Interdisciplinary communicative competence: From conceptualising to operationalising

Abstract

Introduction. Communication complexities which often occur in interdisciplinary work gave rise to the studies on teaching interdisciplinary communication. A growing need to provide pedagogical solutions to facilitate teaching interdisciplinary communication stimulated the research into language as a social practice to better understand communication process for interdisciplinary purposes.Aim. This exploratory study investigates the concept of interdisciplinary communicative competence and proposes a framework of interdisciplinary communicative competence with the focus on three underlying components: knowledge, skills, and personal attributes of interdisciplinary team members.Methodology and research methods. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The data obtained from 24 in-depth semi-structured interviews with five groups of higher education stakeholders (employers, academic directors of the programmes, professors, students, and alumni) revealed the existing interdisciplinary practices in the university and cross-functional practices in the companies. The proposed framework was empirically tested using an online survey with 139 responses from professors, students, and employers. The data processing techniques included the use of Kendall’s concordance coefficient, Cronbach’s alpha, and the principal component analysis.Results. The study presents the authors’ conceptualisation of interdisciplinary communicative competence and its framework as the result of the literature analysis and the empirical research. The findings provided evidence on the importance of language skills for effective interdisciplinary communication as perceived by 5 groups of respondents. The choice of language skills as a basic component of interdisciplinary communicative competence is justified.Scientific novelty. The study contributes to the conceptualisation of a framework of interdisciplinary communicative competence. The elements of the framework are identified and their relevance is empirically tested.Practical significance. The results of the empirical part of the study can be applied in the design of interdisciplinary learning process in higher education, for example, in the design of interdisciplinary courses, and teaching materials.