Intercultural Communication Competence

Introduction

What does it mean to be a competent intercultural communicator? It means having the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately across various cultural contexts. Competence is not a single rule, but a box of tools built on three primary pillars: motivation, knowledge, and skills. Motivation is your desire to foster intercultural relationships. Knowledge supplements motivation and includes self- and other-awareness, mindfulness, and cognitive flexibility. Competence requires the actual performance of appropriate key skills, which include tolerance for uncertainty, empathy, and adaptability. A you reflect on what we have studied thus far, you can see how the content to this point will help us manage the four developmental stages of competence: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. As you read this selection, reflect on where you are in the stages of intercultural communication competence.

People who have developed good communication skills are often described as having communication competence. Communicating effectively, along with writing and critical thinking, is often considered one of the key skills of gaining a college education.To have communication competence means that "we have knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and adapt that knowledge in various contexts".

The National Communication Association (NCA) has developed guidelines for what it means to be a competent communicator. They include:

State ideas clearly.
Communicate ethically.
Recognize when it is appropriate to communicate.
Identify their communication goals.
Select the most appropriate and effective medium for communicating.
Demonstrate credibility.
Identify and manage misunderstandings.
Manage conflict.
Be open-minded about another's point of view.
Listen attentively.

Intercultural communication competence is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in various cultural contexts. Researcher Owen Hargie proposed that there were four levels of intercultural communication competence based on competent and incompetent communication as well as conscious or unconscious communication. Unconscious incompetence is the "be yourself" approach. This person may not have a strong knowledge of cultural differences and does not see any need to accommodate differences in communication styles or culture. They may not even be aware they are communicating in an incompetent manner. Once people learn more about culture and communication, they may become conscious incompetent. This is where they have the vocabulary to identify the concepts, and know what they should be doing, but realize they are not communicating as well as they could. Many of us have experienced the feeling that something isn't quite right, yet we can't quite figure out what went wrong. As communication skills increase, and the focus is on cultural concepts and communication styles, you become a conscious competent communicator. You know that you are communicating well in the moment, and you can add this memory to your growing bank of successful intercultural interactions. Reaching this level is important, but not the pinnacle of competent communication. Unconscious competence is the level to achieve. Unconscious competence means that you can communicate successfully without straining to be competent. At this point all the knowledge and previous experiences have been put into practice, and you rarely have to intently focus on your intercultural interactions because it has become second nature. You have developed the skills needed to be competent.

Source: Tom Grothe
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