Intercultural Communication

Introduction

This chapter offers a general introduction to the topic of intercultural communication, hence, and rather like the chapter in this book on project management, it is not limited solely to the context of the European Project Semester (EPS). The main focus of the chapter is to explore the skills, attributes and attitudes (the competences) which are desirable for effective communication in international contexts, whether these be in educational, social or professional settings and irrespective of the language(s) in which the interactions are carried out. For simplicity we shall call this ‘intercultural communication competence’ noting that various other terms to describe it or a similar concept (‘intercultural effectiveness’, ‘transcultural communication competence’, ‘cross-cultural capability’ to name just three) exist in the literature.

Many of the competences we describe are generally applicable to any situation which brings together people with diverse cultures, regardless of whether these arise from differences in nationality, region, religion, gender, profession, organization or outlook, or whether they speak the same language or not. In other words, intercultural communication may not only refer to interactions between people from different ethnic or national backgrounds, but also to people from the same country, speaking the same language, but who, for reasons such as education, upbringing, occupation, or simply where they live, exhibit differences in how they think, react or behave in a given situation.

Referring specifically to the EPS for a moment, most project teams bring together 3-5 nationalities whose working language together will be English. Depending on the makeup of the team, English may be the first language (L1) of one or more of its members, but more probably will be the second (L2) or even the third (L3) language of most, if not all, of them. Apart from the individual teams there is the EPS peer group as a whole. In Valencia this could consist of around 30-35 students from 8-10 different ethnic backgrounds not just from Europe, but also from Asia, Africa and North, Central and South America. In this situation, an EPS participant may expect to interact sometimes in his or her L1, most of the time in the L2 (i.e., English) and sometimes, either for project work or socially outside the university, in Spanish as an L3. Whatever the case, an EPS group is culturally and linguistically diverse and provides many opportunities to discover and explore appropriate, as well as inappropriate, ways to interact with people from other cultures.

Intercultural communication competence (ICC) has several components; culture is one, communication is another, and the skills and knowledge which make up intercultural competence is a third. However, as we shall see, defining these notions, as well as ICC itself, is not such an easy task. Culture, according to Furstenberg (2010: 329), “…is a highly complex, elusive, multilayered notion that encompasses many different and overlapping areas and that inherently defies easy categorization and classification”. Opinions as to what constitutes effective communication and how it takes place differ quite widely, while the rapid transformation of society as a result of globalization and advances in science and technology means that intercultural objectives must continuously evolve in order to reflect the needs of modern citizens and communities (Stewart, 2007). In order to clarify ideas, therefore, and before arriving at our discussion of the competences desirable for intercultural competence, we shall look at these three components.