CZS50 Intercultural Communication


Lecturer: Zdeněk Janík


Outline of the course

The aim of the course is to enhance students’ intercultural awareness and improve their
communication skills in intercultural settings. Students will explore how various cultures
worldwide, including their own, are defined through verbal and non-verbal language, symbols and
meanings assigned to the symbols, cultural values and perception of those values. The importance of
international understanding and intercultural communication inside as well as outside the school
context is emphasized. At the end of the course, students should be able to recognize aspects of
intercultural communication; improve their communication strategies used in intercultural settings;
apply various dimensions of culture in intercultural conflicts. Students should also develop
positive attitudes towards other cultures and improve their skills as intercultural speakers of
English.

The course uses all the advantages of an e-learning environment: all study materials, readings, and
activities for students are fully web-based.


Course structure

Date

Topic

February 21

Culture and Communication

February 28

Culture and Identity

March 7

Cultural Awareness and Cultural Differences

March 14

Explaining Differences and Similarities across Cultures in Europe and Elsewhere

March 21

Cultural Values

March 28

Seeing the Others: Developing Stereotypes and Making Judgments

April 4

National Culture and Cultural Diversity

April 11

Women and Men in Conversation: Social Identities Affecting Communication

April 18

Western, Japanese, and Other Styles of Conversation

May 2

Differences in Cultural Values, Communication and Learning Styles in an Intercultural Classroom
Setting

May 9

Effective Intercultural Communication

May 16

Conclusion







Course Requirements:


1. ACTIVE CLASS PARTICIPATION

Read all the study materials. Follow 'Assignment for class discussion' and instructions in each of
the topics to get ready for class.
80% class attendance.
2. WRITE 6 REFLECTIVE JOURNALS
By doing certain activities and answering questions in the Reflective Journals students relate the
knowledge they obtain in this course with their own experience of intercultural communication.
You are asked to write a minimum of one page in each of the Reflective Journals.

The Reflective Journals are in the topics 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, and 11.
Check the deadlines! You will have a week to write each Journal.
Points will be deducted for late submission.
The minimum pass for the Reflective Journals: 42 points (out of 60), i.e. 70%
3. DO 3 TESTS/QUIZES
In topics 1, 4, and 6. The quizes are designed for students to test their understanding of the
topics. Scores students gain from doing the quizes will not count towards the overall evaluation of
their work. However, students must complete all the tests by May 9!
4. PARTICIPATE IN 4 ON-LINE DISCUSSION FORUMS
There are 4 discussion forums in topics 2,6,5, and 7. Your contribution should have at least 3
sentences (1 paragraph is an optimum).
Check the deadlines for the discussion!
5. WRITE AN ESSAY
For instructions see topic 12.
The deadline is May 23, 2011.
The minimum pass for the essay is 28 points (out of 40), i.e. 70%


Further details
All documents, discussion and working materials are available at http://moodlinka.ped.muni.cz/cours
e/view.php?id=1803 (for login use UCO and your secondary password). Then use “CESP_IC” as an entran
ce key.


Literature:
  * Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. Second Edition. London: SAGE
Publications, 2003.
  * Bennet, Milton J. Basic Concepts of Intercultural Communication. Maine: Intercultural Press,
1998.
  * Bennet, Milton J. “Becoming Interculturally Competent.” In Wurzel, J. (ed.). Toward
multiculturalism: A reader in multicultural education. Newton, MA: Intercultural Resource
Corporation, 2004.  Second Edition., pp. 62-77
  * Byram, Michael and Fleming, Michael (eds.). Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective:
Approaches through drama and ethnography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  * Campbell, Neil, Kean, Alasdair. American Cultural Studies: An introduction to American culture.
Second edition. New York: Routledge, 2006.
  * D’Andrade, Roy. A Study of Personal and Cultural Values: American, Japanese, and Vietnamese.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
  * Gudykunst, William B. Bridging differences. Effective intergroup communication. Fourth Edition
London: Sage publications, 2004.
  * Hofstede, Gert J., Pedersen, Paul B., Hofstede, Geert. Exploring Culture: Exercises, Stories
and Synthetic Cultures. Maine: Intercultural Press, 2002.
  * Janík, Zdeněk. “Intercultural Communication Learning.” In Intensive Programme TiFoLa: Teaching
in Foreign Languages. Brno: Paido, 2005.
  * Melucci, A. The playing self: person and meaning in the planetary society. Cambridge: CUP,
1996.
  * Samovar, Larry A., Porter, Richard, E. (eds.) Intercultural Communication. 10^th Edition.
Belmont, USA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003.
  * Strom, M.S. Holocaust and Human Behavior. Massachusetts: Facing History and Ourselves
Foundation, 1994.
  * Tomalin, B, Stempelski, B. Cultural awareness. Oxford: OUP, 1993.



Contacts
Mr. Zdeněk Janík
Department of English Language and Literature
Faculty of Education
Poříčí 945/9
603 00 Brno


Email: janik@ped.muni.cz
Phone: +420 549 49 4767