Training Strategies of Cross-Cultural Communication Competence in Chinese Police

[a]Sichuan Police College, Luzhou, China.

*Corresponding author.

Supported by the Scientific Research Project of Sichuan Province Education Department “The Cultivation of Intercultural Communicative Competence in English Teaching of Police” (13SB0176).

Received 10 February 2014; accepted 18 May 2014

Published online 27 June 2014

Abstract

Meeting the requirements of social development, Police colleges should be enhance their global awareness to cultivate their students of intercultural communicative competence. The author try to combine cross-cultural communication theories with metacognitive strategies, making use of metacognitive strategy to promote learners’ autonomous learning ability, accordingly, improving the competence of international communication in the teaching of Police College.

Key words: Intercultural communicative competence; Metacognitive strategies

Bai, W. (2014). Training Strategies of Cross-Cultural Communication Competence in Chinese Police College. Cross-Cultural Communication, 10(4), -0. Available from: http///index.php/ccc/article/view/5059

DOI: /10.3968/5059

Against the backdrop of new economy and globalization, Chinese policemen are facing new challenges. They need to have strong communicative competence in English to deal with transnational crime. As a cultivating policemen organization, Police College pay more attention to intercultural communicative competence in the English teaching. So how to teach our students to communicate effectively with foreigners, cultivating their cross- cultural communicative competence becomes an issue that we should be think about.

1. TRANSFORMATION OF TEACHING IDEA PAY MORE ATTENTION TO CULTIVATE CROSS- CULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

1.1 Cross-Cultural Communicative Competence

Cross- cultural communicative competence focuses on the following two aspects: cross- culture and foreign language education. With the development of globalization, the teaching concept of Chinese Police College must be changed, not just for traditional foreign language education but for cross-cultural communicative competence. The emphasis of the cross-cultural communication is a word “cross”, namely the two communicating participants come from different cultural backgrounds whose communication is likely to create barriers. The relevant talents of police college cultivating should be familiar with the English national culture, religion and law. That is culture of the cross.

Since communicative approach has been developed in many western countries in 1970s, the movement of teaching language as communication has spread all over the world. Intercultural communicative competence became the most noticeable in the development of foreign language teaching. Canale and Swain (1980) proposed a most influential model, in which four areas of knowledge and skills constitute communicative competence: grammatical, socio-linguistic, discourse and strategic competences (Canale & Swain, 1980; Canale, 1983; Swain, 1984)

1.1.1 Grammatical Competence

Grammatical competence, including the rules of vocabulary, spelling, pronunciation, and sentence, is the basis of correct understanding and expression information. In a large extent, Grammar ability is independent of the context, not to be restrained a specific culture.

1.1.2 Sociolinguistic Competence

Sociolinguistic competence: the competence to use and interpret language with situational appropriateness. According to various contextual factors, properly using and understanding the words in all kinds of social occasions, It can change vocabulary, syntax and non-verbal behavior with the change of the communication object and communication context.

1.1.3 Discourse Competence

Discourse ability refers to reasonably organize the form and the meaning of the language, which perceive and achieve coherence of separate utterances in meaningful communication patterns. In different style, such as narrative, argument, scientific reports and business correspondence, it can combine grammar form as a whole in oral or written reports. Discourse ability zigzag reflects the fundamental cultural patterns of particular cultural groups, the basic thinking mode and related to the beliefs and values. Scollon & Wong Scollon (Young, 1994; Scollon & Wong Scollon, 1991).

1.1.4 Strategic Competence

The ability is the practical activities , which use all forms of communication strategy to deal with and resolve communication difficulties and problems, due to external conditions or lack other aspects ability. ( Paribakht, 1985).

In conclusion, the ability of grammar and strategy plays an important role in the cross-cultural communicative competence. The reason is that the ability of grammar and strategy has the nature of the cross-culture, less associated with culture comparing with other two aspects ability. As a result, it is easier to implement in the teaching because of going beyond the confines of the particular culture.

1.2 The Levels of Cross- Cultural Communicative Competence Training

The cultivation of intercultural communication competence should be divided into layers. Firstly, it is primary for learners to train the basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating in the period of basic education. Namely, it is the layer of teaching the learners’ knowledge in English. Secondly, it is the layer of the cultivation of the culture. The situation will become complicated as soon as it is related to the culture. On the one hand, learners should be master the basic knowledge of native language and understand national culture before learning and understanding foreign language and culture. On the other hand, learners know the geography and history of foreign countries and understand their history, philosophy, literature, music, religion, etc. it is necessary to know mass culture including customs and habits, leisure activities, ritual and ceremony, food and clothing, as well as the lifestyle. Last but not least, learners should understand the deeper culture, involving in social structure, ideology, political system, social value, time orientation, the pace of life, the way to solve the problem, and individual associated with gender, class and occupation. In particular, these three kinds of culture are close and inseparable.

