Byram's Model of Intercultural Communicative Competence. A Personal Reflection of my experiences in Liverpool

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Duisburg-Essen (Anglophone Studies), course: Interculturality in Theory and Practice, language: English, abstract: The following report gives an insight into my experiences and my process of developing intercultural communicative competences. It is without a doubt safe to assume that a stay abroad is a life-changing experience. Choosing to stay abroad is a great opportunity to practice one's language skills and develop intercultural competences. Whenever I thought of my stay abroad, I was intrigued by the idea of discovering new cultures and exploring new places. For someone who is attached to the familiar, the sheer thought of leaving one's comfort zone might be the biggest obstacle in this journey. And still, each year, thousands of people flock to other parts of the world, perhaps to gain awareness of different people, cultures, and places. As professor O'Dowd states, 'the (d)irect contact with members of the target culture can offer opportunities for developing the skills and attitudes of ICC, even though it's not proven that such a contact will easily lead to intercultural learning.' Nevertheless, these people come with a particular set of attitudes and stereotypes regarding the different people and cultures of the countries. Therefore it is crucial to know how the perception can change through interaction with others. According to this, it can be said that offering broader access to cultures might enable people to mingle in these cultures. This requires a certain finesse and knowledge. Otherwise, a welcoming encounter of different people and cultures cannot be assured, but rather a clash of different cultures. Therefore, 'language learning cannot be separated from culture learning as language manifests many of the social actions of a society and expresses the values and beliefs which underlie these actions'. Michael Byram's model of Intercultural Communicative Competence, in short, ICC, can serve as an explanatory model to trace my development during my stay abroad. Mind you, although I spent more than three months in Liverpool, I cannot draw fixed conclusions about certain things. Therefore, my knowledge and attitudes might differ compared to a person who spent a year abroad.