1 Analysis of Monday’s Class ICCS values…

2 Analysis of Wednesday’s Class ICCS values…

Intercultural Competence: Acquiring Intercultural Competence Prof. Mark S. Williams, Ph.D. English Major Professor School of Foreign Languages Jianghan University – Wuhan, China

What is ‘Intercultural Competence?’ ‘transcending the limitations of one’s own worldview’ (Fantini 2000, p.31) 4

Through Intercultural Competence…  We open up to other ways of thinking and other ways of logic  We find a tongue in which we can speak our humanity to each other  We learn to see that our own view of the world is just one among many (Willems 2002: 19) 5

Consider the following story… 6

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26 THE MORAL OF THE STORY – It is challenging and difficult to change how we have been enculturated – how we have been raised, and what values and beliefs build into our worldview…

27 Therefore, consider the following intercultural situations…

I’m Polish, and I was invited for dinner while in Paris together with an Englishman and a Spaniard. We all arrived at the door at the same time. Our host asked us to come in. Being the only lady in the group I tried to go in first, but I did not have the time as the Englishman preceded me. The Spaniard then kept the door open for me and made a gesture inviting me in before him. We passed a comment about how rude the Englishman was! 28

I’m French. Before going to China I learned a few essential phrases and felt very confident in my ability to communicate. Soon after I arrived there, I found myself in front of a cake stall. I pointed my finger at the object I desired and said “Those two” in Chinese, pointing my finger at the object. The seller hesitated a little, looked at my fingers and started to put more and more cakes in the bag. “No, no, two” I repeated again putting two fingers on my nose. She filled the bag and asked me to pay for my custom. I was very frustrated, and only later did I learn that placing the thumb and the index finger on my nose pointing outwards meant ‘eight’. 29

In our day to day encounters, what happens the moment we realise that, for example:  things are not working out as usual  we’re not being understood  the other person’s behaviour is strange  we cannot make sense of what’s happening  someone was offended unintentionally 30

We experience...  Surprise  Discomfort  Irritation  Shock  Anger  Losing face  Humour 31

What happened to the fish?  It was surprised to see the tadpole change into a frog  It was curious to hear about the new world the frog described upon his return  It was only able to partly ‘understand’ the world outside the water, and only from it’s own point of view 32

The fish did have...  Curiosity/Interest in diversity (3)*  Receptiveness to diversity (5)*  Motivation to observe...(8)*  Desire to find out about other cultures (9.5)* *(CARAP/FREPA resources: Attitudes) 33

But the moment it left the water The fish failed...why? It had  A false sense of confidence in her ability  False expectations about adjustment  A lack of true understanding of cultural dynamics (Bennett 1993) 34

Having a few, isolated resources is not enough. In Byram’s (1992:11) words, the fish remained “firmly anchored in her own values and culture” 35

Intercultural Competence, then, is not really about the fish......Could it be more about the tadpole and the frog?! 36

My intercultural experience I was part of an international group of colleagues about to enter an Austrian restaurant for an evening meal. Next to me was an Austrian gentleman who, as soon as we got to the door rushed to open it. At first I thought he was really polite and so I quickly moved forward towards the door. However, to my amazement, he stepped ahead of me, and entered before me. 37

Sequel... I was slightly offended, but once we were seated he explained to me that in Austria it was considered polite for a man to precede the woman upon entering, and to let the woman out first when leaving the building! I think he had noticed that I felt uncomfortable with his action, and gave me the opportunity to discuss our customs and expectations for a while. After that little talk I enjoyed the meal better!

Notice that this time... Although there was again an ‘uncomfortable’ intercultural event, the conclusion was different. This Austrian gentleman possessed that kind of intercultural competence described in th[is] Guide: 39

“...the capacity to interpret another way of life and to explain it to those who live another.” (Guide, p. 32) 40

The Austrian gentleman had these relevant competences:  A competence in resolving conflict, clarifying misunderstanding (C1.1)  A competence in mediation (C1.3)  A competence of decentring (C3)  A competence in recognising the ‘other’ (C7) 41

What happens to you as a result of your intercultural experiences? Sometimes you feel like the fish 42

Intercultural Competence is NOT simply about learning to look at the world through somebody else’s pair of glasses “Nor is the new competence kept entirely separate from the old. The learner does not simply acquire two distinct, unrelated ways of acting and communicating” (CEF, p. 43) 43

Intercultural Competence is NOT about encoding and decoding messages and symbols (Ma 2003) 44

Do you sometimes feel like a tadpole turning into a frog? In tackling new experiences... We are constantly changing, constructing evolving identities, redefining our cultures, creating new meanings, forming new understandings... 45

As the language learner becomes plurilingual and develops interculturality: “The linguistic and cultural competences in respect of each language are modified by knowledge of the other...” (CEF, p. 43) 46

Intercultural Competence is NOT An approach to changing our natural behaviour “The learner of a second or foreign language and culture does not cease to be competent in his or her mother tongue and the associated culture.” (CEF p. 43) 47

“Linguistic and cultural competences... enable the individual to develop an enriched, more complex personality and enhanced capacity for further language learning and greater openness to new cultural experiences.” (CEF, p. 43) 48

Intercultural Competence involves A conscious understanding of the process of adaptation (Bennett 1993) - 49 **End-of-Class (End-of-Course) Video Clip…

Thank You for joining this course on Intercultural Communication! 50

Regarding the FINAL PROJECT  Research Papers or Video / Interview Projects are DUE – WEEK #18: Friday, January 3 – NO LATER THAN 3:00 PM in English Department office: J03 A-Building, Third Floor… May you all finish well! 51

References Abram, I. (2004) ‘Intercultural learning and young children’. In van Keulen (Ed.) Young children aren’t biased, are they?. Amsterdam: SWP. Beacco, J-C & Byram, M. (2003) Guide for the development of language education policies in Europe. From linguistic diversity to plurilingual education. Council of Europe Bennett, M.J. (1993) ‘Towards ehtnorelativisim: a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity’. In Paige, R.M. (Ed.) Education for the Intercultural Experience. Maine: Intercultural Press, Inc. Byram, M. (1992) ‘Foreign Language Learning for European citizenship’. In Language Learning Journal, 6, September, Camilleri Grima, A. (2002) How Strange! The use of anecdotes in the development of intercultural competence. European Centre for Modern Languages/Council of Europe. Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Council of Europe and Cambridge University Press. Fantini, A.E. (2000) ‘A Central Concern: Developing Intercultural Competence’. SIT Occasional Paper Series, Issue No. 1. Ma, L. (2003) ‘Is there an essential difference between Intercultural and Intracultural communication?’. In Journal of Intercultural Communication, Issue 6, Feb May Rodriguez, A. (2002) ‘Culture to Culturing’. In Journal of Intercultural Communication, Issue 5, April Street, B. (1993) ‘Culture is a Verb. Anthropological aspects of language and cultural process’. In Graddol, D., Thompson, L., and Byram, M. (Eds.) Language and Culture, BAAL and Multilingual Matters Ltd. Weaver, G.R. (1993) ‘Understanding and coping with cross-cultural adjustment and stress’. In Paige, R.M. (Ed.) Education for the Intercultural Experience. Maine: Intercultural Press, Inc. Willems, G. M. (2002) Language teacher education policy. Promoting linguistic diversity and intercultural communication. Strasbourg: Council of Europe. 52