Developing Intercultural Competence and Intelligence in the ESP Classroom: Challenges in Higher Education

Introduction

Learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in higher education does not only mean mastering the grammar or the lexicon of the language, but also knowing about cultures and how to behave properly in the presence of people from different cultures; in other words, “to behave adequately in a flexible manner when confronted with actions, attitudes and expectations of representatives of foreign cultures” (Meyer, 1991, p. 138). This interaction, according to Byram, involves not only an effective exchange of information, but above all “the ability to decentre and take up the other’s perspective on their own culture, anticipating and where possible, resolving dysfunctions in communication and behaviour” (Byram, 1997, p. 42).

This approach has been developed in the work of Meyer (2000, as cited in Clouet, 2015, p. 46), who argues that intercultural competence is a combination of social and communication skills, including empathy, conflict management skills, the ability to work collaboratively, ESP flexibility, ESP awareness, awareness of other cultures, reflection on one’s own cultural background and tolerance of ambiguity. In summary, intercultural communication involves dealing with one’s own cultural context in interaction with others (Clouet, 2015, p. 46).

Many terms are in use under the umbrella of “intercultural competence”: intercultural sensitivity, intercultural awareness, intercultural understanding, intercultural learning, etc. However, following Moore-Jones’s recent research (2018) and applying it to the ESP classroom in higher education, three stages can be identified in the acquisition of this competence. There is indeed a progressive development from (1) intercultural sensitivity, when our students start studying, bringing diverse backgrounds and experiences into the ESP classroom; (2) to intercultural competence, with a growing awareness of the role that ESP education plays in developing tolerance and understanding between people from different cultural backgrounds; (3) and eventually intercultural intelligence described by Peterson as “the ability to engage in a set of cultural behaviors that uses skills (i.e., language or interpersonal skills) and qualities (e.g., tolerance for ambiguity, flexibility) that are tuned appropriately to the culture-based values and attitudes of the people with whom one interacts” (Peterson, 2004, p. 87), supposedly in the students’ future work environment which higher education institutions prepare them for.

This final stage, intercultural intelligence, is the meeting point between one’s own culture and the target culture where the obstacles caused by exoticism, categorization, stereotypes, and prejudices have been overcome. This space of encounter, which many theorists of interculturality call the “third space”, is created between cultures and leaves room for movement and change.

To reach this final stage, this chapter will insist on the importance of the ESP teacher’s role as a mediator during the process of intercultural awareness acquisition. The authors propose a model for this teacher-mediator to design ESP courses and appropriate tasks that focus on building and strengthening higher education learners’ intercultural competence so that they gradually become interculturally intelligent.