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Intercultural communicative competence in foreign language education: Questions of theory, practice and research

Byram, M.; Holmes, P.; Savvides, N.

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Authors

N. Savvides



Abstract

Language teaching and learning has undergone a ‘cultural turn’ since the emergence of ‘the Communicative Approach’ and ‘Communicative Language Teaching’ in the 1970s. The earlier study of language, which involved the study of literary and other texts, had neglected the need for ‘communicative competence’— the ability to use language in socially appropriate ways, often operationalised as ‘politeness’. However, perhaps as a consequence of globalisation, new technologies, and mass economic and refugee migration, it has become clear that communicative language teaching too, with its focus on sociolinguistic appropriateness and politeness, is inadequate to the task of teaching for communication. This new social context requires consideration of the ways in which people of different languages — including language learners themselves — think and act, and how this might impact on successful communication and interaction. The ‘cultural turn’ – the introduction of ‘intercultural competence’ to complement ‘communicative competence’ – has further refined the notion of what it is to be competent for communication with speakers of different languages. Teachers and learners now need to be ‘aware’ of other people’s ‘cultures’ as well as their own, and therefore, the term ‘intercultural (communicative) competence’ has emerged, along with other terms such as ‘cultural awareness’ and ‘transnational competence’.

Citation

Byram, M., Holmes, P., & Savvides, N. (2013). Intercultural communicative competence in foreign language education: Questions of theory, practice and research. The Language Learning Journal, 41(3), 251-253. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.836343

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Nov 5, 2013
Deposit Date Nov 27, 2013
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Language Learning Journal
Print ISSN 0957-1736
Electronic ISSN 1753-2167
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 41
Issue 3
Pages 251-253
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.836343

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