Turcheniuk, M.

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 305 UDC 811:111:378.091.3:62 CROSS-CULTRAL COMMUNICATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING  Turcheniuk M., lecturer Belarusian National Technical University Minsk, Republic of Belarus  New marketplaces are opened up with modern technology and the In-ternet. They let us promote businesses to new places and cultures. These opportunities show that people can work remotely as easy as to work personally. Cross-cultural communication is enhancing the new norm. Cross-cultural communication relates to social interaction across differ-ent cultures. In the age of globalization cross-cultural communication is a crucial issue. It is rather challenging for people to communicate effec-tively with people from other countries. People from different cultures have different ways of thinking, seeing, hearing and interpreting the world. Even when people speak the “same” language, equal words can mean different things to people from different cultures.  The chance for misunderstandings increases, when the languages are varied and speakers has to use translation to communicate. Variance be-tween cultures plays a crucial role in language teaching and learning, and moreover extra-linguistic aspects of cross-cultural communication (worldview, rituals, customs, human language, taboos, and stereotypes). It is crucial to evolve not only students’ language skills, but also their cross-cultural communication competence in a foreign language.  Culture is the major conception of cross-cultural communication. Culture not only dictates who talks what, how, why, and to whom, not only that helps to determine how communication continues. Cross-cultural communication studies communication across different cultures and societies, and how culture influences communication.  Practically every culture has “taboo” topics that are closed to discus-sion. In Japan, South Korea or China, issues about World War II are sen-sitive, especially if we know how they affect international relations in East Asia. In the USA, religion and politics are two areas that are contin-uously discussed and debated about with other Americans, but can be a very delicate issue when discussed with those outside the USA. Some scientists believe culture wouldn’t be feasible without language. Culture  306 influenced and formed language and language reflects culture. Brown, H. Douglas describes the two in this way: ‘A language is a part of culture and a culture is a part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture.’ Briefly, culture and language are indivisible. Grammatical competence, communicative competence, language pro-ficiency are the main competence of foreign language learning. Students should also be aware of various forms of non-verbal communication, such as gesture and facial expressions that are common in other culture, beside linguistic knowledge. So the students should know basis of non-verbal communication. Appropriate greetings and physical contacts are tricky issues in inter-cultural communication. But this knowledge is nec-essary for the basic level of business communication. For example, the firm handshake that is extensively accepted in the U.S. isn’t accepted in all other cultures. Moreover, it is obligatory to teach students how to use appropriate peculiarities in communication (greetings, farewells, idioms, ways of expressing politeness, etc.) besides to explore aspects of another lan-guage culture.  A foreign language speaker has to comply with all cultural norms adopted by native speakers. Learners have to learn how to express agreement or disagreement with the opinion of other communication participants, to react with emotional phrases to establish interpersonal relationships. Cross-cultural communication is the component of the general culture of student, which integrates the combination of knowledge, skills and values. References 1. Prosser, Michael H. Cross-Cultural Communication. – Encyclope-dia of Communication Theory, 2009.  2. Иванченко, Т. Ю. Cross Cultural Communication and Creativity in Foreign Languages Teaching and Learning / Т. Ю. Иванченко // Мо-лодой ученый. – 2013. – № 4 (51). – С. 561–564.   

Cross-cultral communication in foreign language teaching

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Cross-cultral communication in foreign language teaching

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