Intercultural Communication
& Intercultural Competence
Ah yes, intercultural competence: the parmigiano on the pasta of language learning. Not to scare you, but without intercultural competence, you will be a foreigner in the country of your target language, no matter how fluent you become in it. On this page, learn about what intercultural competence really means, why it matters, and how you can acquire it.
What are Intercultural Copmetence and Intercultural Communication? Why do they matter?
A very basic definition of intercultural competence is the understanding of another person’s culture and the willingness to view that culture from a neutral perspective rather than from your own. As you can see, at the center of intercultural competence and communication lies an understanding of what culture is. So, what is culture?
The term has a variety of definitions. As far as cultural studies scholars have researched the field, these definitions can be described as ranging from broad to narrow. According to Milner and Browitt, culture can be seen as the „entire range of institutions, artefacts and practices that make up our symbolic universe“. This is a broad definition, as it captures the full scope of culture as everything that people do, or culture as any conceivable result of human action or interaction. A narrow definition is the Frankfurt School dichotomy between so-called high culture and low culture, which can also be described as the dichotomy between elitist and popular culture. This definition, however, is often viewed as outdated, as culture is nowadays viewed as lying on a spectrum. So far, so good, but let’s be honest, who likes theory?
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Culture has many aspects. In the intercultural context of our globalized world, a suitable definition is culture as a delineated sphere of shared values, norms, traditions, customs, history, and beliefs of a group of people. This definition ought to be enough for the following subject. It is important to note that culture is dynamic. It changes and is formed by the flow of people, media, technology, money, as well as ideas and narratives, which cultural studies scholar Arjun Appadurai calls the global cultural flow. Furthermore, culture is not always visible. When thinking about Italian culture, the first things that might come to our mind are probably things like pizza, Pompeii, Catholicism, and reckless driving (at least these are things I have experienced on my trips to Italy). While all of these are more or less vital parts of Italian culture, the full scope goes much deeper, as the following graphic shows. Take a minute to look at it. (You can click to enlarge)
Do you now understand that culture is way, way more than just interesting food and fancy fashion? Congrats, you might be interculturally competent! Basically, a person holds intercultural competence when they manage to suppress their sense of judgement toward other cultures and start to realize that there are many, many ways to view the world and to think about things. Your way of thinking does not have an authority over others. It is just one way of thinking. You expect others to respect your way of thinking when they visit your country, so you should do the same with other cultures when you visit a foreign country. Now, you may ask, where does intercultural competence end? When traveling to a country in which woman, or gays, for example, have very little rights, do I have to respect that? Where do I draw the line? Sadly, there is no answer to this.
You do not have to accept things such as racism or misogyny just because they are considered normal in your host country.
However, you will not be able to change the course of a whole nation just because you don’t agree with the way things are done there. Therefore, you should ask yourself: What can I do?
Another paradox arises from it: What if another person is seemingly unwilling or unable to understand parts of my own culture?
Should I respect this deficiency as a part of the cultural difference between me and them, or should I condemn them for their lack of intercultural competence? The paradox lies in the inherent self-concern of intercultural competence: You expect yourself to have it, but not others.
There is no socultion to this, but it is important to remember that intercultural competence blooms in conversation. Remember, not only can you learn from others, but they can also learn from you. Intercultural communication therefore describes communication in which each participant respects and honors the other’s values and culture.
Finally, remember that the need for respect and intercultural competence does not only apply to countries whose people might be victims of discrimination in your own country, such as African, Middle Eastern, or Asian countries. Every country’s culture deserves to be treated with respect and care. No one likes to be made fun of. Respect is the keyword that all of this boils down to. As long as you treat your host country’s culture with respect, do not make jokes about the local culture, and are cautious with opinions on the country’s politics, you have intercultural competence.
Avete competenza interculturale?
This task is designed to test your intercultural competence towards Italy, the country of your target language.
Information: It is important to note that movies and TV shows are nothing but representations of culture. With the rise of cross-national streaming services such as Netflix, cultural quirks in movies have become increasingly less, as productions are produced for bigger and bigger audiences. An analysis by the British media market analyst firm Enders has found that Netflix movies tend to have fewer cultural references than those produced by independent companies with no international aim, according to the Economist. This is because Netflix, when planning a new show set in a country other than the United States, executives have to plan how to sell the idea to people in other countries, too.
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Task: In the following, you will watch clips from two Italian movies from the last few years. After watching the videos, guess which of the movies is a Netflix movie and which is an independent Italian production. Both the scenes are entirely in Italian. It doesn’t matter that you will most likely not understand most of it. Just pay attention to the videography, how people behave in the scenes, how they speak, and how they treat each other, then make your guess.
18 Regali (18 Presents)
directed by Francesco Amato
Viva l'Italia
directed by Massimiliano Bruno
Click on the arrow to the right to view the solution
