APG5652 - Language and intercultural communication - 2018

In this unit students explore the various ways in which different cultures structure communication and skills for successful intercultural communication. Key theories underpinning intercultural communication are explored, including politeness, face, multilingual context, cultural conceptualizations, and metacultural competence. Students apply their insights to case-studies from a wider variety of languages and contexts, and develop skills to address intercultural communication challenges in their own professional contexts.

Upon successful completion of the unit, students should be able to:

1. explain key concepts, including context, face and politeness, intercultural discourse, speech acts, English as a lingua franca, multilingualism, cultural conceptualizations, and metacultural competence;
2. demonstrate sensitivity to differences and similarities in cultural expectations, and identify and analyse reasons for intercultural (mis)communication;
3. review and summarize key research directions in the field of intercultural communication;
4. conduct small-scale research in the area of intercultural communication.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Applied linguistics