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ELL6721 Intercultural Communication Dr. Valerie Hobbs / Dr.

Jane Mulderrig Spring, 2012


The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of intercultural communication, beginning with a critical examination of foundational concepts and theories and moving on to examine areas in which IC is particularly relevant. Particular focus will be paid to cultural differences in pedagogy and the role of culture in second language acquisition. Other areas covered may include (but are not necessarily limited to): IC in international business, IC in the family, IC in politics, cross-cultural pragmatics. The three main goals are 1) give students exposure to foundational concepts and theories within the area of IC; 2) increase students knowledge of research within the area of IC; and 3) provide students with materials, both theoretical and experiential, with which they can develop an awareness of their own cultural identity.

Readings: Required Reading: NOTE: All required readings are available through myResource lists on the library website (and thru MOLE).
Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., and Kasper, J. eds. (1989). Cross-cultural pragmatics: requests and apologies. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. (Chapter 1, pp.1-34) Corbett, J. (2003). An intercultural approach to English language teaching. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Hall, E. T. (2000). Context and meaning. In L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural Communication: A Reader, 9th ed. (pp. 34-43). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co. Kramsch, C. (1995). The cultural component of language teaching. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 8(2), 83-92. Judd, E. L. (1999). Some issues in the teaching of pragmatic competence. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning (pp. 152-166). Cambridge: CUP. McSweeney, B. (2002). Hofstedes Model of National Cultural Differences and their Consequences: A Triumph of Faith - a Failure of Analysis. Human Relations, 55/1: 89-118/ Schnurr, S. & Mak, B. (2011). Leadership in Hong Kong. Is gender really not an issue? Gender and Language, 5/2: 343-371. Scollon, R.; Scollon, S.B.K.; & Jones, R. H. (2012, 3rd edition). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. (Chapter 3) Xiao, H. & Petraki, E. (2007). An investigation of Chinese students difficulties in intercultural communication and its role in ELT. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 13.

Recommended Reading:
Adler, P. S. (1975) "The transitional experience: An alternative view of culture shock," Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 15, 13-23. Atay, D. (2005). Reflections on the Cultural Dimension of Language Teaching. Language and Intercultural Communication, 5(3&4), 222-236. Atkinson, D. (1999). TESOL and Culture. TESOL Quarterly, 33/ 4, 625-654. Bredella, L. (2002). What does it mean to be intercultural? In Alred, A., Byram, M., Heming, M. (Eds.), Intercultural Experience and Education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters: 225-239. Dogancay-Aktuna, S. (2005). Intercultural communication in English language teacher education. ELT Journal, 59/2, 99-107. Fong, M. (2003). The nexus of language, communication, and culture. In L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural Communication: A Reader (pp. 198-205). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Gu, Q. & Maley, A. (2008). Changing places: A Study of Chinese Students in the UK, Language and Intercultural Communication, 8/4, 224 - 245. Hall, J. K. (2002). Teaching and researching language and culture. Longman.

Heming, M. (Eds.), Intercultural Experience and Education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters: 31-49. Hinkel, E. (1999). Culture in second language teaching and learning. Cambridge: CUP. Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10, 301-320. Hofstede, G. (2002). Dimensions do not exist: A reply to Brendan McSweeney. Human Relations, 55(11): 1355-1361. Holliday, A., M. Hyde, et al. (2004). Intercultural communication: An advanced resource book. London; New York, Routledge. Jia, W. (2003). The Chinese conceptualizations of face: Emotions, communications, and personhood. In L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural Communication: A Reader. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Jandt, F. E. (2007). An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global community. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications. Kirkman, B.L.; Lowe, K.B. & Gibson, C.B. (2006). A Quarter Century of "Culture's Consequences": A Review of Empirical ResearchIncorporating Hofstede's Cultural Values Framework. Journal of International Business Studies, 37/3, 285-320. Kramsch, C. (1998) Language and culture. New York: OUP. Lustig, M. W. & Koester, J. (Eds.). (2006). Among us: Essays on identity, belonging, and intercultural competence (2nd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longman. Lysgaard, Sverre (1955). "Adjustment in a foreign society: Norwegian Fulbright Grantees Visiting the United States" in International Social Science Bulletin 7: 45-51. Morita, N. (2004). Negotiating participation and identity in second language academic communities. TESOL Quarterly, 38: 573603. Nyhagen Predelli, L. (2004) `Interpreting Gender in Islam: A Case Study of Immigrant Muslim Women in Oslo, Norway', Gender and Society 18(4): 473-93. Nelson, G. (1998). Categorizing, Classifying, Labeling: A Fundamental Cognitive Process. TESOL Quarterly, 32, 727-732. Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E. (2003). Intercultural communication: A reader (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E. & McDaniel, E.R. (2007). Communication between Cultures. CA: Thomson Wadsworth. Scollon, R. and S. B. K. Scollon (1995). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, Mass., Blackwell. Scollon, R.; Scollon, S.B.K.; & Jones, R. H. (2012, 3rd edition). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

