1. Learning goals: cross- cultural action competence, multiple script behaviour & metacultural process competence

2. I. In which way does the own cultural heritage influence the perception of other cultures? „Die meisten Menschen sehen die eigene Kultur als den Mittelpunkt der Welt und den Maßstab aller Dinge“ Gerhard Maletzke

3. our perceptions of the environment are influenced by our cultural heritage we select these perceptions under the aspect of importance for us because of different experiences and values the same information is interpreted in different ways it is important to be aware of this influence on your perception

6. II. Is it possible to reach the learning goal „cross- cultural competence“ ? Is there a concrete goal you can reach or is cross-cultural competence a process of permanent learning?

7. „Culture is not static. Cultural beliefs and behaviors are always being influenced by new information and new experiences. Therefore, culture is fluid and dynamic, not something about which one can reach understanding in a single experience. Rather, learning about one’s own and others’ cultures is a lifelong process—a journey with many destinations.“ M. J. Hanson / E. W. Lynch

8. Richard Mead: fundamental change in a culture is slow, basic behaviour and basic values endure over generations the change is often only superficial when cultural change occurs, it is in most cases generated by economic change

9. III. Where is that goal? What does it mean to be competent in cross-cultural communication? „Culturally competent individuals have a mixture of beliefs/attitudes, knowledge/experience, and skills that help them to establish trust/rapport and communicate effectively with others.“ URL:www.acha.org

10. beliefs / attitudes: to be aware of the own cultural heritage and also respect and value different heritages to be sensitive to the own stereotypes of other cultures also respect the personal circumstances or influences of the person you are talking with

11. knowledge knowledge about the power structure in society specific information about the particular group you are working with

12. skills to generate wide variety of verbal and non-verbal responses to send and receive verbal and non- verbal messages accurately and appropriately

13. „Never try to take the manners of another as your own, for the theft will be immediately evident and the thief will appear as ridiculous as a robin with peacock feathers hastily stuck on.“ Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now (1993, pp. 27-28)

14. IV. Is it possible to coach cross-cultural competence and skills there are more and more institutes and firms, who offer training for cross- cultural competence (esp. in the USA, e.g. SIETAR) Beside the knowledge you can learn and the skills you can acquire, you need personal qualities like tolerance and world-mindedness

15. information or fact-oriented training attribution training experiential learning interaction approach cultural awareness cognitive-behaviour modification awareness of stereotypes and prejudices

16. V. What does „multiple script behaviour“ mean? every day you play a variety of different roles in society the role you take in depends on the situation and the position or the individuality of the person you are talking with that means: you have different „scripts“ in our head how to behave

17. For cross-cultural communication you have to learn a complete new „script“ „multiple script behaviour“ means the knowledge of different “scripts“ and the ability of switching from „script“ to „script“ (cf. optical illusion)

18. VI. What is „metacultural process competence“? the basis for metacultural process competence is the awareness of the own cultural background, the own behaviour (gesture, miming) it is important to distance from the own behaviour and the own view of life  to distance from Ethnocentrism

19. use of English as lingua franca still the problem of not using the native language variety of languages as the main- problem in cross-cultural communication