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12Жамият ва инновациялар -Общество и инновации -Society and innovations
Journal home page: https://inscience.uz/index.php/socinov/index
The importance of Intercultural Communicative Competence in teaching foreign languages
Raime ISMAILOVA1, Mushtariy QURBONOVA2, Diana KHABIBRAKHMONOVA3
National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received March 2021 Received in revised form 20 March 2021 Accepted 15 April 2021 Available online 20 May 2021
Keywords:
Competence,
intercultural communicative competence, communication, cultural awareness, communicative approach.
The article deals with the role of intercultural competence in the process of teaching foreign language and examines how it allows intercultural communicators to understand and respect individuals they perceive to have different cultural affiliations; to respond appropriately, effectively and respectfully when interacting and communicating with such individuals; to establish positive and constructive relationships in foreign language speaking atmosphere. Moreover, appropriate approaches were analyzed from the point of effectiveness.
2181-1415/© 2021 in Science LLC.
This is an open access article under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru)
Chet tillarini o'qitishda madaniyatlararo kommunikativ kompetensiyaning ahamiyati
ANNOTASIYA
Kalit so'zlar:
kompetensiya,
madaniyatlararo
kommunikativ
kompetensiya,
aloqa,
madaniy ong, kommunikativ yondashuv.
Maqolada chet tillarini o'qitish jarayonida madaniyatlararo kompetensiyaning o'rni haqida so'z yuritilib, madaniyatlararo kommunikatorlarga ular turli madaniy aloqalarni qabul qilgan shaxslarni anglash va hurmat qilish imkoniyatlari qanday berilganligi; bunday shaxslar bilan aloqa qilishda va ular bilan muloqot qilishda tegishli, samarali va hurmat bilan javob berish; chet tilida so'zlashish muhitida ijobiy va konstruktiv munosabatlarni o'rnatish. Bundan tashqari, tegishli yondashuvlar samaradorlik nuqtai nazaridan tahlil qilindi.
1 Lecture at the Foreign Philology faculty, National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek e-mail: [email protected]
2 Lecture at the Foreign Philology faculty, National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek e-mail: [email protected]
3 Lecture at the Foreign Philology faculty, National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek e-mail: [email protected]
Важность межкультурной коммуникативной
компетентности в обучении иностранным языкам
АННОТАЦИЯ
Ключевые слова:
компетентность,
межкультурная
коммуникативная
компетентность,
коммуникация,
культурная
осведомленность,
коммуникативный подход.
В статье рассматривается роль межкультурной компетенции в процессе обучения иностранному языку и исследуется, как она позволяет специалистам по межкультурному общению понимать и уважать людей, которые, по их мнению, имеют различную культурную принадлежность; реагировать надлежащим, эффективным и уважительным образом при взаимодействии и общении с такими людьми; устанавливать позитивные и конструктивные отношения в атмосфере общения на иностранном языке. Более того, соответствующие подходы были проанализированы с точки зрения эффективности.
Teaching culture and developing intercultural skills have become fashionable phrases in foreign and second language pedagogy in the last ten years. However, this is hopefully not only a superficial and quickly passing fad since many language teachers and researchers have established that the primary aim of second and foreign language acquisition is to enable learners to communicate with people coming from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in a multicultural world. Since there is an increasing need to be able to deal with cultural diversity effectively and appropriately, students also need to acquire intercultural communicative competence. Therefore, we can see that while teaching linguistic skills, second and foreign language instructors should also integrate a variety of cultural elements in their language lessons[1].
The knowledge about the target culture is necessary to communicate successfully. This includes having a working knowledge of art, but also an understanding of the political and educational system, as well as history and geography of the target countries. Intrecultural communication aims to prepare students to familiarize them with traditions and customs of the other country and to make sure they can communicate with native speakers.
Linguistic competence alone is not enough for learners of a language to be competent in that language. Language learners need to be aware, for example, of the culturally appropriate ways to address people, express gratitude, make requests, and agree or disagree with someone. They should know that behaviors and intonation patterns that are appropriate in their own speech community may be perceived differently by members of the target language speech community. They have to understand that, in order for communication to be successful, language use must be associated with other culturally appropriate behavior.
In many regards, culture is taught implicitly, imbedded in the linguistic forms that students are learning. To make students aware of the cultural features reflected in the language, teachers can make those cultural features an explicit topic of discussion in relation to the linguistic forms being studied. For example, when teaching subject pronouns and verbal inflections in French, a teacher could help students understand when in French it is appropriate to use an informal form of address (tu) rather than a formal form of address (vous)—a distinction that English does not have. An English as a second
language teacher could help students understand socially appropriate communication, such as making requests that show respect; for example, "Hey you, come here" may be a linguistically correct request, but it is not a culturally appropriate way for a student to address a teacher. Students will master a language only when they learn both its linguistic and cultural norms.
