I NTERCULTURAL   C OMPETENCE

Intercultural competence could be seen related to the degree a person communicates effectively and appropriately with people from dissimilar cultural backgrounds. (Lustig and Koester, 2010; Chen and Starosta, 2005) Through this definition it is possible to perceive how intercultural competence is not a question of changing borders.

Being culturally different with someone else does not mean coming from different countries. It means having diverse cultural backgrounds, dissimilar cultural identities. Those define not just who people are, but also how they perceive the world.

Intercultural communication involves all the challenges presented during the communication process. In addition it also has elements such as worldviews and language barriers.

Knowledge, affect, skills, and experience play a significant role. (Penington and Wildermuth, 2005) Because of the human capability to learn, people are always in the process of becoming more interculturally competent. Practicing through encounters with people from other cultures could accelerate the process. (Campinha-Bacote, 2002)

Learning suitable manners to behave during intercultural encounters will help to be perceived as competent. With practice knowledge increases, helping in the process of discerning the most appropriate conducts during communicational endeavours.

Penington and Wildermuth (2005) based on Lambert (1993) claim that “someone who is interculturally competent has knowledge of how their own culture and the host culture differ and finds value in both”. (p. 167) The authors continue with the idea that motivation is necessary to communicate appropriately, and communication skills are also a must.

Their definition involves elements such as self and others awareness, motivation, empathy, and a learning factor. One of the key factors here is that interculturally competent people are able not just to see differences, but also to appreciate them. Turning those dissimilarities into assets enhancing their perception of the world; enabling communication with other cultures.

Byram (2000) presents the idea people are aware there is no absolute truth. He recognises someone interculturally competent “has a critical or analytical understanding of (parts of) their own and other cultures - someone who is conscious of their own perspective, of the way in which their thinking is culturally determined”. (Intercultural Competence section, paragraph. 3)

Competent people rationalise their intercultural encounters, having critical comprehension of what the interaction involves. They

acknowledged the fact that society shapes people’s perception, and no one point of view might be consider as the absolute truth. Awareness, open-mindedness, and flexibility are key factors in becoming interculturally competent.

Hammer, Bennet and Wiseman (2003) discuss the idea that to be competent in another culture, it is necessary for the individual to have interest in other cultures. The authors also mention as important for individuals to be aware of differences, and be willing to perform certain changes in their behaviour as a sign of respect for the other culture. This statement reflects the importance of flexibility during intercultural interactions. (Meyer, 1991)

Another perspective sees intercultural competence as “the ability to exercise intercultural sensitivity, as well as efficiently interpret and form discourse in a foreign language in academic/ professional contexts of intercultural communication”. (Ceseviciūtė and Minkutė-Henrickson, 2002: 51) This definition introduces the topic of second languages as a tool to achieve the desired outcomes promoting the interaction. It presents certain aspects exchange students require during their period abroad.

Wiseman (2003) points out there is a positive association between intercultural competence and “awareness of the other culture, self-awareness, and […] language fluency”. (p. 202) The author assures that to be motivated to embark on intercultural interactions it is necessary for the person to have certain assets. These include “intercultural sensitivity, positive affect towards the other culture, social relaxation, and empathy towards others”. (Wiseman, 2003: 202)

Motivation is a required aspect to engage in competent intercultural encounters. It facilitates one’s development in the particular situation one might find oneself in. Motivation is the propeller encouraging individuals to start, engage, and achieve appropriately and effectively perceived intercultural interactions.

“Individuals who perceive themselves as competent communicators are also

more willing to communicate”. (Mansson and Myers, 2009: 11) Therefore, they have the motivation not just to pursue intercultural interactions, but as well to look forward to improve.

Individuals must have as part of their competence “the ability to recognise how power is being exercised within a cultural context, and […]

be able to exercise power in ways that are appropriate to other culture[s]”.

(Bennett, 1998: 29) The prior statement gains relevance when considering that power relations take place in every interaction. Ones in more formal and explicit manners than others. Despite the preparation one might have on how other cultures handle power relationships, it is necessary to be open minded and to be prepare for the unexpected.

Concerning the components of intercultural competence, Martin and Nakayama (2010) assure the building blocks of the concept must consider as well the context in which the interaction takes place.

The authors declare that contextualisation is a necessary labour. Even though “intercultural communication competence may rely on individual competence”, (Martin and Nakayama, 2010: 465) context plays a central role on how that competence is going to be perceived. It shapes the guidelines interactants must follow to obtain the desired outcomes.

Besides context, according to Martin and Nakayama (2010) four primary components of intercultural competence are motivation, knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills. Attitudes involve “tolerance for ambiguity, empathy, and nonjudgmentalism”. (p. 469) Behaviours and skills include respect for others. (Martin and Nakayama, 2010)

When reflecting on the component of respect, it is necessary to consider as well the element of power. Both components are interdependent, having respect for the other is the initial point in a cordial relationship. When considering power relationships, respect is the path to follow as how to treat the other, behaving respectfully and accordingly to one’s power position. Along with respect, awareness is fundamental in order for people to act as expected, not being

disrespectful by threatening the other’s power position through behaviour, words or others.

In intercultural issues, a good balance among all the components of competence is essential to reach successful, effective, and appropriate encounters. The balance of the elements must be thought regarding the context in which the interaction is being held; the participants of the interaction, and the expected outcomes. Having in mind not only the desired outcomes, but also different case scenarios might help the individual to be prepare for most results, having a short reaction time that allows a fluid and natural development of the interaction.

“Because cultural differences create dissimilar meanings and expectations” (Lustig and Koester, 2010: 65) it is required a greater level of communication skills to be perceived as competent. Preparation, practice, and awareness are key to make the best out of every intercultural encounter individuals embarked in.

Taking into consideration the conceptualisations presented in the current section, and the ones made in the prior sections, it is now possible to produce a construct of intercultural competence. It does not pretend to be neither exhaustive nor irrefutable. It would help to unify the viewpoints exposed, taking those elements that are foremost crucial for this study, and bringing them together. Intercultural competence could be understood from now on as the sum of someone’s motivation, and key qualifications regarding knowledge on one’s own and other’s culture; along with intercultural sensitivity to find value in both cultures, and self and others’ awareness to be conscious that there is no one unique way of doing things.

Someone interculturally competent achieves performance effectiveness and success by the use of capabilities such as open-mindedness, non-judgmentalness, self-monitoring, problem solving, empathy, and flexibility to accommodate to the context in which the interaction is taking place. All of which is susceptible to be measured

objectively and subjectively by the perception of others, and the perception of the self.

The formulated construct is specifically created for this study, taking as basis all the literature exposed throughout the chapter.

It is going to be understood as intercultural competence when mentioning the concept down the next chapters, unless specified otherwise. It is also important to clarify that throughout this study, and for practical reasons, intercultural competence and intercultural communication competence are going to be understood as having the same meaning.