A Dialectical Approach to the Synthesis of an „Integrated Process Model of Intercultural Competence“

Diana BebenovaNikolova

University of Rousse „Angel Kancev”

E-mail: dbebenova@uni-ruse.bg

Juliana Popova

University of Rousse „Angel Kancev”

E-mail: jppopova@uni-ruse.bg

Lyudmila Mihaylova

University of Rousse Angel Kancev”

E-mail: liudmilla@abv.bg

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present how the dialectical approach, proposed by Martin and Nakayama for use in intercultural communication analysis, can be applied to analyzing the process of acquiring intercultural competence in multicultural project teams, while the conclusions resulting from such an analysis can become the basis for developing an “Integrated Process Model of Intercultural Competence”.

First, the paper briefly discusses the three paradigms of communication dialectics described by the authors cited above. The discussion also covers accepted scientific models of intercultural competence, and their graphical diagrams are analyzed through the lens of Alfred Tarski’s Theory of Models. Applying the dialectical approach to theorizing on intercultural competence, the article offers a different view of this type of competence, and through the prism of the three dialectical paradigms also analyzes the specific characteristics of the communication process in cross-border project teams. The analytical conclusions form the basis for the synthesis of a theoretical concept of intercultural competence and a corresponding graphic model constructed according to the Model Theory requirements. This work was first presented by Bebenova-Nikolova under the name of “Integrated Process Model of Intercultural Competence”. The model is applied to the study of acquiring intercultural competence in multicultural teams during the implementation of projects under the Romania – Bulgaria Cross Border Cooperation Program 2007-2013.

Keywords: dialectical approach, intercultural communication, intercultural competence model.

Rhetoric and Communications Journal, Issue 40, July 2019

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