Intercultural Communication Skills as an International Tool for the Development of English-Language Communicative Competencies

Abstract

The aim of this experimental study was to find out whether intercultural communication skills can be used as a tool to develop communicative English-speaking competencies. The experience of three countries: the Netherlands, Singapore, and Belgium was used for this purpose. The population of these countries has a high level of English as a foreign language. The pedagogical experiment was conducted in the course of research. A survey of the 137 participants in the experiment was conducted. The results were processed by mathematical methods of analysis of variance, Cohen’s coefficient and Pearson’s chi-squared test. Statictica software was also used. It was found that the use of such English teaching methods as watching English-language films, and reading English-language art works in the original language promotes the development of intercultural communication skills. Participation in live communication between students and English-speaking foreign classmates and virtual exchange are effective. However, the best results can be achieved by applying these three methods in sequence. The study showed that the teaching methods used, which contributed to the development of intercultural communication skills, also had a positive impact on the development of English-language communicative competencies. The established connection gives grounds to claim that the intercultural communication skills can be used as a tool for the development of English-language communicative competencies. Further research should focus on finding ways to optimize curricula, finding effective methods and focusing participants on the development of intercultural communication skills.