International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Scholars and teachers have endeavored to understand communication competence by defining it conceptually and identifying the components that comprise it. Some researchers have studied why communication competence is important for students, while others have collaborated with employers and policymakers to develop “lists” of basic and advanced student communication competencies. As a result of public mandates from accrediting agencies and academic administrators, still others have examined how to assess students' communication competence. While these studies were mainly carried out in the US, scholars in other countries have demonstrated keen interest in understanding intercultural communication competence – communicating across cultural differences. Finally, some researchers, in and outside the US, are considering variations in communication competence based on the impact of culture, the information society, and emerging technologies. Communication researchers have defined communication competence as the extent to which people achieve their desired goals through communication that is acceptable in the situation. This competence involves the use of verbal and/or nonverbal behavior to effectively accomplish preferred outcomes in a way that is appropriate to the context and the communicators ( Morreale et al. 2012 ). This conceptualization suggests communication is competent when it ... log in or subscribe to read full text