Investigating University Students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

Acknowledgments

Dedication

Table of contents

List of Figures and Tables

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

1.1 The background
1.2 Research Problem and Purpose of the study
1.3 Research questions
1.4 Significance of the study
1.5 Conceptual model of this study
1.6 Design, Method and Procedure
1.7 Sampling
1.8 Organization of The Study

Chapter One: A Review of the Related Literature
1-1 Section One: Defining the Concept of Competence
1.1.1 Introduction
1.1.2 The Linguistic Competence: Chomsky’s Framework
1.1.3 The Communicative Competence: A Precursor to ICC
1.1.3.1 Hymes’s Framework
1.1.3.2 Other Frameworks of Communicative Competence
1.1.4 The Shortcomings of the Communicative Approach
1.1.5 Conclusion

2.2 Section Two: Intercultural Communication Competence
2.2.1 Introduction
2.2.2 Defining Intercultural Communication: Setting the Scene for ICC
2.2.3 Why Study Intercultural Communication Competence?
2.2.4 Conclusion
2.3 Section Three: Theoretical Framework of ICC
2.3.1 Introduction
2.3.2 More Than a Native Speaker
2.3.3 The Intercultural Speaker: Deconstructing the Meaning
2.3.4 Describing and Defining ICC
2.3.5 Byram’s Model of ICC
2.3.6 Conclusion
2.4 Section Four: English Language Teaching and Intercultural Education
2.4.1 Introduction
2.4.2 Culture Definition in the Intercultural Educational Framework
2.4.3 Intercultural Aspects in the Moroccan English Language Teaching Syllabus
2.4.3.1 English Language Education in Morocco: The State Of The Art
2.4.3.2 Culture and Interculturality in the Moroccan University Syllabus
2.4.4 Conclusion
2.5 Section Five: Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence
2.5.1 Introduction
2.5.2 The Role and Focus of Intercultural Assessment
2.5.3 Some Basic Notions Regarding Assessment: Aspects of Assessment
2.5.3.1 When to assess
2.5.3.2 What to asses ......
2.5.3.3 How to assess
2.5.3.4 Areas to be assessed
2.5.3.5 Types and Formats of Tests
2.5.4 Conclusion

Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research questions and the objectives of the study
3.3 Research Design
3.4 The population Sample
3.5 The Research Instrument
3.6 Data Collection Procedure
3.7 Some Methodological Issues: Validity and Reliability
3.8 Conclusion

Chapter Four: Data Analysis, Discussion and Interpretation
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Intercultural Test Results
4.2.1 First Section: Knowledge component
4.2.2 Second Section: Attitudes Component
4.2.3 Third Section: Skills Component
4.2.3.1 Skills of Interpreting and Relating
4.2.3.2 Skills of Discovery and Interaction
4.2.4 Fourth Section: The Critical Cultural Awareness
4.3 Interpretation and Discussion of the Results

Chapter Five: Implications and Pedagogical Recommendations
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Summary of the Objectives
5.3 Summary of the Methodology
5.4 Summary of the Results
5.5 Limitations of the Study
5.6 Pedagogical Implications and Recommendations for practice
5.7 Conclusion

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: THE INTERCULTURAL TEST

APPENDIX B: THE CHI-SQUARE RESULTS

Abstract

It is until recently that many language teachers and educationalists have started to preach the idea that second or foreign language teaching should stress the salience of teaching towards enabling learners to connect with other people from linguistic and cultural backgrounds that are different from theirs and mediate appropriately and effectively in various cross-cultural communication situations. Thus, the acquisition of intercultural communicative competence, which is defined by Byram (1997) as “the ability to communicate and interact with people of different cultures using a foreign language” (p. 70) and which includes the skills and the competences to adapt and adopt new knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors so as to be open and flexible towards other cultures, has become a serious concern for any individuals seeking to become competent intercultural speakers and looking forward to surviving in the globalized world of the 21st Century. The present study aims at assessing the intercultural communicative competence and its development among EFL Moroccan university students. This book, then, is meant to investigate the extent to which these students know about the cultural aspects of the target Anglo-American cultures as well as the degree to which their intercultural communicative competence has evolved based on the model presented by Byram (1997) which includes five competencies or savoirs: knowledge, skills of interpreting and relating and skills of discovery and interaction, attitudes and critical cultural awareness.

