Intercultural Communication Competence

M. Lustig and J. Koester concurred with D. K. Deardorff that there is still lack of agreement among experts when it comes to conceptualizing Intercultural Communication (ICC) Competence, although they see some agreements when it comes to certain basic features. There are various definitions of the term ICC competence provided by experts in the field of ICC. In the healthcare professions, researchers have recognized that communicating effectively with patients from different cultural groups is important. C. Briguglio described the importance of developing ICC competence among undergraduate students at the Curtin University of Technology, through planned training that consisted of directed discussions and exploration of cultural issues in ICC. Looking at ICC competence in the workplace, Y. Mao and B. Hale argued that Chinese employees who were more inter-culturally sensitive to other cultures tended to be more satisfied with the way they communicated with others in the organization.