Egurnova A.A.

Komsomolsk-na-Amure State Technical University, Russia

Developing students’ skills of intercultural communication

Any language, no matter whether it’s native or a foreign one, serves as means of communication, as means of interaction of people. It should always be ready for usage in the emerging communicative situations. That’s why a person’s knowledge of a foreign language is primarily defined by his or her ability to communicate, to create and produce speech and to establish contacts with foreigners. So the task of an English teacher or instructor is to help students develop their speaking skills. Exactly for this purpose the practical course in culture of communication was created.

The notion “communication” is very complex and comprises not only the ability to speak, to listen and to understand, but also it includes non-verbal means, such as conditions and culture of communication, etiquette norms, knowledge of non-verbal forms of expression (gestures, facial expressions), etc. [1; 28]. Though all these aspects play not the least role in the process of communication, speaking skills are vital and basic in a standard conversation. If you cannot listen, cannot make contacts, speak in public or conduct negotiations than you cannot communicate. While developing students’ speaking skills teachers often face the problem of overcoming psychological barriers that interfere with the process of communication, like shyness, anxiety, embarrassment, low self-esteem, fear of speaking in public, or making a mistake, or being misunderstood. This causes students’ passivity, poor diction and on the whole withdrawing into themselves. Social and psychological exist in any person and are characteristic of any nation or society. These barriers are the so-called non-spoken set of rules and norms, which exist on the social level (i.e. they were created by some society as means of defending from strange, alien intrusions into different spheres of its life) and manifest themselves on the psychological level (i.e. in the behavior of a representative of this particular society).

As our life is abundant in various unpleasant events and situations happening to us, so our organisms are trained to turning mechanisms of internal protection on in order to save us from these sufferings. Flight is the simplest protective behavior. Flight or escape from the situation should not necessarily be real, on the contrary, it is internal and is realized in consciousness. When we are sure that finishing some deal will cause unpleasant experience, we refuse to carry it out. If social contacts mainly lead to troubles, there gradually forms a tendency to withdraw into oneself and to evade people. Such behavior is very characteristic of the Russians. We are not so open as westerners, smiling without any reason for that is not welcome. Speaking a different language in public places arouses an increased and abnormal interest in that person. All this has its origin from the Soviet times and still exists nowadays. The majority of us was and is often brought up in the spirit of collectivism, in the spirit of complete subordination of one’s interests to the interests of the body. This can still be traced in some native institutions, such as kindergartens, schools, etc., where some people command the others, make them do the things they don’t want to because they must be done, and nobody cares whether you like them or not; you should act like others do. That’s why we are accustomed to groups, to obey the leader and often cannot express our personal point of view on this or that topic and show our individuality; instead we become shy and hide our talents just like ostrich hides its head in the sand. So many our students do. They prefer to remain aloof or to agree with somebody’s opinion not to express their own because of some childish fear. Thus, real process of communication doesn’t take place. On the contrary, for American culture it’s quite common to act individually, in person and “cult of a separate person” or “cult of individualism” is supported and developed. Modern life and job market require just such independent, active, self-perfecting and developing personalities.

So the question arises: what are we supposed to do in this case?

We should develop students’ skills of intercultural communication. We should try to find a compromise between two cultures. Thus, teachers should help our students’ acquire social competency (ability to find compromise between social adaptation (to be like others) and self-realization (longing to be different)). This aim can be achieved in two steps:

1. formation of social skills, and self-confidence in particular

2. application of the skills mentioned above in social environment

The first step is the most difficult one. It comprises a certain set of exercises aiming to develop self-confidence (personal opinion, initiative, improvisation). Let’s consider some examples of them.

The first and a very interesting exercise is called “Associations” (used during the first lessons of a new topic, based on the vocabulary):

· The teacher makes cards with words and phrases, puts them on the table and each student takes one of them to illustrate this or that notion with the help of non-verbal means of expression and the rest should guess it. This exercise relaxes the atmosphere of a standard lesson, causes amusing effect and makes students feel open, at ease.

“Clearly and Distinctly” is an exercise that teaches students to provide other people with information clearly and distinctly [2].

· You should sit before your interlocutor at a comfortable distance and name the words and phrases clearly, not too loud, but also not too quietly, so that he or she could hear you. You shouldn’t stress your words, be strained and nervous. The teacher announces flunk in case any tenseness or wrong diction (such as, parasitic sounds “a”/“e”, intermittent cough, indistinctive speech) appears. This exercise gives you the feeling of confidence and of ease showing that you are ready to make a report before a person without any tenseness and useless interjections. To strengthen the effect of this exercise we also use different tongue-twisters as gymnastics for lips and tongue, and an effective training to perfect and “polish” good, smooth speech. For example:

Ø Amidst the mists and coldest frosts,
With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts,
He thrusts his fist against the posts
And still insists he sees the ghosts.

Ø Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?

Ø I cannot bear to see a bear
Bear down upon a hare.
When bare of hair he strips the hare,
Right there I cry, "Forbear!"

Ø Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.

Ø I thought a thought
But the thought I thought
Was not the thought
I thought I thought.

The next exercise is “Freedom of speech and opinions”. It takes place in the middle or at the end of the unit under discussion. It includes preparation of different reports concerning the topic, their presentation and discussion. Such exercise requires independence of research, ability to find not just poor information concerning the topic, but interesting and actual to the audience. It also includes the work with the dictionary and thus helps students enlarge their vocabulary. Constant use of this exercise trains students to make speeches and present them in public.

The 2^nd step in forming social competency is application of these acquired skills in social environment. After long preparations, at the end of the 6^th semester each student specializing in Intercultural Communication made an excursion about the town and conducted it in English, describing peculiarities of the chosen sight. After that we had a discussion with the students about the most difficult points, emotions and feelings before and after the excursions were done. They were asked to write about the kind of fear or uncomfortable feeling they had while conducting the excursion. And the majority of them mentioned the situation when passers-by stared and even pointed with the finger at them. It made the students feel embarrassed and forget the words. At that moment we all (students and teacher) tried to speak English in order to support our guide and give him or her a few minutes to summon up the courage and collect the thoughts. Other unpleasant moments include fear of meeting one’s acquaintances and forgetting the necessary words.

However the students experienced some good emotions too. They enjoyed communicating in the open air with the people who supported them; those excursions made their group more united and their relations closer. Besides, they got a very good experience in speaking English in public places; it turned out to be not so easy as they had expected, even with a well-prepared speech. Though, I can say that the students made a great progress in overcoming psychological difficulties and didn’t give up speaking English under those uncomfortable conditions.

In conclusion it should be noted that developing students’ skills of intercultural communication is a long and constant process. As our life goes on, nothing remains the same, and our society is not an exception to this rule. People of our country change too, they get used to new conditions and norms of life. We learn to communicate and to behave just like the rest persons of our civilized world do in order to become successful in business, relations and in life as a whole.

References:

1. S. G. Ter-Minasova «Language and intercultural communication», 2000

2. L. Ron Habbard «Success in communication» (on-line library)