Relational–Compressed Communicative Competence (RCCC): Framework and Assessment Rubric for Digital Intercultural Exchange

Relational–Compressed Communicative Competence (RCCC) is proposed as an open research framework and assessment instrument for evaluating communicative presence in digitally mediated intercultural exchange. It responds to a gap between established language-proficiency frameworks, such as the CEFR, and the ways students increasingly communicate across cultures: through short-form video, captions, images, voice notes, emoji, comment threads, direct messages, and multilingual resources. RCCC does not replace the CEFR; it extends assessment into forms of asynchronous, multimodal, relational communication that conventional proficiency descriptors do not fully capture.

Version 1.0 defines five analytic dimensions: Relational Density (RD), Communicative Compression (CC), Dialogic Responsiveness (DR), Multimodal Integration (MI), and Intercultural Positioning Fluidity (IPF). Each is scored on a 0–5 scale using observable evidence from student-produced digital artefacts. The framework is designed for COIL, virtual exchange, intercultural digital exchange, and pluriliteracies-oriented language education. This document presents the conceptual basis, rationale, rubric, scoring guidance, limitations, and development pathway for RCCC.