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A Multidimensional Model of Intercultural Communicative Competence
ZOU Yanqun
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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2026.01.002
Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China
The essence and composition of intercultural communicative competence have long been core proposition in academic research. Existing theories are mostly limited by Western-centrism and the separation of value and competence dimensions. Based on the dialectical thinking of the distinction between Dao (the way) and Qi (the instrument) in Chinese philosophy, this paper constructs a model of intercultural communicative competence integrating attitudinal values and metacognition. With the four-stage system of “appreciating one’s own culture, appreciating others’ cultures, achieving harmony in diversity, and pursuing universal unity” as the core of attitudinal values, the model takes the metacognitive knowledge dimension of self-cognition, other-cognition, task-cognition and strategy-cognition, as well as the metacognitive behavioral dimension of monitoring, reflection and regulation as its practical approach, revealing the dialectical relationship of the unity of Ti (substance) and Yong (function) and the circulation of knowledge and practice among all dimensions. Breaking through the instrumental rationality limitations of existing models, this study elevates intercultural competence from skill adaptation to a spiritual practice of civilizational symbiosis, and provides a new paradigm with both local subjectivity and academic inclusiveness for the theoretical construction of intercultural communicative competence in the era of globalization.
intercultural communicative competence, attitudinal values, metacognition
ZOU Yanqun, A Multidimensional Model of Intercultural Communicative Competence. US-China Foreign Language, January 2026, Vol. 24,
No. 1, 14-22 doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2026.01.002
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