On The Development Of Intercultural Communication Competence: A Blog-Based Approach

The rapid development of communication technology and the globalization of economy make intercultural communication an indispensable part in modern life. More and more foreign language experts and scholars have reached a consensus that to develop intercultural communication competence of English learners is the ultimate goal of EFL (English as Foreign Language) teaching. In order to enhance learners'intercultural awareness and competence, English teachers should balance language teaching and culture teaching in class organically.Culture teaching in China's EFL classrooms has developed since the 1980s. Foreign language teachers and researchers have put forward many approaches to deliver culture teaching since then. In the course of searching for appropriate approaches, foreign language teachers have been turning to information technology for help in delivering cultural lessons in the Information Age.A blog, a newly developed Internet technology, is regarded as the fourth communication tool after E-mail, BBS, ICQ on the Internet. It has been got extensive application in numerous professions and realms in recent years thanks to its characteristics, and it also arouses many educators'interests in groping for its educational application.The thesis tries to introduce educational functions of blog into culture teaching and proposes that using blog as an auxiliary tool in culture teaching can make up for the deficiency of traditional classroom culture teaching in higher vocational colleges by analyzing blog's advantages in communication and its influence and functions in foreign language education. The thesis explores the feasibility of blog-based culture teaching from the perspectives of theory, technology and intercultural teaching. Blog-based culture teaching activities are also proved to be practically feasible by the author's implementation. The author thinks that students'intercultural awareness and intercultural communication competence can be improved by well-designed culture teaching activities in blogs.