Monash University Handbook

In today's globalised world, particularly in multicultural societies such as Australia, all professions require a nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities created by cultural diverse workplace. 21st-century graduate students need to be equipped with a critical understanding of intercultural competence, as well as the skills and attitudes required in order to apply this understanding to their chosen field. This unit addresses current needs in the areas of intercultural communication by training professionals in cultural intelligence, thus providing them with a practical 'intercultural skill-set' relevant to their field of expertise.

This unit develops students' intercultural competence and provides participants with skills and attitudes to successfully manage multicultural teams in a variety of professional settings. The first module of the unit focusses on the different dimensions of culture and their impact on communication; the second analyses different patterns of communication involved in multicultural teamwork; the third discusses strategies to enhance the ability to connect with people across similarities, as well as to adapt and adjust across differences.

Outcomes

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

identify and critique culture frameworks and their impact in global workforce
evaluate how cultural differences shape discourse, attitudes and behaviours
discuss differences in forms of verbal and non-verbal communication
identify and adapt communication patterns and styles
develop personal cross-cultural competence for adjustment to culturally diverse settings

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 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.