Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence in Upper Secondary Education. CPR Plurilingüe La Salle

Abstract

Intercultural communicative competence (ICC), defined as the ability to interact effectively with people from other cultures is gaining relevance in an increasingly globalized world. The aim of this paper is to analyze the ICC of upper secondary students to determine their level of competence and to serve as a tool for the education community. The instrument used for the study is a questionnaire adapted from the Intercultural Communicative Competence Scale, which was applied to a sample of 52 students from the CPR Plurilingüe La Salle in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The main finding of the investigation is that ICC is higher in students that are able to recognize the existence of discrimination against people from other cultures. No statistically significant differences were found regarding gender or previous exposure to other cultures.