This book is made up of five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction. It shall present briefly the research questions, the study objectives, specify the research design adopted, describe the population sample, the research instruments, the research procedure, and the statistical techniques employed in the process of data analysis. The second one shall present a review of the related literature comprising five crucial elements in five sections.

Therefore the first section surveys the studies dealing with the concept of competence in its twofold manifestation: the linguistic and the communicative. The second section deals with the intercultural communication competence and how it relates to intercultural communicative competence. In the third one, a theoretical framework of intercultural communicative competence is provided with emphasis on defining and describing this construct with clear reference to Byram’s (1997) five-factor model. The fourth one concerns itself with culture and intercultural communicative competence in English language teaching. The chapter also reviews the intercultural aspects in the Moroccan English language teaching syllabus at the tertiary level looking for any traces of culture and interculturality teaching. The last section is reserved for the possible ways to assess intercultural communicative competence. A review of some types of assessment was given focusing on the (intercultural) test as the measurement technique to be used to collect data for the present study. The test components comprise objective elements relating to the ‘savoirs’ already mentioned in Byram’s (1997) model of intercultural speaker which have been taken together to make up the intercultural test content. Chapter three deals thoroughly with the research design adopted and some methodology issues. The elements composing research design such as purpose and significance of the study, the research questions and hypotheses, sample size and sampling procedure, the population, the instrumentation and the analysis of the data collected have been described in detail. Chapter four concerns itself with the detailed presentation of the findings, their interpretation and discussion. The last chapter deals with the implications, conclusions and recommendations of the study and possible prospective ways to effectively deal with intercultural communicative competence as a construct in intercultural education.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the outstanding editorial leadership and support provided by Christian Damke and Dr. Julius Mittenzwei as well as the Senior Editors of Open Publishing GmbH. I also wish to thank the following reviewers for their thoughtful and valuable feedback in the early stages of the manuscript: Porfessor Mohamed Larouz and Professor Fegroud.

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this book to my parents who left the comforts of a familiar life so that I can discover mine. Any success I have is a direct result of your success as loving parents. To my little precious daughter Lina as well as my little angels Ilias and Reda. A special dedication to my dear wife, Latifa, who has always encouraged me to pursue a higher education and has backed me up all the way. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my brothers, sisters and my in-laws for their support and understanding.

Thank you all for your love and support.

List of Figures and Diagrams

Figure 1: Potential Obstacles to Intercultural Communication (Novinger, 2001, p. 24)

Diagram 1: The overall intercultural performance of the respondents in intercultural Knowledge.

List of Tables

Table 1: The overall intercultural performance of the respondents in intercultural knowledge

Table 2: Our culture is better than both the American and British cultures

Table 3: Black American culture is inferior to the White American culture

Table 4: How do both Americans and British people view the Moroccan culture?

Table 5: How do both Americans and British people view Ramadan as a religious practice?

Table 6: Do you consider both the Americans and British people urbane and sophisticated when you compare them to your own people?

Table 7: Do you wish you would talk the way Americans do?

Table 8: Would you wear a Scottish kilt (skirt) if you happen to visit Scotland because you were asked to participate in a national cultural festival there

Table 9: Reaction towards the Jewish friend.

Table 10: Muslims are actually not tolerant

Table 11: How would you treat a racist friend?

Table 12: How would you react to a foreign colleague who behaved inappropriately towards you?

Table 13: A superior from another culture criticized your work. Do you consider changing your behavior or react differently?

Table 14: Problem of chronemics cross-culturally

Table 15: Intercultural mediation (solving an interfaith misunderstanding)

Table 16: If ever you want to know about how the others think about your culture, how would you proceed in your quest?

Table 17: How would you ask an American about how and to what extent they feel their identity is related to their place of origin?

Table 18: The couscous case

Table 19: You were in charge of a diplomatic group to represent Morocco in USA. What knowledge, skills, and attitudes you and your group are supposed to have?

Table 20: How can you evaluate the American-Moroccan relations?

Table 21: Crosstab of Q (25) Interfaith Dialog and Q (26) A racist friend

Table 22: Crosstab of Q (26) Interfaith Dialog and Q (28) A superior criticized you

Table 23: Crosstab of Q (28) A superior criticized you and Q (30) Explain Chronemics.

Table 24: Crosstab of Q (26) A racist friend and Q (30) Mediation in cross-cultural encounters.

Table 25: Crosstab of Q (30) Mediation in cross-cultural and Q (34) Diplomatic mediation

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

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