Cultivation of College Students’Intercultural Communication Competence

【Abstract】intercultural communicative competence is the ability of social intercourse with members from different languages and cultural backgrounds under the control of certain cultural values. Improving the intercultural communicative competence of Chinese college students is the important content of higher foreign language education and the main direction of foreign language teaching reform. Based on the previous studies， this paper aims to explore the optimized methods of cultivating and improving the intercultural communicative competence of college students， so as to provide some basis for further developing effective teaching strategies.

【Key words】intercultural communicative competence； college students； cultivation methods

With the internationalization of finance and economy and the extensive delivery of goods and labor services， intercultural communication is becoming increasingly extensive and frequent. Intercultural communicative competence， which can be defined as the capability to grasp certain cultural and communicative knowledge and apply to the actual intercultural communication environment， the attitude of tolerance and appreciation to different cultures and the courage of facing challenge positively without psychologically fear， has become a fundamental ability to work and live. In order to improve this competence of college students， there are the following aspects can be done.

1. Improve communication skills

Improve communication skills， namely， to communicate with people from different cultures properly and effectively.

1.1 Pay more attention

Pay more attention to differences between each other， which is advantageous for seizing more information consciously and being aware of the multiplicity of behavior in different cultures so that they would having an effective nonverbal communication. It has been indicated that there are many communication techniques helpful to improve intercultural communication competence， including careful observation， listening， identity confirmation， cooperative dialogue.

1.2 Be considerate of others

Students who are considerate of others are more likely to put themselves in the other persons shoes. They are more compassionate and concerned， so as to identify others psychological activities and emotions more sensitively. Listening carefully， being interested in the others words， trying to apprehend， being sensitive to the others needs， and paying more attention to the others non-verbal behavior will be helpful. In short， students will get the point and improve their communicative competence quickly if they can use these skills better.

2. Strengthen the confidence

It is essential to improve self-evaluation and promote self-understanding for establishing the confidence of students.

2.1 Improve self-evaluation

The key to improve students confidence is to strength their correct self-evaluation， an essential element of intercultural sensitivity. With a positive attitude， students tend to be more confident and strong， and then they can interact with partners optimistically. Thus， they can not only establish self-worth， but deal with the ambiguous of expression caused by alienation， frustration and pressure properly.

2.2 Promote self-understanding

Understand others to understand yourself first. Self-understanding is an elemental factor for becoming a qualified intercultural communicator， which requires you to know your own culture and views， and know how to implement your thoughts and introspection yourself. To promote the self –understanding， college students can be trained to manage their own bad mood and amend their own behavior in different circumstances， which is conducive to a better communication.

3. Increase intercultural knowledge

It has been shown that some students who are lack of knowledge regarding cultural differences cannot communicate with their partners successfully. Cultural knowledge can be acquired through cultural knowledge lectures， mass media， magazines， proverbs， jokes， legends， arts， and the Internet， like e-books， electronic magazines and newsletters， which mentioned cultural knowledge beyond the usual textbooks. In addition， it is necessary for students to contact with students from other countries more initiatively.

Aiming to improve the intercultural communication ability of college students， “intercultural communication” is designated as one of the contents of college English teaching by Foreign Language Teaching Steering Committee. Based on the research on the status quo of college students intercultural communication， this paper puts forward the cultivation methods and hopes to improve the intercultural communicative competence of college students effectively.

作者簡介：石慧清（1994-），女，湖北黃石人，漢族，在讀本科生，武漢東湖學(xué)院2014級英語專業(yè)，研究方向：跨文化交際。