How Interculturally Competent Are You?
Intercultural competence involves awareness of self and other cultures, knowledge of cultures beyond surface elements (e.g., music, dance, language, food, or traditions), the ability to change perspectives and attitudes, the capacity to identify unjust actions and behaviours, the intentionality to learn from experience and about other people’s experiences, and the development of skills to help individuals adapt to situations and be more effective and respectful when interacting across cultures.
One may hear people affirm they are already culturally competent, that they have intercultural experience, and that they are interculturally successful, but intercultural competence is not about attaining a level, a mark, or passing a test that shows you are ready for intercultural interactions. Rather, it is a lifelong process wherein you continue to have opportunities to gain knowledge and develop skills and embrace the opportunities you have for immersing yourself in different cultural contexts at home and abroad.
Activity: Intercultural Competence
Activity: Intercultural Competence (Text version)
Read each of the following statements and decide whether they reflect your own experience or perspective. As you read, think about how interculturally competent you feel or believe you are as a result of that experience. Select all that apply to you.
- “I’ve lived abroad”
- “I’ve travelled extensively”
- “I’ve studied foreign languages”
- “I am from a bi- or multicultural background”
- “I am a minority group member”
- “I’m already open minded and don’t hold stereotypes and prejudices”
- “I have friends from other cultures”
- “I took a course on intercultural communication skills”
- “I live in a multicultural neighbourhood”
- “I’m an international student”
Reflect on your answer(s):
- Can you identify with at least one of these statements?
- Have you heard other people say any of them?
- Do you believe this/these experience(s) make you interculturally competent? Why?
Take a closer look at the statements and consider how they may reflect your own experience. As you read the feedback provided on the back of each card, consider how each of these experiences or perspectives could be better used to expand your intercultural knowledge or what you could do now to help you appreciate other people’s perspectives. [Statements 1-7 are from C. Lantz-Deaton and I. Golubeva (2020), pp. 11-17.]
Take a closer look (Text version)
See feedback for each statement at the footnote listed.
- “I’ve lived abroad”[1]
- “I’ve travelled extensively” [2]
- “I’ve studied foreign languages”[3]
- “I am from a bi- or multicultural background”[4]
- “I am a minority group member”[5]
- “I’m already open minded and don’t hold stereotypes and prejudices” [6]
- “I have friends from other cultures” [7]
- “I took a course on intercultural communication skills”[8]
- “I live in a multicultural neighbourhood”[9]
- “I’m an international student”[10]
Activity source: Advancing Intercultural Competence for Global Learners, CC BY-NC 4.0
Think about this
- Based on the feedback provided for each statement, what do you think you need to do to truly learn about other cultural groups?
- How can you engage more meaningfully with peers and people in Canada and abroad?
Takeaway points
- Intercultural experiences can happen in different ways while you are at home or when you travel abroad. However, having those experiences does not mean you gain extensive knowledge and skills to help you in intercultural situations.
- Any of the intercultural interactions you may have had are valuable, but you must ensure that this is not a one-time, one-person engagement. To be truly intercultural means to continuously learn and engage with people across cultures and levels of diversity.
Try these strategies
- Go back and look at the answers you selected for this activity. Based on what you now understand after reading the feedback, think about what you could have done to have more meaningful interactions with peers, friends, family, and others.
- Think about how you can use your past experiences to inform your current and future interactions. Focus on how you can learn about the cultures of people you know.
- Think about one or two actions you can take—something you can do now to learn about other people’s cultures—and try one of them in the next two days.
Attribution & References
Except where otherwise noted, this page is adapted from “How Interculturally Competent Are You?” In Advancing Intercultural Competence for Global Learners by Christine McWebb, Sandra López-Rocha, & Dr. Elisabeth Arévalo-Guerrero, CC BY-NC 4.0
- Living abroad certainly provides you with opportunities to develop your intercultural competence as long as you make the effort to engage with local people instead of only surrounding yourself with people from your own or other countries. ↵
- Some key questions to ask in this case are: “With whom did you interact while you travelled? Did you travel with your family or a group? How did you get to know the local culture?” The answers to these questions may show limited interactions with the local culture and not many learnings from the experiences. ↵
- Languages are incredible tools that allow you to converse with other people and glimpse into their cultures, but this does not mean that you have an in-depth knowledge or understanding of another culture unless you are fully intentional about it. ↵
- This can indeed provide you with different perspectives, values, and ways of doing things, however, you may not have the awareness, knowledge, and skills that would facilitate your interactions with cultures outside those from your background. ↵
- Being from a minority group does not mean you do not hold stereotypes and biases; you may still hold prejudiced views about other minority groups and members of the dominant group and even have a preference or disregard for people from your own cultural group. ↵
- Regardless of your background, you are influenced by people, media, and the environment in which you live. It is also problematic if you are colour blind and see others as the same; you ignore other people’s histories and experiences. ↵
- Having friends from other cultures is an excellent way to start learning about others, but this can only work if you have several friends from that same cultural group. This way, you can see past personalities and start to identify common traits and shared outlooks amongst them. ↵
- Learning about ways to develop intercultural communication skills is extremely useful when interacting across cultures, but only attending sessions or reading about other cultures does not translate into true understanding and expanded knowledge. You must be intentional about engaging with what you are learning and continue to develop your competencies. ↵
- This could be an excellent opportunity to be exposed to different types of music, food, accents, languages, and so on, but what about your actual engagement with the community? Are you close to several members of different groups? In what ways? What are you learning beyond surface elements of culture? ↵
- International learners do not automatically learn to break stereotypes and intercultural barriers by being in a different country. They may interact with people, but they may not always have constant and meaningful interactions with domestic students. ↵