Some teachers and researchers have found it effective to present students with objects or ideas that are specific to the culture of study but are unfamiliar to the students. The students are given clues or background information about the objects and ideas so that they can incorporate the new information into their own worldview. An example might be a cooking utensil. Students would be told that the object is somehow used for cooking, then they would either research or be informed about how the utensil is used. This could lead into related discussion about foods eaten in the target culture, the geography, growing seasons, and so forth. The students act as anthropologists, exploring and understanding the target culture in relation to their own. In this manner, students achieve a level of empathy, appreciating that the way people do things in their culture has its own coherence.
It is also important to help students understand that cultures are not monolithic. A variety of successful behaviors are possible for any type of interaction in any particular culture. Teachers must allow students to observe and explore cultural interactions from their own perspectives to enable them to find their own voices in the second language speech community[2].
For many teachers, culture teaching and learning is a relatively new and unfamiliar venture, especially in the framework of our model of culture learning. The problem is compounded by a lack of concrete examples of how to teach for intercultural competence and by teachers' mistaken belief that they need to be culture experts. Rather, we hope teachers will come to share the view so perceptively expressed by Kane that, "By being the one invested with the knowledge and authority, the teacher's responsibility is to invite -and join - the students in challenging unexamined beliefs and stereotypes". Teachers can become guides and partners in a process of culture learning and discovery with their students, rather than culture expert upon whom their students exclusively rely for cultural knowledge.
Some very simple general guidelines for language teachers and teacher trainers:
- If you do have first-hand experiences from other cultures, take every opportunity to tell your students about these and elicit their reactions as well as their own similar experiences;
- If the course book you use contains culturally-loaded texts (most of them do by definition), make sure you do not only exploit these texts for grammatical analysis and vocabulary building;
- Even grammar practice and vocabulary activities can be sources of cultural knowledge, means of intercultural skills development or ways to form open and accepting attitudes if you do not fail to add those two or three sentences that will help students understand the cultural dimension better;
- When you give writing tasks and tests, do not only assess your students' knowledge of grammar rules and vocabulary items but sometimes ask them to write (guided) reflective compositions about their experiences in other countries or in their home town with people from other cultures;
- Encourage your students to look things up, be open, curious and non-judgmental, establish e-mail partnerships with students in other countries, participate in simulations, role-plays and ethnographic projects during language lessons (see concrete ideas below), and go on study trips if possible[3].
The role of culture in foreign language teaching materials: an evaluation from an intercultural perspective
Textbooks used in foreign language (FL) instruction are primarily designed to facilitate language learning, but they cannot simply do that since language learning is inseparable from its cultural context. As Cunningsworth states, "A study of language solely as an abstract system would not equip learners to use it in the real world" (Cunningsworth). For that reason, it is usually expected that FL teaching materials (TM) should include elements of the target language culture. Moreover, many documents analysed by Byram highlight three general goals of FL instruction:
- the development of communicative competence for use in situations the learners might expect to encounter;
- the development of an awareness of the target language;
- the development of insight into the foreign culture and positive attitudes toward foreign people.
But as Byram stresses, these three aims should be integrated. The extent and ways of incorporating cultural aspects in FL instruction vary in different TM, and therefore it is important for the FL teacher to know what to look for in a particular language textbook in order to decide if it is suitable for attaining the aforementioned goals.
There have been two main approaches in the history of foreign language teaching: a) the study of language based on the rules, and b) the study of language-based communication.
The first approach is conducted with the help of grammar-translation system in the process of foreign languages teaching. According to it, the process of teaching is based on the study of grammar and vocabulary with the next generation of the transition to the formation and decoding of the speech (reading and understanding spoken speech). Using the rules and vocabulary of the language, students must re-create (generate) a new language. The way of learning the language was passing through a huge number of errors that reduced any interest in its study. Experience has shown that this approach is not very effective.
The second approach is performed through communication. It is considered more effective, although contains a number of disadvantages. Lack of awareness of the foreign language rules both extends the process of study and reduces the quality of the foreign-language speech[4].
As a result, there has been a convergence of these two approaches of teaching a foreign language. That is, the unity of language rules and actions has been experimentally proved. The main action being developed with the help of a foreign language is a communication process, or speech communication. In the process of communication there is not only an exchange of views and feelings, but also the development of linguistic resources. Language rules perform an auxiliary function showing the use of linguistic phenomena in speech[5].
Thus, a foreign language can be considered as a means of developing communicative competence. This means the ability to adequately clothe communication goals and
strategies of their achievement into proper language forms, as well as the ability to use the rules of speech etiquette and social behavior in the situations of intercultural communication, where updated knowledge of the situational and social-cultural contexts is actual.
Culture must be fully incorporated as a vital component of language learning. Second language teachers should identify key cultural items in every aspect of the language that they teach.
References
1. Brown H.D. (1986). Learning a Second Culture In Valdez (1986).
2. Trevisani. Intercultursl Empathy and Emotional Empathy combined. 2005
3. Byram, M. & Risager, K. (1999). Language Teachers, Politics and Cultures. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
4. Byram M. Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence.
1997.
5. Kramsch C. Language and Culture. 1998
