Negative attitude
2. Low expectation
3. Culturally inappropriate teaching
4. Assessment procedures.
Culturally and linguistically diverse students in turn, may
respond with low self concept and low academic
achievement to school climate they perceive as hostile.
Table 5. Problems that may Result from Culture and communication
conflicts in the Classroom by Taylor (1997)
Student Some Examples of Some Examples of
characteristics Inappropriate Possible Impact on
Responses student
Diverse Cultural • Negative attitude • Lowered self-image
toward dialect variation • Lowered achievement
Assumptions • Lowered student and excessive special
expectation education placements
• Excessive interruptions • Low student
participation;
disproportionately low
placement in talented
and gifted programs.
 Student Some Examples of Some Examples of
characteristics Inappropriate Possible Impact on
Responses student

• Diverse Verbal • Diversity ignored in • Lowered self-

Behavior teaching process expectation
• Insufficient attention to • Excessive
student speech speech/language
therapy placements

• Diverse Non- Verbal • Frequent • Lowered achievement

Behavior misunderstanding and in oral standard English
misinterpretations of • Lowered achievement
student and academic self-
• Perception of student as concept
disorganized
 Student Some Examples of Some Examples of
characteristics Inappropriate Possible Impact on
Responses student

• Diverse Story-telling • Perception of student • Perception of frequent

and Conversational as poor thinker social insults
Rules • Perception of (unintentional) from
communication teachers and other
differences as students
discipline problem • Frequent
• Perception of misunderstandings and
communication misinterpretations
differences as social from personnel and
insults (unintentional) other students
• Perception of
negative school
climate
• Interpersonal/interg
roup conflicts
• Poor performance
on tests and
assessment.
Thank you