Cultural Self-Awareness and Knowledge as Prerequisites of Intercultural Competence

Both teachers and learners of foreign languages need to realize that one of the basic assumptions of intercultural communication is that a common language shared between the participants of an intercultural or international exchange is a necessary but insufficient condition for achieving success. Irrespective of the level of their linguistic competency, representatives of different cultures may communicate better thanks to their understanding of the nature of the process itself and of the interlocutors’ socio-cultural backgrounds.

Foreign language learning has always involved acquiring elements of the target language culture. In the case of English, because of its status as lingua franca, it is equally important to consider a variety of cultural backgrounds represented by all non-native speakers using English as a common language for communication. Therefore, the concept of intercultural competence, independent of any particular language or culture, has gained its popularity in TEFL. Since it can be developed irrespective of one's fluency in a given language, both native and nonnative speakers have equal chances to make it their asset in intercultural communication. Non-linguistic cultural knowledge and skills may be either taught in extra courses or integrated into foreign language teaching. Setting priorities for teaching or learning a foreign language involves choosing the most suitable model of communicative competence to follow. Acknowledging that intercultural competence is an inseparable element of intercultural communicative competence, as in Byram's model (1997), seems to be a natural approach in most European educational contexts.