Theoretical bases of a conceptual framework with reference to intercultural communicative competence

Authors

  • Denise Lussier McGill University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v4i3.309

Keywords:

Intercultural competence, conceptual framework, Language learning, existential competence, intercultural skills, intercultural communication

Abstract

With the rapid expansion of communication, the mobility of people and the expansion of immigration, it is generally agreed, in language education, that ‘intercultural communicative competence’ (ICC) should be an essential component of ‘language competence’ or vice versa. It also implies that there could not be intercultural communication without the integration of intercultural competence in language teaching. But, there is a need to study this issue logically and coherently. Accordingly, this article reviews existing theories and models. It also proposes a conceptual framework for the development of ICC which involves cognitive, affective and psychological factors. The three essential domains of ICC are: intercultural knowledge, intercultural skills and intercultural being. They capture the interrelations that are embedded in language, thought and culture. The paper argues that language competence needs to address not only the linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic/discourse elements of langue but should integrate (inter)cultural interactions and transactions between individuals in the learning process.

Author Biography

  • Denise Lussier, McGill University

    Denise Lussier received her Ph.D. in educational psychology and language assessment from Laval University and is currently Emeritus Professor in McGill University. Her research projects in Canada include ‘Cultural representations, ethnic identity and intercultural competence’ and ‘Canadian Benchmarks in FSL for Adult Immigrants’; for the Council of Europe: ‘Innovative Approaches to the Set-Up of Language Education’; ‘Cultural mediation in language learning and teaching’ and ‘Guidelines for the assessment of intercultural communicative competence’.

References

Agar, M. (1994) The intercultural frame. International Journal of Intercultural Religion 18 (2): 221–237. doi:10.1016/0147-1767(94)90029-9

Bachman, L. E. (1991) What does language testing have to offer? TESOL Quarterly 25 (4): 671–685. doi:10.2307/3587082

Baumgratz-Gangl. G. (1985) Transnational and cross-cultural communication as negotiation of meaning. In D. Sixt (ed.) Comprehension as Negotiation of Meaning 112– 139 Munich: Goethe-Institut.

Baumgratz-Gangl. G. (1993) Compétence transculturelle et échanges éducatifs. Paris: Hachette.

Beneke, J. (2000) Intercultural competence. In U. Bliesener (ed.), Training the Trainers. International Business Communication 5: 108–109.

Carl Duisberg Verlag. Bennett, D. (ed.) (1998) Multicultural States: Rethinking Difference and Identity. London: Routledge.

Bennett, M. J. (1993) Towards ethnorelativism: A developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. In R. Michael (ed.) Education for the Intercultural Experience 21–71. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.

Bennett, J. M., Bennett, M. J. and Landis, D. (2004) Handbook of Intercultural Training. 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Bloom, B. S. (ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook: Cognitive Domain. New York: McKay.

Bourdieu, P. (1994) Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Briane, C. and Cain, A. (eds) (1995) Quelles perspectives pour la recherche en didactique des langues. Paris: Institut National de Recherche Pédagogique.

Brown, D. E. (1986) Human Universals. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Bruner, J. (1996) The Culture of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Byram, M. S. (1989) Cultural Studies in Foreign Language Education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byram, M. S. (1997) Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byram, M. S., Esarte-Sarries, V. and Taylor S. (1991) Cultural Studies and Language Learning: A Research Report. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byram, M. S., Morgan, C. and Colleagues (1994) Teaching-and-Learning Language-and- Culture. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Byram, M. S. and Zarate, G. (eds) (1997) The Sociocultural and Intercultural Dimension of Language Learning and Teaching. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Byram, M. S. and Fleming, M. (eds) (1998) Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cain, A. (1990) French secondary school students’ perceptions of foreign cultures. Language Learning Journal 2 (1): 48–52. doi:10.1080/09571739085200461

Canale, M. (1983) From communicative competence to language pedagogy. In J. Richards and J. Schmidt (eds) Language and Communication 2–27. London: Longman.

