Why do we teach intercultural competences?
Why is it so important to talk about intercultural competences in language learning contexts?
There are many situations in daily life when we follow specific communicational 'patterns'. They can vary from one culture to another and are characteristic of the communities concerned. Of course, also within a country's culture, various ways of communicating and interacting coexist, depending on e.g. the social, regional and situational context (e.g. people behave differently when greeting their boss at work or their best friend at a party). Awareness and knowledge of those 'patterns', as well as the ability to reproduce them facilitate communication in intercultural contexts.