On Cultivation of Intercultural Communicative Competence in Tertiary Education

郭巧懿?オ?

Abstract：Culture and language are closely related and it is necessary for university students to obtain the intercultural communicative competence by teaching of culture in the curricula. This paper clarifies the importance of cultural introduction in the target language and Chinese， and tries to present the methods in application.

Key words： cultural education； tertiary education； intercultural communicative competence

I. Introduction

As globalization continues apace， the ability to communicate in foreign languages has become a valuable asset in modern society， which is also a requirement for tertiary education to meet. There is a difference， however， between learning the language and being able to communicate effectively. Students do not communicate with a foreign language， but communicate with the people who use that language. Knowledge of words and phrases is not enough to communicate adequately. Understanding culture provides that link. Communication in real situations is never out of context and culture is part of most contexts. Without the study of culture， foreign language instruction is inaccurate and incomplete. For foreign language learners， language study seems senseless if they know nothing about the people who speak it or the country in which it is spoken. To prevent foreign language learners from making cultural mistakes or to help them reduce such mistakes， educators must take measures to increase the learners cultural awareness in foreign language teaching and learning.

II. Factors influencing the intercultural communication

Language is the means for communication among members of a culture and it is the most visible and available expression of that culture. Therefore a persons world view， self-identity， and systems of thinking， acting， feeling and communication can be disrupted by a change from one culture to another. During the foreign language education， teachers should convey the knowledge of culture existed in the target language to the learners in order that the learners can develop the ability of making comparison between the target language and their native languages and can at last use the target language freely and skillfully. Since intercultural communication is bidirectional， language learning aiming at intercultural communication should not be one-side learning. At the same time， Chinese culture needs to be transmitted in English to foreigners. So it is necessary for teachers to input Chinese culture in college English teaching.endprint

It is true that traditional Chinese cultural notions influence foreign language learners class interaction. Learners respond to teacher or peer only when they are confident about their performance， which is owing to Confucian doctrine of self-cultivation. They are afraid of making mistakes and losing face. Perfection of performance is alarming in their mind. Many students prefer to listen to others rather than voicing their own opinions because they consider learning as self-development， not showing-off. And it is unnecessary for students to practice oral English in class when they are primarily motivated by passing written tests.

In general， most students have a fixed attitude towards different cultures defined as cultural stereotype which refers to the oversimplified pictures people form about other cultures in the bias of their own culture-bound worldview. For example， people think that the British are gentle， polite and reserved while Americans are informal， materialistic and overly friendly. This phenomenon may have positive and negative effects. If students recognize and understand different worldviews， they will usually adopt a positive and open-minded attitude towards intercultural communication. But a close-minded view of such differences often leads to the maintenance of stereotype of oversimplification and blanket assumption and this negative effect of stereotyping can cause misunderstanding of the target culture and hinder communications between people of different cultural backgrounds. Students can benefit a lot from positive attitudes and negative attitudes may result in decreased motivation.

In order to cultivate students intercultural communicative competence， the teacher must be a qualified language teacher at first. Second， teachers should know the necessity of cultural teaching in class. Teachers must take culture-consciousness seriously in their mind. Third， teachers should have rich cultural knowledge in the target language and Chinese. Finally， teachers should be innovative in conveying the cultural knowledge into the class and generally makes the learners accept it positively.

As for the effects of attitudes towards different cultures， the teachers need to be aware that students have both positive and negative attitudes but the negative attitudes can be changed， often by exposure to reality， for instance， by encounters with actual persons from other cultures and so on. On the other hand， the language teachers should treat the classroom use of textbooks as a resource that they can exploit selectively and attempt to involve students in class activities and discussions by the aid of multimedia. Teachers should stimulate students participation， including critical evaluation of texts which reveals students independent thinking. And asking questions about the cultural content of the textbooks is also very useful for teachers， which will encourage students to grasp more cultural knowledge in order to lay the groundwork for intercultural communication.endprint

III. Conclusion

Language is deeply embedded in a culture； language and culture are inseparable and closely interwoven with each other. With the globalization， it is urgent to make China known by the world. The university students should become excellent messengers. The international status of English in terms of cultural dimension in English language teaching will help students become successful bilingual and intercultural individual who are able to function well in both local and international setting. Just as Sifakis （2004） maintains that when teachers teach international English， they should also teach intercultural English. So it is very important and advisable to cultivate intercultural communicative competence in tertiary education.

[References]

[1]N. C. Sifakis，“Teaching EIL—teaching international or intercultural English？ What teachers should know，” System vol.32， No. 2， 2004， pp. 237-250.

[2]Yan Zhang， “On the deficiency of Chinese culture in college English teaching，” Overseas English， August 2010.

[3]Ying Ran， “Discussions on factors influencing the cultural introduction and the methods in application，” in Read and Write Periodical， vol. 7， No.7， July 2010.

[4]J. Harmer， How to teach English. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2000.

基金項目：遼寧省教育廳科技研究項目資助（LGW201605）

（作者單位： 沈陽理工大學外國語學院， 遼寧 沈陽 110159）endprint