It is important for learners to deal with the situation in the cross-cultural communication with acquiring the knowledge of the language and culture. It means that learners should have corresponding strain capacity when they deal with people with different cultural background. Encouraging learners to participate in the practice of cross-cultural communication, they will deepen the understanding of cultural differences. Combining theory with practice, they will evaluate correctly their cultural differences. In the meantime, Only a correct understanding and evaluation of the cultural differences, can they achieve intercultural communication in practice. In summary, Police colleges should pay attention to the cultivating of cultural qualities instead of the training of skills. Intercultural communicative competence training goal is to cultivate students’ sensitivity to cultural differences, tolerance and the flexibility of dealing with cultural differences. That is to say, training learners correct understanding and the correct attitude of cultural differences, as well as the ability to correctly deal with cultural differences, which can overcome communication barriers caused by cultural differences.

2. AUTONOMOUS LEARNING AND THE CULTIVATION OF METACOGNITIVE STRATEGY

2.1 The Reason of Advocating the Autonomous Learning

The goal of modern education is cultivating students’ ability of autonomous learning, because many universities pay more and more attention to the enhancement of ability and comprehensive quality of human being in modern society. The cultivation of the intercultural communication ability, only combined with multimedia network, can get twice the result with half the effort. Therefore, the education of police colleges should meet the development of the society and cultivate students’ independent thinking ability. Namely, cultivating the students’ learning autonomy, students have self-management ability and skills of learning.

2.2 Autonomous Learning Ability and Metacognitive Strategy

In view of the close relationship between autonomous learning ability and metacognitive strategy, many scholars begin to study the strategy training, especially the training of metacognitive strategy and try to develop the students’ ability of autonomous learning. Training metacognitive strategy contributes to improve students’ ability of management and controlling, meanwhile, students can select the method of learning as required. The goal of talents training in the police colleges is to cultivate the talents of the high quality and the compound applied talents. To meet this goal, teaching method must be changed from the traditional teacher-centered theory to student-centered theory, cultivating self- regulation of learning of learners.

2.3 Metacognitive Strategy

Metacognitive strategy is a type of learning strategies, belonging to the category of metacogn-ition in accord with metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive strategies is that learners in learning activities plan consciously, create learning environment, and overcome the unfavorable factors, consequently, completing the plan and self-assessment as well as self-supervision. Metacognitive strategies can be further divided into planning strategy, monitoring strategy and evaluating strategy.

2.3.1 Planning Strategy

Learners, according to their learning tasks, set goals, browse the various learning material, ask questions and analysis how to complete the study tasks. Whatever learners finish their homework or cope with the test, Learners in their class should have a general “countermeasures”. Successful students are not just listening to lectures, taking notes and waiting for the teacher to assign test material. They can plan the period of finishing the homework, get related information before writing, review notes before the exam, organize study group, and make use of a variety of other methods.

2.3.2 Monitoring Strategy

In the process of cognitive activities, learners can estimate their levels and degree of the cognitive goals, according to the plan established, monitoring, assessments and feedback of learning activities. Meanwhile, they will estimate the effect of cognitive action and strategy with standards of effectiveness. Furthermore, monitoring strategies can be subdivided into comprehensive monitoring and tracking note. For example, skilled readers use comprehensive monitoring strategies throughout reading. In their mind, there are the target of comprehension, such as finding some details and seeking the main points, etc. so they browse the text for this target. With the execution of the strategy, skilled readers will experience a feeling of satisfaction because of reaching the goals, if they find out the important details, or seized the gist of the text. If they don’t meet a final goal of comprehensive monitoring, they will take remedial measures, such as browsing the material again, or reading the text more carefully.

Individuals make use of some standards to assess their learning progress. Self-monitoring can make learners evaluate correctly the processes and results of thinking by activating or repressing other processes. Self-monitoring can improve the students’ academic record and the performance of the classroom. When they monitor themselves, they will exert autonomous learning strategy to retelling and memory, self-assessment, environment construction, review previous tests and assignments. They keep a watchful eye on the effectiveness of learning strategies and the adaptation of learning surroundings. It follows that Self-monitoring is the key to autonomous learning. only to self-monitoring learning, autonomous learning is possible.

2.3.3 Evaluating Strategy

Checking the outcomes of their performance against an internal measure of completeness and accuracy; checking their repertoire, strategy, use, or the ability to perform the task at hand, learners will adjust to appropriate measures and make learning smoothly.

