Intercultural CommunicationY020702

Åland Polytechnic

1,5 ECTS credits

Points of Departure

Raising awareness Theoretical understanding: Patterns under

the surface of variety Readiness for international cooperation    Communication analysis Definitions of culture: Refinement, mental

programming, etc.

Objectives

Familiarising the participants with the central concepts of intercultural communication.

...increased skills in understanding and investigating other cultures and clashes of culture

Outline of the module

Lectures and discussions, 20 hours Literature (links to the course homepage +

compendiums + news items/articles) Test on the basic concepts Interview assignment Seminar on the results of the interviews ICC web + web classroom on Fronter

What is intercultural communication? (1)

Intercultural communication is when a message produced in one culture Is received in another culture.

Why intercultural communication? (2)

Answer: Internationalisation. Why internationalisation? The economic world order: Free flow of factors of production,

advantages of large-scale production, improved communications, global problems and global solutions

Why intercultural communication?

Shirt - Indian, Radio - Chinese, Holidays are Turkish,

Your numbers are Arabic,

Your writing is Roman,

And you blame your neighbour that he is African?

Your Jesus is Jewish,

Your car is Japanese,

Your food is Italian,

Your democracy is Greek,

Your coffee is Brazilian,

Your watch is Swiss,

Why intercultural communication? (3)

Philosophical freedom: Awareness of the actual possibility ...of doing almost the opposite ...because it is in fact the normal among

others (but it has a price)

Overlapping layers of culture

generation, sex, income, education, religion, language, region, etc

Family, company, association, profession, peers, music, dress,

VALUES AND ATTITUDES 1.

Value the importance of being a competent intercultural communicator.

Acknowledge personal values as a cultural result.

Learn to respect cultural differences. Acknowledge the tendency to value our

inner groups.

VALUES AND ATTITUDES 2.

Tolerate the different interpretations others make about different facts and happenings.

Value the importance of cultural identity, acknowledging the value of diversity.

Gain respect towards time and space value and management approaches in other cultures.

VALUES AND ATTITUDES 3.

See the cultural patterns reflected in the languages of different cultures.

Develop a receptive attitude towards different nonverbal behaviours.

VALUES AND ATTITUDES 4.

Promote a win-win relationship in any intercultural negotiation.

Understand the potential personal value gained from the culture shock process.