Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) describes the ability to interact with people from different cultures effectively and appropriately. In the impact of globalization and information technology development, social media facilitates intercultural communication and open a new space for intercultural interactions. As the impact of social media on ICC is not often explored, this study would shed light on this unexplored domain and focus on Chinese people who currently live in Sweden by asking the question: How does social media influence the ICC of Chinese people living in Sweden? This study adopts a mixed method: it uses a survey questionnaire followed by individual interviews, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. As a result, two factors stimulating ICC are identified. The role of social media on ICC when residence in the host country is confirmed, and two stages of ICC development associated with social media in the host country are explored. Last but not least, social media seems to influence the ICC of Chinese people living in Sweden in a positive way, however this positive impact is not independent of real social interaction with the host culture. / Interkulturell kommunikationskompetens (ICC) beskriver möjligheten att integagera med människor från olika kulturer på ett effektiv och lämplig sätt. Globalisering och utveckling av informationsteknologin har gjort att det underlättar sociala mediers interkulturell kommunikation och öppnar nya sätt för interkulturella interactioner. Eftersom konsekvenserna av sociala medier angående ICC undersöks sällan ska denna studie lyfta fram denna outforskade domän, focus ska ligga på personer med kinesikt härkomst som för närvarande bor i Sverige genom att ställa frågan: Hur påverkar sociala medier ICC för personer som bor I sverige av med kinesikt härkomst? Denna studie anammar en blandad metod: den använder en enkätundersökning följt av individuella intervjuer, samlar både kvantitativ och kvalitativ data. Som resultat identifieras två faktorer som stimulerar ICC. Sociala mediernas roll på ICC när bosättning i värdlandet bekräftas, och två steg i ICC-utvecklingen i samband med sociala medier i värdlandet utforskas. Sist men inte minst verkar sociala medier påverka den kinesiska befolkningens ICC på ett posetivt sätt, men denna positiva påverkan är beroende av verklig social interaktion med värdkulturen.

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This study investigated the intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication apprehension of Chinese international students. Participants in the study consisted of Chinese international students over 18 years old studying at two 4-year public universities in the southeastern United States. The study participants completed 2 online survey questionnaires: the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), which measured the degree of intercultural communication competence, and the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA), which measured the degree of intercultural communication apprehension. The findings of the study indicated a significant relationship between Chinese international students' intercultural communication competence and their intercultural apprehension. Findings also noted that gender, age, number of U.S. friends, and level of education were not factors predicting the participants' degree of intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication apprehension. However, frequency of speaking English outside of the classroom was an important factor indicating differences in the degree of the study participants' intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication apprehension. In addition, the study revealed that the length of time in the United States affected participants' intercultural communication competence but not their intercultural communication apprehension.

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Au Canada, les diplomates de carrière sont mutés à l’étranger tout au long de leur carrière. En raison de la nature intrinsèquement internationale et interculturelle du travail diplomatique, des compétences en communication interculturelle (CCI) sont essentielles aux diplomates. Pourtant, les études consacrées à la CCI et à l'expatriation ont négligé cette population, utilisant plutôt des échantillons de voyageurs, d'expatriés du secteur privé ou d'étudiants en échange universitaire. Partant du principe que les diplomates sont des expatriés particuliers en raison de leur situation spéciale à l’étranger, cette étude a pour objectif de remédier à cette lacune dans la littérature. Utilisant une méthodologie qualitative, cette étude examine les expériences d’affectation à l’étranger de diplomates canadiens à travers l’optique conceptuelle de la CCI. Les données ont été recueillies à travers des entretiens individuels semi-structurés avec douze diplomates canadiens, et analysées selon une approche dialectique combinant les principes de la théorie de la dialectique relationnelle et du postmodernisme. L’analyse a identifié cinq tensions dialectiques, trois au niveau individuel et deux au niveau organisationnel. Ce mémoire contribue à la littérature interculturelle en théorisant la CCI en tant que concept organisationnel, en repensant la compétence en tant que gestion durable de dialectiques et en réfléchissant la CCI sur une échelle de temps de moyen terme. / In Canada, career foreign service employees are posted abroad on a rotational basis throughout their career. Because of the inherently international and intercultural nature of diplomatic work, intercultural communication competenies are essential for diplomats. Yet, studies examining intercultural communication competence (ICC) and expatriation have neglected this population, instead employing samples of sojourners, private sector expatriates or exchange students. Based on the premise that diplomats are particular expatriates because of their special circumstances abroad, this study aims to remedy this gap in the literature. Using qualitative methodology, this study examines the experiences on posting of Canadian diplomats through the conceptual lens of ICC. Data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews with twelve Canadian diplomats on posting, and analyzed through a dialectical approach combining tenets of relational dialectics theory and postmodernism. Analysis identified five dialectical tensions, three which interplayed at the individual level and two which interplayed at the organizational level. This thesis contributes to the intercultural literature by theorizing ICC as an organizational-level construct, by re-thinking competence as the sustainable management of dialectics, and by considering ICC on a meso-time scale.

Cette thèse se propose d’étudier l’exploitation des documents authentiques dans le cadre de l’enseignement/apprentissage du français langue étrangère à des publics chinois dans une perspective interculturelle. Nous avons d’abord essayé de comprendre l’émergence et l’imposition d’une approche interculturelle au sein de la didactique du F.L.E. en traçant l’évolution historique des méthodologies universalistes des langues étrangères, et d’étudier les rôles que jouent des documents authentiques dans l’enseignement des langues étrangères, en vue de développer une compétence de communication interculturelle. Ensuite, nous avons tenté de justifier notre étude à partir d’une recherche empirique reposant d’une part sur une présentation-analyse de la situation actuelle de l’enseignement du F.L.E. en Chine (l’enseignement universitaire) et d’autre part sur une enquête menée auprès des apprenants et des enseignants. Enfin, nous avons abordé l’impact des documents authentiques comme outil didactique pour une approche interculturelle de l’enseignement/apprentissage du français à travers d’une expérience d’enseignement mené dans une université chinoise pendant un semestre universitaire. / This thesis proposes to study the use of authentic documents in the teaching/learning of F.L.E. (French as a foreign language) to Chinese students in an intercultural perspective. We first tried to understand the emergence and imposition of an intercultural approach in the didactic of F.L.E. today. We also studied the roles of authentic documents in the teaching of foreign languages in order to develop intercultural communication competence. We then tried to justify our study from an empirical research based firstly on a presentation-analysis of the current situation of the teaching of F.L.E. in China (the university) and secondly on a survey of learners and teachers. Finally, we discussed the impact of authentic materials as teaching tool for an intercultural approach to teaching/learning of French through a teaching experience conducted in a Chinese university for one academic semester.