Developing Intercultural Communication Competence (Halverson-Wente and Halverson-Wente)

The “Humans Unit” Objective:

The interview learning module is foundational for the process of acquiring that level of intercultural communication competence, increasingly necessary for professional growth and personal fulfillment, as it gives students sensitive insight to persons of another culture and an appreciation for one’s role and responsibility within our globalized world. In short, “[c]ollaboration and commerce between nations and across cultures is an unavoidable necessity of modern living, with the success of those endeavors hinged upon the competence with which each party interacts with the other. Further, these interactions can be beneficial, not just in terms of each group realizing their respective goals, but also at the level of the individuals involved” (Cavanaugh, 2015, p.1). Thus, presenting and encouraging the transformative process of learning effective intercultural communication interviewing skills are key to improving intercultural communication competence — the extent to which one is able to “effectively adapt verbal and nonverbal messages to the appropriate cultural context”

Elements of this Unit Include:

Increasing Intercultural Communication Competence is the general objective of this unit. Elements of this unit include theory, sample student work, online class activities, relevant links and resources. The key questions addressed in this learning unit include:

• What are communication and intercultural communication competence
• What is perception and perception checking? What verbal skills are used in building intercultural communication competence?
• What nonverbal skills are used in building intercultural communication competence?
• How can compassionate listening help build intercultural communication competence?

There are four primary concepts and skill areas, central to intercultural communication itself, that are necessary for conducting an intercultural interview–perception and perception-checking, nonverbal communication and verbal communication, listening. The pedagogical format used to best impart the four skill areas central to intercultural interviewing includes a definition of the skill area itself, a discussion of the practice or use of this skill area in intercultural communication contexts, questions to consider for the effective use of the skill area, and a prompt or queue for the development of an essay assignment reflecting upon the intercultural interview.