Intercultural Communication

3 ECTS credits
90 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4020580EER for all students in the 1st semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Possible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

English

Faculty

Faculty of Languages & Humanities

Department

Linguistics and Literary Studies

Educational team

Jianwei Xu (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

13 contact hours Lecture
13 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
40 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

In this course we take an interactional approach to examining intercultural communication between people of different backgrounds and social groups. We will discuss the potential barriers, the key concepts, approaches and interventions in understanding and dealing with intercultural communication situations. Strong emphasis is put upon recognizing cultural diversity and variation within groups, large or small, discerning the sources of cultural prejudice, and finding ways to make sense of everyday intercultural experiences. We will also address the relation between the new realities of multicultural existences and transnational mobility and cultural complexities, including complex feelings of strangeness, discomfort and instability in dealing with intercultural encounters. The general aim of the course is to prepare students to negotiate intercultural relations from a critical and introspective viewpoint.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Slides and handouts
Digital course material (Required) : A selection of scientific articles
Handbook (Recommended) : Diversity competence, Cultures don’t meet, people do, Edwin Hoffman and Arjan Verdooren, CAB International, 9781789242409, 2018
Handbook (Recommended) : Intercultural Communication, A critical introduction, Ingrid Piller, 2nd, Edinburgh University Press, 9781474412902, 2017
Handbook (Recommended) : Making sense of the intercultural, Finding decentred threads, Adrian Holliday and Sara Amadasi, Routledge, 9781032337661, 2020

Additional info

Students are expected to attend classes regularly on the campus.

Learning Outcomes

Eindcompetenties

Students who complete this course should be able to

Observe and explain cultural behaviours from the perspective of intercultural interaction;
Apply a non-essentialist approach to understand and analyse cultural and diversity issues;
Identify and mediate potential intercultural barriers;
Critically reflect on own intercultural experiences and mobilize personal cultural trajectory as resources;
Draw a critical link between practices and experiences and the related theoretical concepts.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
SELF Teamwork determines 50% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Oral exam with a relative weight of 50 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Within the SELF Teamwork category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Group work with a relative weight of 50 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The final grade is composed based on the following categories: Group work 50% and Oral exam 50%

Exams in August/September: project work (50%) and oral exam (50%)

More specifically, group work (50%) consists of peer review (10% of the group work), a project portfolio and an oral presentation. The oral exam (50%) tests students’ understanding of the key concepts and issues covered in the course as well as their abilities to apply the knowledge to their own group work.

Exams in August/September: completed group work can be carried over (50%) and oral exam (50%)

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context