Basics Of Intercultural Communicative Competence Among Non-Linguistic Students

Abstract

Being part of interpersonal communication the intercultural communication relies on its own coding system, norms, forms of behavior, adoption in both national and studied cultures. Intercultural communication is considered as the interaction between the representatives of different countries, nationalities, professions. A language personality freely organizes communication with partners of other cultures in a professional and social context. Currently, it is necessary to create the need for foreign-language and intercultural communication among non-linguistic students studying a foreign language. The purpose of the study is to analyze the peculiarities of the intercultural communicative competence in non-linguistic students of a university for humanities. As a result of the study, the authors conclude that the effective formation of the intercultural competence among students in the process of teaching a foreign language will contribute to their harmonious personal development, ability and readiness to carry out their professional activities in conditions of interpersonal and professional communication. The structure of the intercultural communicative competence of a linguistic personality includes the following components: cognitive-motivational: understanding and interest in intercultural communication; emotional-psychological: empathy as the basis for effective interaction, ability to build a friendly dialogue, listen to the interlocutor closely and with interest; cultural-linguistic: knowledge of linguistic means and norms, traditions, etiquette and the ability to apply them in the situations of intercultural communication. The development of the intercultural competence among non-linguistic students is an urgent problem of higher education.

Keywords: Intercultural communication, intercultural communication competence, study of foreign languages, non-linguistic specialties

Introduction

An urgent problem of higher education is the development of the intercultural competence of non-linguistic students in the process of teaching a foreign language, which increases the general culture of a student and his competitiveness in the international labor market. Understanding the role of a foreign language in getting acquainted with the culture of the country of the language studied, helps young people to understand cultural and historical values and contributes to the development of intercultural communication. Multicultural development contributes to the harmonization of a young person’s personality, mutual understanding, and cooperation with the representatives of other cultures in a student environment.

Many scientists studied the development of foreign-language intercultural communication in the process of teaching a foreign language (Grushevitskaya et al., 2002; Khutorskoy, 2003; Nalivaiko, 2010). The perception and understanding of the representatives of another culture, their sovereignty, inherent worth allows better understanding your own originality and uniqueness. The dialogue of cultures allows better understanding your own and other people’s values, since misunderstanding provokes conflicts between the representatives of national, religious, professional cultures.

Problem Statement

Currently globalization is creating opportunities for a professional dialogue: exchange of ideas, technologies and knowledge. Therefore, the intercultural communicative competence must be considered as an integral component of the unified professional competence of a speech therapist, since the success of work determines the ability of an individual to establish relationships with the representatives of other cultures, to achieve mutual understanding with them on the basis of recognition of their cultural values and tolerant attitude.

Research Questions

The research issues of this study covered the description and substantiation of the structure of the intercultural competence among non-linguistic students and the methodology for the formation of the intercultural communicative competence on the example of students studying “Speech Therapy”.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to analyze the features of the intercultural communicative competence among non-linguistic students of a university for humanities.

The hypothesis concerns the fact that the effective formation of the intercultural competence among students in the process of teaching English will contribute to their harmonious personal development, ability and readiness to carry out their professional activities within interpersonal and professional communication.

Research Methods

The methodological basis of the study included scientific work that reveals theoretical and practical aspects of intercultural communication (Passov, 1989); psychological and pedagogical foundations of personality formation (Leontiev, 1989); intercultural communication (Grushevitskaya et al., 2002; Khutorskoy, 2003; Nalivaiko, 2010).

The methods of theoretical analysis of the research problem: analysis of scientific literature on the research problem, synthesis and interpretation of the analysis results, modeling.

The methods of empirical analysis of the research problem: analysis of educational and teaching materials.

Findings

Foreign language teaching to non-linguistic students should be interpreted as teaching foreign language communication in the context of intercultural communication. The problem of the formation of the intercultural professional competence is reflected in numerous studies: intercultural communication in the process of learning a foreign language (Elizarova, 2015), the peculiarities of the cultural and regional competence among students of a pedagogical university (Sukhova, 2012).

Within the framework of a sociocultural approach to foreign language training, intercultural communication refers to functionally conditioned communication between people being the speakers of cultural communities due to their awareness of belonging to social subcultures in different national communities (Safonova, 2001). Languages should be studied in an inextricable unity with the world of culture of the peoples who speak these languages (Ter-Minasova, 2012).

In the conditions of the intercultural communicative competence, the language competence includes the correct choice of language means, adequate communication situations, ability to repeat experience in similar situations. One of the established competencies of a speech therapist is the communicative competence.

The communication competence includes mechanisms, techniques and strategies for effective communication taking into account cultural differences. The components are as follows: ability to understand the readiness of the interlocutor to begin communication, degree of involvement in communication, determination of correct proportion of speaking and listening, preservation of communicative distance, ability to finish and leave communication.

