The evolution of intercultural communicative competence: Conceptualisations, critiques and consequences for 21st century classroom practice

Abstract

This article discusses intercultural communicative competence (ICC) as a present-day theoretical and practical concern. Byram’s (1997) model of ICC serves as a point of departure for the discussion since this is a theoretical construct which has had considerable impact on curriculum development and teaching materials in a number of countries over the past two decades. However, several theoretical criticisms have been directed at the model in recent years, and Byram’s own theoretical stance has evolved since the model was introduced. The aim of the article is to provide insight into how these recent perspectives lay the foundation for a state-of-the-art understanding of ICC. First, the article provides an overview of key issues which have been raised in critiques of Byram’s model. It considers the merits of such evaluations and shows how some of this criticism has been met by Byram’s later work. Second, the article deliberates how reconceptualisations and alternative voices in the academic discourse have illuminated aspects of intercultural communication on which Byram’s model is unclear. In connection with this discussion of theoretical matters, some practical implications for teaching and learning are considered. The article concludes by pointing to the need for a new theoretical model which is suited to serve as a comprehensive guideline for intercultural teaching and learning in the 21st century classroom.

Multimodal Interaction in a Foreign Language Class at Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine

“…In formulating the principles of the developed course of studying the German language on the basis of multimodal interaction, there was a rethinking of the concept of communicative competence in the vector of multimodal perspective (Coccetta, 2018). This provided a kind of goal of developing metalanguage by students, which would allow the ability to understand, use, produce independently texts (oral, written), in which semiotic resources, synergizing, unfold in specific texts, also allowing students to express their ideas in the context of discourses, situational and sociocultural markers (Hoff, 2020).…”

“…The system of multimodal interaction during the experiment was consistently built on the principles that a person learning a foreign language should always recognize the input data from different modalities (Ye et al, 2020), combining them according to time and context constraints to enable their interpretation and fixation in memory (Barwasser, Lenz & Grünke, 2021;Floyd & Castek, 2021;Hoff, 2020). From the perspective of the experiment, the tendency to use text creation (perception of others and production of one's own texts), also called verbal branching strategy (Červenková, 2018;Wallace, 2021), was actively used, when the full meaning of the text is revealed through illustrative components.…”

“…Emphasis is placed not only on the importance of linguistic competence, but also on the mastery of a foreign language learner by the contextual, pragmatic, sociocultural and stylistic relevance of the utterance (Atabekova, Lutskovskaia & Gorbatenko, 2021;O'Dowd & Dooly, 2020;). Multimodality makes it possible to embrace different approaches to the study of foreign and create the most authentic natural communicative socio-cultural environment (Hoff, 2020;Orsini-Jones & Lee, 2018). Interaction and mutual integration of the concepts of communicative approach and multimodal learning environment allow the introduction of the concept of multimodal communicative competence (Avgousti, 2018;Coccetta, 2018;Ruiz-Madrid & Valeiras-Jurado, 2020).…”

“I Apology no no I Mean I Am Sorry … Please Let Me Explain That First”: Enhancing Communicative Language Competence of Thai University Students Through CEFR-Based Online Intercultural Communication

“…The 12-week CEFR-based online intercultural communication activities in this research were used to enhance Thai students' 'communicative language competence' based on the CEFR framework. The researcher focused on this aspect of the CEFR framework (2001) because it shares similar aspects (i.e., linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic or discourse competences) with Byram's (1997) Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC), which is one of the highly influential models and has become an object of increased scrutiny over the course of the past decade in the field of intercultural communication (Hoff, 2020). Also, Byram's ICC model was often employed in previous studies that explored the impact of online communication on students' ICC (e.g., Avgousti, 2018;Kitade, 2012).…”

Evaluating EFL Students’ Attitudes Towards Cultural Differences

“…Their knowledge and experience are the basis for critical analysis, interpretation, and evaluation of cultural reality which will be discussed in various themes of discussion about intercultural communication. In the context of the EFL student discussion forum, ICC is a dialogue that discusses intercultural differences for English learners in different cultural-lingua settings where English acts as a global lingua franca (Galloway, 2017;Hoff, 2020). However, this study will only focus on EFL students' attitudes in discussing intercultural differences.…”