Sociocultural competence is that aspect of communicative ability which involves those specific features of a society and its culture which are manifest in the communicative behaviour of the members of this society. These features may be classified as ‘universal experiences’, ‘social rituals’ and ‘social conventions’ (see below). The degree of familiarity with them which is required for successful communication depends on the circumstances in which the communication takes place. It will probably be higher in contacts with native speakers of the foreign language (especially when the learner is a temporary resident rather than a visitor) than when the foreign language is used as a lingua franca. Like Threshold, Vantage is designed to suit all these types of contact. This means, on the one hand, that in attempting to indicate what may be expected of a learner at this level we have to focus on the more predictable kind of contact, that with native speakers of the foreign language and particularly with such native speakers in their own country. On the other hand it means that an alertness has to be stimulated in the learners to unexpected sociocultural differences between their communication partners and themselves. This applies particularly when English is in use as a medium of international communication between non-native speakers from different cultures. Learners cannot take it for granted that their interlocutor will share either their own values, attitudes, beliefs and social conventions or those of Anglo-Saxon peoples.