The cultural competence includes values, ability to extract the necessary information from various cultural sources and differentiate the significance for intercultural communication.

The intercultural communicative competence is a complex expression consisting of the following components:

• language competence contains a linguistic component of communication or phonetic, lexical, grammatical skills of students;
• speech competence is considered as the ability to build a completed logical, coherent and consistent oral or written text and the ability to understand oral and written speech, and to be understandable to other people in the process of communication;
• compensatory competence includes the ability to overcome communicative difficulties and prevent communication failures;
• sociocultural competence contains a cultural component of the communicative competence, including the ability to act by verbal and non-verbal means in another cultural environment (Milrud, 2014).

Thus, language education involves the ability to understand the bearer of a different language world, successfully communicate with him, so teaching a foreign language should be aimed not only at forming the ability to practically use the language being studied, but also at the introduction to a different image of consciousness, a different worldview.

The communicative competence is the most important component of the qualities of a student studying speech therapy. This concept represents a systemic characteristic of a teacher’s personality. It is characterized by the unity of communicative knowledge, abilities, skills which include speech, emotional (intonationally expressional) cultures, the culture of use of verbal and nonverbal means of communication and abilities to find speech and emotional contact with the interlocutor, with use of intonational opportunities of speech, sound speech row, considering certain speech violations of children, for the purpose of the successful solution of the correctional developing tasks during professional activity.

According to FSES, a speech teacher should:

Know whether knowledge about oral and written speech in Russian and foreign languages is formed to solve the problems of professional communication, interpersonal and intercultural interaction.

Be able to form communication skills in oral and written forms in Russian and foreign languages to solve the problems of professional communication, interpersonal and intercultural interaction.

Have the ability to communicate orally and in writing in Russian and foreign languages to solve the problems of professional communication, interpersonal and intercultural interaction (Zhulina & Barabanova, 2016).

Structure of the communicative competence:

• language (contains a linguistic component: phonetic, lexical and grammatical skills);
• speech (contains the ability to build a logically coherent and semantic completed monologue or dialogue, oral or written discourse, as well as the ability to understand oral and written speech, providing understanding of oneself by others);
• compensatory (contains a strategic component, i.e. the ability to overcome communicative difficulties, prevent failures in speech activities);
• sociocultural (contains a cultural component, including the ability to adequately act by speech and non-speech means in a certain environment).

Logopedic knowledge in its structure is quite complex and develops on the basis of data from psychological, biomedical, pedagogical, social, linguistic sciences. Linguistics plays a huge role in this row, since deviations from speech and language norms can only be stated if the norms themselves are known.

This problem is relevant since insufficient attention is paid to the formation of the communicative competence. It forms the basis for a speech therapist’s readiness to successfully perform his professional activity, since this profession belongs to professions of increased speech responsibility, the communicative competence of which is a prerequisite for professionalism, i.e. this competence of a speech therapist should be highly developed.

Speech and formed communicative competence are the tools of corrective influence of a speech therapist. The possibility of socialization and further development of children and adolescents with speech disorders, as well as the success of vocational and pedagogical communication with them, their parents, the pedagogical team and management largely depends on the efficiency of their application. This is all the specifics of corrective and developmental activities of a speech therapist (Ignatieva, 2006).

The success and satisfaction of his professional activities will largely depend on the level of the communicative competence, as well as on skills and abilities of social interaction.

The set of communication skills of a speech therapist includes the following:

1) to correctly and quickly navigate in constantly changing communication and speech conditions;

2) to plan and carry out speech impact and interaction;

3) to accurately determine the content of communication, communicative techniques and means that simultaneously correspond to the situation, creative personality and the characteristics of a student;

4) to constantly maintain feedback.

Every person in the society has to constantly interact and communicate with other people. The productivity of this communication, the realization of needs, as well as the emotional comfort depend on the level of communicative skills and abilities. Besides, communication is an integral part of successful professional activities of various specialists. Thus, for example, the work of a speech therapist implies continuous communication and interaction with children with various speech disorders, members of the pedagogical team, as well as parents.

At the same time, the efficiency of work is directly related to the level of the communicative competence, i.e. readiness and ability to communicate.

The communicative competence as the most important characteristic of a specialist is considered by many researchers (Shamov & Kim, 2020; Sulima, 2019, Sokolova & Plisov, 2019; Nalivaiko, 2010).

Let us consider the structure of communication (communicative competence).

Zimnaya (2003) lists the following components of the competence, which most fully reflect its structure:

1) motivational aspect (readiness to demonstrate competence);

2) cognitive aspect (knowledge of the competence content);

3) behavioral aspect (experience in demonstrating the competence in a variety of standard and non-standard situations);

4) axiological aspect (relation to the competence content and the object of its application);

5) emotional-volitional aspect (emotional-volitional regulation of the process and result of the competence).

