Interactive sociocultural assignments for training students in intercultural communication

Abstract

Article’s purpose. Considered in the article is the problem of teaching intercultural communication in the context of a professional and business spheres. Methodology. The author substantiates the idea that the speech activity of a foreign language speaker is defined by the ethnopsychological peculiarities characteristic of a particular sociocultural environment. The author suggests that teaching intercultural communication should be organized in accordance with the indicative and performing stages. The indicative stage involves acquiring the knowledge of the ethnopsychological characteristics of the native speaker of the target language and developing the skills to navigate in a foreign language interlocutor. The aim of the performing stage is to develop the students' ability to realize effective interaction with the native speaker of the language being studied using typical behavior strategies. It is advisable to use the assignments aimed at teaching effective intercultural communication which can be used at both stages of training. Scientific novelty. The author presents the examples of indicative and interactive tasks which can be usedfor teaching intercultural communication (ICC). It is noted in the article that the indicative tasks aimed at analyzing the situations of ICC can also be used as interactive tasks and involve discussion and staging of these situations of interaction between the speakers of different cultures. Special attention is paid to such a technique as cultural assimilators, the purpose of which is to teach them to consider the situations of ICC from the point of view of the speaker of a different culture and to understand a different perception of reality. Situations analyzed in cultural assimilators that can be used at indicative and performing stages. At the performing stage the task is to act out the situation in the cultural assimilator according to the relevant behavioral characteristics of the speakers of the target culture. In this case, cultural assimilators can be used as the interactive tasks. Conclusion. A set of interactive sociocultural assignments presented in the article is suggestedfor training students in intercultural communication.