Cross-cultural Communication

In this subject, students will acquire the basics of cross-cultural competence – theoretical knowledge about the concepts of culture and communication, different typologies and classifications, peculiarities of verbal and non-verbal cross-cultural communication, barriers to efficient inter-cultural communication. Students will acquire practical skills to critically assess cultures from different perspectives, explain strategies of efficient communication and acquire cultural awareness, important in building successful and professional relationships in diverse backgrounds. Students will analyse and critically evaluate the impact of cultures on individual and group communication in multicultural study and work environments, analyse and present research based theoretical articles, perform an individual research project on cultural peculiarities of a chosen country and a group project working in an international group, present project results and prepare a research report, participate in discussions.

To provide students with theoretical background of cross-cultural communication, necessary for professional activity and intercultural communication, developing their critical approach, values and cultural awareness and help them acquire practical skills necessary for efficient cross-cultural and intercultural communication.

English language C1 competence.

1. Definitions of culture, communication, intercultural and cross-cultural communication. 2. Culture Shock (Robert Kohl). Management of Culture Shock. 3. Essentialist (descriptive) vs Non-essentialist (dynamic constructivist) approach to cultures. 4. Typologies and classifications of cultures: E. Hall’s Low and High Context Cultures. 5. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's Values Orientation Theory. 6. G. Hofstede’s 6-D Model of Cultures. 7. Hampden-Turner and Trompenaar‘s Cultural Dimensions. 8. Pragmatics of Cross-cultural communication 9. Language, culture, and verbal and nonverbal communication across cultures: definitions, types, functions. 10. Cultural metaphors: culture as an iceberg, coconut and peach cultures, grammar of culture (Adrian Holliday). 11. Richard Lewis model of cultures – behaviour dimensions and culture codes. 12. Cultural practices – tangible and intangible elements of culture. 13. Barriers to intercultural communication: Ethnocentrism. Prejudice. Stereotyping. 14. Social etiquette. 15. How culture affects the way we communicate. Positive vs negative language in communication

1. Basic concepts of culture, communication, cross-cultural and intercultural communication defined properly, the main features of highlighted and basic kinds of verbal and non-verbal communication singled out. 2. Cultures explained and compared, based on different culture classifications, typologies and dimensions. 3. The samples of folk wisdom of several countries collected while working in an international group, compared, finding their similarities, differences, possible etymological explanations, and the research results presented comprehensively. 4. An individual research report prepared, providing an argumentative discussion on the collected and analysed cultural elements and their etymological explanations, following the requirements of formal text writing, in-text citation and referencing. 5. Cultural peculiarities of the chosen country identified, research results summarized and presented, introducing tangible and intangible cultural elements, emphasizing relation between language and cultural communication. 6. Different approaches cohered, responsibility assumed for effective communication and collaboration with peers in the intercultural group while performing folk wisdom research. 7. Possible barriers to efficient intercultural communication in multilingual and multicultural context identified and explained on the basis of various perspectives.