Developing the intercultural component of communicative competence in students majoring in economics

The paper deals with the development of the intercultural component of communicative competence in students majoring in Economics. The relevance of the study is determined by the challenges of globalization and the modern labor market environment. The emphasis is placed on the distinctions between mentality and its linguistic aspects in Russian, Britain, and American culture. The author presents several exercises taken from textbooks and used in English classes by students of School of Economics and Institute of World Economy and Business of Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. These exercises facilitate the development of the intercultural component of communicative competence in students. It is concluded that the academic staff trains future business experts who can both speak English in the context of business community and successfully communicate with colleagues with different cultural backgrounds. At the same time, business communication is not based on the rules of native or international culture. In the author’s opinion, business partnership will be successful if the participants of communication know communication etiquette as well as respect values of both cultures and preserve their cultural identity.