Assignments: Part One: Group Discussion Leader The class will be divided into small groups. During designated sessions, one or two members of each group will lead the discussion. As group leaders, you will prepare a set of discussion questions and activities based on the required reading for that week (see discussion group column on the module outline). This should be designed to approximately 30 minutes. Group leaders may liaise with the leaders from other groups and prepare together. Group leaders choose the focus and organization of the group. On the day you are responsible for the group, you need to turn in a plan to the session instructor. The plan should give us an idea of how you are structuring the group (e.g., asking questions, having students complete an exercise, doing a role play), and the points to be covered by the group. An example plan will be distributed in Session 2.

What we will be looking for in plans: 1. Exactly how you plan to structure the activities, the time, the other students. (Instead of saying, We will discuss, include specific questions, I will ask the following questions). I expect the group leader to make some predictions about what the other group members might say (see sample plan). 2. When possible and appropriate, bring information from previous readings and sessions into your plan. 3. Set expected time limits. 4. Your plan should match your objectives. 5. Your goal is not to test your peers, but to structure the interactions so that everyone is engaged in mutual exploration of the material. The question we ask when we observe a group is: Are students engaged in the content of the reading? Part Two: Essay (2,000 words) You will choose from a list of topics, to be handed out before Easter holiday.

Session 1 8 Feb 2 15 Feb 3 22 Feb 4 29 Feb VH

Topics Introduction to module Introduction to Intercultural Communication Introduction to a discourse approach Definitions of culture Deconstructing Hofstede Halls low vs high context cultures Introduction to cross-cultural pragmatics Gender and Discourse Gender and Culture

Required Readings Kramsch (1995)

Required Reading for Discussion Group _________________

Recommended Reading Samovar & Porter (2003: 617) Hofstede (1986); Hofstede (2002); Kirkman, Lowe & Gibson (2006)

VH

McSweeney (2002) _________________


1. Hall (2000) 2. Blum-Kulka, S., House, J., and Kasper, J. (1989)

WZ

_________________ Schnurr & Mak (2011) Hall (Chapter 2); Scollon & Scollon (Chapter 11); Van de Vijver (2007); Nehagen Predelli (2004) Jia (2003)

VH

5 7 Mar 6 14 Mar 7 21 Mar 8 28 Mar 9 25 Apr 10 2 May

WZ

Language and Interpersonal Politeness and Power Concept of Face Language and Business

Scollon & Scollon (Chapters 2 & 3)

_________________ To be determined

JM

VH

Cultural Adaptation Cross Cultural Pragmatic Competence [Inter]generational Communication Culture and the classroom I Classroom implications for cultural differences Culture and the classroom II Intercultural communication in ELT Corbett (Chapter 2)

Xiao, H. & Petraki, E. (2007).


(Discussion groups: In particular, focus on the strengths and weaknesses of research methodology how could this study be improved?)

Gu & Maley (2008); Lsygaard (1955); Adler (1975)

JM VH

To be determined Judd (1999) Dogancay-Aktuna (2005), Atay (2005) Atkinson (1999)

VH

_________________

***Please note that the timetable is subject to change. Please check your e-mail regularly for updates.

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