Canale, M. and Swain, M. (1980) Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics 1 (1): 2–43. doi:10.1093/applin/1.1.1

Coste, D. (2009) Le Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues: Contextualisation et/ou standardisation? Actes du colloque de Sèvres 2007. Revue Dialogues et Cultures 54: 19–29.

Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Strasbourg: Cambridge University Press.

Cushner, K. and Brislin, R. W. (eds) (1997) Improving Intercultural Interactions: Modules for Cross-Cultural Training Programs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Damen, L. (1987) Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension in the Language Classroom. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Dillabough, J. (1996) The Deconstruction and Re-representation of First Nations People in Social Studies Education: The Dialectic of Voice as an Epistemological Tool for Change. Unpublished post doctoral dissertation, SSHRC, Cambridge University.

Doyé, P. (ed.) (1993) Grossbritannien: Seine Darstellung in deutschen Schulbüchern fur den Eng1ischunterricht. Frankfurt: Diesterweg.

Fantini, A. E. (2000) A central concern: developing intercultural competence. In A. E. Fantini (ed.) SIT Occasional Paper Series: Inaugural Issue: About our Institution 23–42. Brattleboro, VT: School for International Training.

Galisson, R. (1991) De la langue à la culture par les mots. Paris: CLÉ international.

Geertz, C. (1975) The Interpretation of Cultures. London: Hutchinson.

Giroux, H. A. and McLaren, P. (1994) Between Borders: Pedagogy and the Politics of Cultural Studies. New York: Routledge.

Goethals, G. R. (2002) Peace and FL Teaching. Unpublished paper. Unknown sources.

Guilherme, M. (2002) Critical Citizens for an Intercultural World. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Guilherme-Durate, M. (2000) Critical Cultural Awareness: The Critical Dimension in Foreign Culture Education. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation. School of Education, University of Durham.

Hall, S. and Du Gay, P. (eds) (1996) Questions of Cultural Identity. London: Sage.

Halliday, M. A. K. (1978) Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning. London: Arnold.

Holliday, A. R. (1999) Small cultures. Applied Linguistics 20 (2): 237–264. doi:10.1093/ applin/20.2.237

Kane, L. (1991) The acquisition of cultural competence: an ethnographic framework for cultural studies curricula. In D. Buttjes and M. S. Byram (eds), Mediating Languages and Cultures: Towards an Intercultural Theory of Foreign Language Education 239–247. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Kramsch, C. (1993) Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kramsch, C. (1995) La composante culturelle de la didactique des langues. Le Français dans le Monde. Recherches et Application, numéro spécial: Méthodes et méthodologies: 54–69.

Kramsch, C. (1998) Language and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Krashen, S. D. (1976) Formal and informal linguistic environments in language learning and language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly 10: 157–168. doi:10.2307/3585637

Krashen, S. D. (1981) Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon.

Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, S. and Masia, B. B. (1964) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook 2: Affective Domain. New York: McKay.

Lussier, D. (1984) Les effets des activités d’échanges interlinguistiques sur le développement de la compétence de communication en langue seconde par enseignement traditionnel. Unpublished Doctoral thesis. Laval University, Quebec City.

Lussier, D. (1997) Domaine de référence pour l’évaluation de la compétence culturelle en langues. Revue de didactologie des langues-cultures, ELA: 231–246.

Lussier, D. (2009) Common reference framework for the teaching and assessment of ‘Intercultural Communicative Competence’. In Studies in Language Teaching, SILT 2008, 13: 234–244. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lussier, D., Auger, R., Clément, R. and Lebrun-Brossard. M. (2000–2008) Cultural Representations, Ethnic Identity and Intercultural Communication among Young Adults. Ottawa: Grants from Heritage Canada and the Council of Research in Human Sciences in Canada.

