THE ROLE OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING BUSINESS ENGLISH
THE ROLE OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN TEACHING BUSINESS ENGLISH

Summary/Abstract: Back in 1993, in “Context and culture in language teaching”, Claire Kramsch rightfullynoted that “every time we speak we perform a cultural act.” As Business English trainers, our mainpurpose is to enhance learners’ ability to communicate successfully in various contexts.Consequently, the teaching and learning processes go well beyond language accuracy andvocabulary acquisition. It is therefore quintessential to integrate intercultural skills in the BusinessEnglish class. The aim of this paper is to discuss the main trends in developing interculturalcompetence in English by pointing to the main areas that need to be covered in order to enablelearners acquire the skills necessary to do business internationally. This may be achieved byunderstanding and actively using the rules that govern discourse conventions, country specifics,corporate cultures, gender issues, politeness, conflict management, etc. Whether the educationalsystem in our country can provide the appropriate context for acquiring these skills remains to bedebated. First, we will provide an overview of the main researchers’ work in the field of interculturalcommunication. Then, we will identify and discuss the key issues which are paramount to successfulbusiness communication. Finally, we will focus on how these key issues can be taught to, understoodand actively used by undergraduate Business students.

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