The Benefits of the Third Space and the Intercultural Communication Competence Development of Students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence and Thirding

Abstract

Globalization is famously known for the ongoing expansion of the boundaries of travelling and contact between different cultures of the world; with it, the problem of a good interaction has also been raised. This explains the purpose of the present paper for it approaches the set of abilities that are necessary for students so that they be able to initiate, maintain and conclude a profitable act of communication with people pertaining to a culture different from their own. These aptitudes are gathered under the umbrella of intercultural communication competence, a domain which has started to be given growing attention lately especially with regard to students for they are the most resourceful human asset. The scope of the training in ICC entails a process which presupposes a passage through a third space – the name given to a rather psychological phase – which guarantees the success of the demarche. Thirding is an alternative theory whose innovation consists in the comprehension of both personal and public space with an addition of the third – which complements the first two with a dash of open-mindedness and friendliness.