Lussier, D., Golubina, K., Ivanus, D., S. C. Kostova, G. de la Maya Retamar, L. Skopinskaja and S. Wiesinger (2007) Guidelines for the Assessment of Intercultural Communicative Competence. In I. Lazar, M. Kriegler, D. Lussier, G. Matei, and C. Peck (eds) Developing and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence: A Guide for Language Teachers and Teacher Educators 23–40. European Centre for Modern Languages, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

Lussier, D., Auger, R., Urbanicova, V. and Armengol, M. (2004) Representations of others and other cultures in the context of the pre-service and ongoing training of teachers. In G. Zarate, A. Gohard-Radenkovic, D. Lussier and H. Penz (eds) Cultural Mediation and the Teaching and Learning of Languages 181–213. European Centre for Modern Languages, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

Lussier, I. (2001) Validation du questionnaire ‘xénophilie/xénophobie’ dans le contexte des représentations culturelles auprès d’adolescents montréalais. Unpublished Master’s thesis. Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal.

McLaren, P. (1995) Critical Pedagogy and Predatory Culture. London: Routledge.

Melde, W. (1987) Zur Integration von Landeskunde und Kommunikation im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.

Mennecke, A. (1993) Potentialities of textbooks for teaching cultural awareness. In M. Byram (ed.), Germany: Its Representation in Textbooks for Teaching German in Britain, 41–53. Frankfurt: Diesterweg.

Meyer, M. (1991). Developing trans-cultural competence: case study of advanced foreign language learners. In D. Buttjes and M. Byram (eds) Mediating Languages and Cultures: Towards an Intercultural Theory of Foreign Language Education 136–158. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Natale, S. (1972) An Experiment in Empathy. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

Nostrand, H. L., Grundstrom, A.W. and Singerman, A. J. (1996) Acquiring Cross-cultural Competence: Four Stages for Students of French. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.

Pennycook, A. (1994) The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. London: Longman.

Piaget, J. and Weil, A.-M. (1951) The development in children of the idea of homeland and of relations with other countries. Institute of Social Science Bulletin 3: 561–578.

Risager, K. (1998) Language teaching and the process of European integration. In M. S. Byram and M. Fleming (eds) Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective 242–254. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Risager, K. (2006) Language and Culture – Global Flows and Local Complexity. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Rubenfeld, S., Clément, R., Lussier, D., Lebrum, M. and Auger, R. (2006) Second language learning and cultural representations: Beyond competence and identity. Language Learning 56 (4): 609–632. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9922.2006.00390.x

Rubenfeld, S., Clément, R., Vinograd, J. Lussier, D., Amireault, V., Auger, R. and Lebrum, M. (2007) Becoming a cultural intermediary: a further social corollary of second language learning. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 26 (2): 182–203. doi:10.1177/ 0261927X07300080

Rumelhart, D. E. (1980) Schemata: the building blocks of cognition. In R. J. Spiro, B. Bruce and W. F. Brewer (eds) Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension 33–58. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Sarangi, S. (1995) Culture. In J. Verschueren, J-O. Östman and J. Blommaert (eds) Handbook of Pragmatics 1–30. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Seelye, H. N. (1992) Teaching Culture: Strategies for Intercultural Communication. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook.

Seelye, H. N. (1982) Teaching Culture: Strategies for Foreign Language Educators. Skokie, IL: National Textbook.

Seelye, H. N. (1973) Teaching the foreign culture: a context for research. In J. R. Green (ed.) Foreign Language Education Research: a Book of Readings 74–89. Skokie, IL: Rand McNally.

Stern, H. H. (1983) Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tomalin, B. and Stempleski, S. (1993) Cultural Awareness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

UNESCO (2001) Déclaration universelle sur la diversité culturelle. Paris: UNESCO.

Vignaux, G. (1996) Problématiques et analyses interculturelles. Mutations européennes et nouvelles perspectives. In K. Fall, D. Simeoni and G. Vignaux (eds) Enjeux dans les contacts interethniques et interculturels. Ottawa: Actempress.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1962) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. doi:10.1037/11193-000

Vygotsky, L. S. (1971) Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Weaver, G. (1986) Understanding and coping with cross-cultural adjustment stress. In R. M. Paige (ed.) Cross-Cultural Orientations: New Conceptualizations and Applications 162–199. London: University Press of America.

Wiegand, P. (1992) Places in the Primary School. London: Falmer Press.

Published

2015-09-14

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Lussier, D. (2015). Theoretical bases of a conceptual framework with reference to intercultural communicative competence. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 4(3), 309-332. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v4i3.309

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>