The motivational component includes the ability and readiness to communicate, a conscious desire to exchange information in order to meet the needs, get answers to questions of interest, and emotional support. Besides, this component reflects the interest to the personality of the interlocutor, the need to experience the joy of communication. It is important to realize that communication is cooperation, which requires the ability not only to speak, but also to listen, to tolerate other people’s ideas, opinions and deficiencies. In the process of communication, it is important not only to receive something, but also to give something.

The formation of a motivational component depends on the awareness of the importance of work, on a good attitude of others, on the desire for professional and career development, interest in innovation, as well as on the desire to develop and realize your personality (Gruzdeva et al., 2019).

This component plays a crucial role in the work of a speech therapist, since the efficiency of his work and the corrective process is based on the creation of positive motivation for each child’s action in the learning process, as well as on the organization of situations that cause the need for communication.

The cognitive component involves the assimilation of a system of communicative knowledge, namely knowledge of norms and rules of communication, personal qualities that promote or impede effective communication, ways of conducting and maintaining a dialogue, and the expression of thoughts. This component also includes knowledge of the attributes of communication (appearance, clothing, time, place, etc.), standards of communicative behavior (methods of greeting, farewell, expression of consent or disagreement, gratitude, etc.), methods of non-verbal communication. Besides, it is related to the knowledge of another person, includes the ability to effectively solve various communication problems.

The cognitive component includes the level of professional knowledge and practical skills that a specialist possesses. It is this component that is responsible for the main content of the correction work carried out by a speech therapist.

The behavioral component contains experience in displaying communicative skills and abilities in various communicative situations. This component reflects the ability to understand the position of the interlocutor, correctly perceive and evaluate him, predict and avoid negative reactions of a communication partner. Besides, this component includes the ability to cooperate, joint activities, initiative, adequacy in communication. It also involves the preparation of a communication program, the development of texts for communication, the choice of style, tactics, position and distance of communication (Shirokova, 2019).

This also includes technical skills, i.e. the ability to communicate in various situations, knowledge of oral and written speech, methods of conducting disputes, discussions, conversations, etc. (Vaganova et al., 2019). The behavioral component also implies a general level of specialist culture, the ability to choose an approach to a child with any disorder who does not always have speech and non-speech communication.

The axiological component refers to interlocutors, to a communicative situation, to the means of communication, to the created and perceived statement as a value, i.e. a personally significant object that has the character of attractiveness, desirability. The axiological component is better developed by those who appreciate that they can freely communicate in their professional activities and understand the value of the communicative competence.

The emotional-volitional component is connected, first of all, with the ability to create and maintain a positive atmosphere of communication, the ability not only to respond to changes in the emotional state of the interlocutor, but also to anticipate them. In other words, this component is associated with emotional responsiveness, empathy, the ability to empathize, sensitivity to another, the ability to perceive the shades of mood of the interlocutor and act in accordance with them. It is the emotional background that creates a feeling of comfortable or uncomfortable communication (Ilyashenko et al., 2019).

The work of a speech therapist carried out in the process of intensive interpersonal interaction with students, their parents, colleagues and other specialists, is associated with high emotional burden. In this regard, one of the characteristics of the emotional sphere of speech therapists is anxiety. Besides, continuous emotional tension, daily mental overloads, high responsibility, imbalance between intellectual-energy costs and moral-material gain lead to the risk of emotional burnout.

Thus, we may conclude that the communicative competence is a personal quality that any specialist should have. The communicative competence appears as the ability and willingness to enter into various types (verbal, non-verbal, written, oral) of communication in order to solve communication problems (search, transfer of information, be understood, understand, etc.). It has its own component composition, including motivational, cognitive, behavioral, axiological, emotional-volitional components. It is also an important condition for effective professional activity.

Conclusion

The presented theoretical analysis of the problem of the intercultural communicative competence among non-linguistic students allows identifying the structure of the intercultural communicative competence of a linguistic personality, which includes the following components:

• cognitive-motivational: understanding and interest in intercultural communication;
• emotional-psychological: empathy as the basis for effective interaction, ability to build a friendly dialogue, listen to the interlocutor closely and with interest;
• cultural-linguistic: knowledge of linguistic means and norms, traditions, etiquette and the ability to apply them in the situations of intercultural communication.

The perspective of further research consists in studying the current level of intercultural communication among students of the Speech Therapy profile, conducting experimental work to develop the abilities for the intercultural communicative competence in the professional sphere, active listening skills, acquaintance with strategies and tactics of professional communication.

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