Intercultural communicative competence is essential for graduates wishing to work in the business sector. Such competence has become desirable for graduates who see themselves working in “demanding and highly-challenging international environments” (Sain, Kužnin and Roje 2017, 55‒56). In spite of the need for well-developed intercultural competence in the workplace, students of Economic and Business Science are rarely deliberately equipped with an understanding of what language, culture and communication entail. Against this background, we investigated if an intervention, in the form of a 28-lecture undergraduate course, can develop third-year BCom students’ intercultural competence so as to prepare them to deal with the heterogeneity that they will encounter in the workplace (and elsewhere), both in multilingual and multi-cultural South Africa and abroad. Based on eight of the skills and attributes identified by Deardorff (2004) as being markers of interculturally competent individuals (such as knowledge of self and others, respect, critical thinking skills, and an awareness of the importance of being interculturally competent), students (n=18) were assessed prior to the commencement of the course and again upon completion thereof. Pre- and post-course questionnaires were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively, and data were coded according to the eight Deardorff (2004) markers of intercultural competence. Additionally, a focus group discussion (n = 5) was held at the end of the course. The data showed that development took place in the students’ attitudes, knowledge and skills related to intercultural communicative competence. Certain markers of intercultural communicative competence, however, showed more substantial development than others, the notable marker showing such development being critical thinking skills. The finding is that skills indicative of intercultural competence can indeed be developed by means of a curriculum in such a way that students think more critically about (i) cultural and linguistic diversity and (ii) their responsibility as future leaders to communicate optimally in diverse cultural settings. Deliberately including courses on intercultural communication in programmes for students (not only students in Humanities and Social Sciences) could contribute to personal and professional development of students and lead to graduates who are better prepared for a career in multicultural national and international business sectors. Likewise, the introduction of in-service training in intercultural communicative competence can be considered for those who are no longer students, thereby contributing to improved intercultural communication in the workplace.

中文翻译：

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跨文化交际能力对国际商务专业的学生至关重要-但是可以教授吗？BCom大学三年级学生的情况

跨文化交流能力对于希望在商业领域工作的毕业生至关重要。对于那些认为自己在“苛刻且极富挑战性的国际环境”中工作的毕业生而言，这种能力已成为他们的理想之选（Sain，Kužnin和Roje 2017，第55-56页）。尽管在工作场所需要发达的跨文化能力，但经济与商业科学专业的学生很少刻意具备对什么语言，文化和交流的理解。在这种背景下，我们调查了以28堂本科课程为形式的干预措施是否可以培养BCom第三届学生的跨文化能力，从而为他们应对在工作场所遇到的异质性做好准备（以及别处），在南非和国外使用多种语言和多种文化。基于Deardorff（2004）确定的八种技能和属性，它们是具有跨文化能力的个人的标志（例如自我和他人的知识，尊重，批判性思维能力以及对成为跨文化能力的重要性的认识），学生们（ n = 18）在课程开始之前和课程结束后进行评估。对课前和课后问卷进行定性和定量分析，并根据Deardorff（2004）跨文化能力的八个标记对数据进行编码。此外，在课程结束时进行了焦点小组讨论（n = 5）。数据表明，与跨文化交际能力有关的学生的态度，知识和技能得到了发展。但是，跨文化交际能力的某些标志比其他标志显示出更大的发展，值得注意的标志是这种发展是批判性思维能力。研究发现，可以通过课程的方式真正培养出表明跨文化能力的技能，从而使学生更加批判地考虑（i）文化和语言多样性，以及（ii）作为未来领导者的责任，以便在不同文化中进行最佳沟通设置。故意在学生的课程中纳入跨文化交流课程（不仅是人文科学和社会科学专业的学生），可以促进学生的个人和专业发展，并为毕业生做好准备，为在国家和国际多元文化领域的职业做好准备。同样