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 September 19 Culture and Communication September 26 Culture and Identity October 3 Cultural Awareness and Cultural Differences October 10 Explaining Differences and Similarities across Cultures in Europe and Elsewhere October 17 Cultural Values October 24 Seeing the Others: Developing Stereotypes and Making Judgments October 31 National Culture and Cultural Diversity November 7 Women and Men in Conversation: Social Identities Affecting Communication November 14 Western, Japanese, and Other Styles of Conversation November 21 Differences in Cultural Values, Communication and Learning Styles in an Intercultural Classroom Setting November 28 Effective Intercultural Communication December 5 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 December 6! 4. PARTICIPATE IN 4 ON-LINE DISCUSSION FORUMS There are 4 discussion forums in topics 2,3,5, 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 December 18, 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=1923 (for login use UCO and your secondary password). Then use “CESP_ICSFall” as an entrance 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