Research on Fostering Intercultural Communication Competence of Foreign Language Learners

Globalization has made cross-cultural communication a necessity. The mobility of people and the contact between countries have greatly increased cross-cultural communication. Intercultural awareness has become a prerequisite for successful cross-cultural communication. Intercultural awareness is required if a foreign language learner is to achieve the intercultural communication competence, which is now considered to be the major goal of foreign language learning. Intercultural communication competence is multi-dimensional in nature, implicating not only the linguistic competence, but also the power of perceiving and interpreting socio-cultural events, and the behavioral ability of coping independently with cross-cultural encounters. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of how language and culture are dealt with from a cross-cultural perspective, to discuss concerns with defining norms and standards for foreign language learning raised by this perspective, and to consider how to foster the intercultural communication competence by pedagogical approaches that integrate current understandings and researches of language, culture and learning into their curricular and instructional designs. Key words: Intercultural awareness; Intercultural communication competence; Language and culture; Socio-cultural perspective; Curriculum design