Cultivating the intercultural communication competence in English Teaching of senior high school

蔡芬 朱跃序

Abstract：Because of economic globalization， foreign language talents with intercultural communication competence （ICC） become an indispensable bridge for the international dialogue. This paper analyzes the current situation of the cultivation of ICC in senior high school， and puts forward some fostering strategies， with a purpose to develop the ICC in senior high school.

Key words：Intercultural Communication Competence; high school English teaching; fostering strategies

1 Introduction

There are various opinions on ICC. For example， it refers to the intercultural knowledge， skills， attitude and awareness of cultural criticism （Bylam， 2014）_[1]. It is also defined as the knowledge， motivation， and skills used to interact effectively and appropriately with members of a host culture. There is an emerging consensus that ICC consists of cognitive， affective， and behavioral attributes （Bennett， 2009）_[2]. ICC is indeed essential for an effective intercultural dialogue （Fantini， A. E. 2000）_[3]. In this paper， we will discuss how to cultivate ICC in senior high school English teaching.

2 State of ICC

1.Lack of Attention to ICC

2.3.At present， English Teaching in senior high school still shows the characteristics of examination-oriented education. Educators pursue high scores in written examinations and ignore the cultivation of students' intercultural communication attitude. Meng Lijun （2019） pointed out that students' subjective awareness of intercultural communication ability is weak， and teachers do not pay enough attention to the cultivation of students' ICC_[4].

2. Limitations of the Cultural Backgrounds

Most of senior high school students lack the opportunities to contact with foreign culture directly. Cultural differences will directly cause the common obstacles in learning language. For example， Chinese tend to communicate implicitly， but Westerners are more straightforward. Or， red represents celebration in China. However， in western culture， it means anger and danger. The huge cultural differences will inevitably retard the development of ICC.

3.Inability of Instructors.

Xu Yanan （2017） pointed out that many teachers have no intercultural awareness themselves， let alone cultivate students' intercultural awareness_[5]. Most English teachers do not realize the importance of ICC. The short-term value of this kind of ability is not obvious. Therefore， most teachers are not willing to get half the results with double the efforts.

3 Strategies for Fostering ICC

1.Creating a Good Environment.

We can introduce multi-cultural courses to create a good learning environment. Firstly， independent intercultural communication courses can be set up. secondly， we can use the model of curriculum integration， in which， teachers need to pay attention to the explanation of intercultural knowledge.

2.Improving the Ability of Instructors.

It is sure that the key to foreign language teaching is still the teacher （Freeman 2001; Richards 1998）_[6]. First of all， we can carry out a wide range of intercultural courses. Moreover， teachers can innovate teaching through Case Teaching， which is a case-centered and student-centered teaching method and pays more attention to discussion and communication， helping students learn English in the context.

3.Imitating the Authentic Use.

The modern educational technology of foreign language ensues by three stages： the era of tape， the era of multimedia network and the era of virtual simulation （Yan Zhijun， 2019）[Speech by Yan zhijun in the 8th National Conference on Foreign Language Teacher Education and Development.]. Virtual simulation， also known as virtual reality technology， by which， we can simulate the real intercultural communication scene in English class.

4 conclusion

This paper analyzes the current situation of ICC in senior high school and puts forward the problem-solving strategies. In the long run， ICC is the core competitiveness of foreign language talents. We believe that with the development of technology and education， high school English teaching will be able to cultivate more intercultural communication talents for the prosperity of the country.

References

[1] （英）拜拉姆（Byram， M.）.賈雪睿，贾雪莱导读.在实践中培养跨文化能力[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2014：XVI.

[2]Bennett， J. M. （2009）. Cultivating intercultural competence： A process perspective. In D. K. Deardorff （Ed.）， The Sage handbook of intercultural competence （pp. 121–140）. Thousand Oaks， CA： Sage.

[3]Fantini， A. E. （2000）. A central concern： Developing intercultural competence. In A. E. Fantini （Ed.）. SIT occasional papers （pp. 25–42）. Brattleboro， VT： School for International Training.

[4]孟丽君.“一带一路”视域下国际化传播人才跨文化交际能力培养研究——以传媒类院校为例[J].文化学刊，2019（7）：151.

[5]徐雅楠.我国高校英语教学中跨文化交际能力培养的问题及策略[J].焦作大学学报，2017（2）：90.

[6]Freeman， D. 2001. Second language teacher education [A].In R. Carter & D. Nunan （eds.）. The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages[C]. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press. 72-79.

基金项目：本文得到山东工商学院博士科研启动基金项目（项目批准号：BS201619）的资助。

作者简介：蔡芬 （1988—），女，汉族，山东滨州人，学生，硕士在读，单位：鲁东大学，研究方向：学科教学（英语）。朱跃序（1989—）男， 汉族， 山东泰安人，副教授，博士，单位：山东工商学院  研究方向：财政