There are interactions among the three aspects of metacognitive strategy. Generally, learners understand their current tasks. And then, they evaluate their own understanding, arrange the learning time, and choose effective planning to study or to solve the problem.

The proper use of metacognitive strategies not only promotes learners language acquisition, but also cultivates learners’ autonomous competence (O‘Malley & Chamot, 1990 & 2001). More and more researchers begin to pay high attention to the relationship of metacognitive knowledge and learners’ autonomy.

2.4 The Function of Metacognitive Strategy

In the learning progress, metacognitive strategy has three function as followed:

(a) It makes the learners aware and experience variables in learning situations, as well as the relationship and changes of these variables. (b) It makes the learners aware and experience what methods they can choose, which enable them to choose, arrange, use, and adjust their learning methods according to the relationship and changes of these variables in the course of learning. Once the learners have obtained the function of learning methods and the scope and conditions for applies, they can choose one of the most effective ways to learn. (c) It activates the using of learning methods, based on the characteristics of the learning tasks. Learners can adjust and control the using of the learning methods in time, according to the changing of learning tasks. Considering the evaluation of learning effect as a way to improve their learning methods, learners focus to the importance of evaluating the strategies objectively, based on learning effect.

3. METACOGNITIVE STRATEGY AND CROSS―CULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

The cross-cultural communicative competence to which this paper pays attention is that emphasizes the language and language communication ability of the teaching, As mentioned before, we have known that grammatical competence and strategic competence in the theory of cross- cultural communicative competence carry out easily in teaching, because of less relation to the culture. The theory of metacognitive strategy applies to the teaching practice, cultivating autonomous learning ability of learners. It is very important for learners to acquire cross- cultural communicative competence. It is manifested in learning second language. Exerting planning strategies, learners make sure the direction and aim of their second language learning, and set up the planning of learning. Exerting monitoring strategy, learners consciously monitor learning method, process, effect and activities such as the implementation plan. Exerting evaluating strategy, learners evaluate their learning process and adjust the strategy adopted by the plan and process according to the actual conditions. Thus, Metacognitive strategy plays a very important role in second language learning. Students will form the meta cognitive ability while they grasp metacognitive strategy mastery of metacognitive strategy to form the meta cognitive ability. Consequently, Students know how to learn with metacognitive ability. Only when learners grasp metacognitive strategy, they can be autonomous learners.

How to help students to master meta-cognitive strategy as soon as possible in the second language teaching practice, to cultivate meta-cognitive ability and construct a reasonable knowledge framework and develop the potential of mind? The specific ways as follows.

3.1 Developing the Students’ Metacognitive Awareness and Creating the Metacognitive Learning Environment

Metacognitive awareness includes positive learning attitude, self-confidence and self-consciousness. in the process of metacognitive awareness, they interaction each other. (Ellis, 1999) Helping learners to find suitable second language learning strategies, they choose different learning strategy according to different stages of their learning and realize the importance of correct selection strategy.

3.2 Enhancing the Students’ Metacognitive Monitoring Ability

Metacognitive monitoring the core of metacognition. The individuals evaluate the learning process continuously, and adjust plans, choose the appropriate method, in order to ensure the effective of tasks The learner of a second language through the second language or foreign language learning experience and monitor cognitive activities, meanwhile, they accumulate a lot of knowledge about their cognition, experience and monitoring. These metacognition components guide and regulate the perception of input information, choice, reconstitution, storage, retrieval and output of the cognitive process.

3.3 Improving the Students’ Ability of Self-Assessment

Self-assessment plays an essential role throughout the metacognitive strategy training. Its purpose is to keep track of their level and progress of learning and achieves the target. Assessment can be optimized promoter of the learning process. It is the necessary premise condition to test and evaluate the learning process and learning effect. In order to evaluate their learning outcomes objectively and fairly, Students must improve scientific and reasonable self-assessment.

In conclusion, cultivating goal of Police College is to cultivate the high quality and the compound applied talents. We should transform the mode of teaching from the traditional teacher-centered to student-centered, cultivating learners’ autonomous learning ability. Using metacognitive strategy in the process of learning, can promote learners’ autonomous learning ability. The reason is that learners with training metacognitive strategy have the direction, the purpose, and the plan of learning, correctly evaluating themselves and consciously avoiding and correcting the mistakes. Learners have transformed from external control to automatic control, from passive to active, from conscious to automation. At the same time, learners show stronger motivation and initiative in the learning process which make the metacognitive ability to play its way fully.

In general, the talents with cross-cultural communication competence meet the requirements of social development and individual’s development in around way. Police College, as a cultivating policemen organization, should make use of metacognitive strategy to promote learners’ autonomous learning ability, accordingly, improving the competence of international communication.

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