Intercultural challenges

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Welcome to Intercultural Challenges: short video capsules and a toolbox of resources for communication in an academic context.

This series will help you consider some of the questions that are important in intercultural situations. This might be in your own university or educational setting, during a virtual exchange or abroad.

The aims are to be curious and gain awareness of our multiple cultural identities, as well as of our own perceptions - or preconceptions - of other perspectives, attitudes and behaviors, in order to develop mutual understanding.

Engage with the topic and embrace your own surprise or confusion about the ideas and metaphors your encounter. We encourage you to think critically, reflect and whenever possible converse with your peers to put this communication into practice.

Focus on the classroom: teachers' pedagogical resources

Vidéo 1

Activity: Advantages and dangers of cultures blocks

Video 2

Activity: The Mystery portrait

Video 3

Activity: Cultural Infuencers

Video 4

Activity: Icebergs

Video 5

Activity: The neighborhood yard

Video 6

Activity: Practicing meta-communication

Self-study: recommended resources for students

Video 1

Activity 1

Learning outcome:

  • Be aware of our limits in seeing others in some situations

Project Implicit (Harvard University)

Activity 2

Learning outcomes:

  • Identify situations, behaviours, language that are different from what I am used to
  • Identity what these situations, behaviors, language, etc. provoke in me
  • Analyze my reactions

Astonishment diary

Video 2

Activity 1

Lerarning outcomes:

  • Learning about automatic activation and controlled cognition to overcome implicit bias/stereotypical views
  • Questioning our relationships with people and the world around u

How diverse is my environment

Reference list

Avgousti, M. (2018) ‘Intercultural communicative competence and online exchanges: a systematic
review.’ Computer Assisted Language Learning 31 (8): 819-853, DOI: 10.1080/09588221.2018.1455713

Baggini, J. (2018) How the World Thinks : A Global History of Philosophy. Croydon : Granta Publications.

Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Deardoff, D. K. (2020). Manual for Developing Intercultural Competencies. Story Circles.
Paris: UNESCO

Dervin, F. (2016). Interculturality in Education : A Theoretical and Methodological Toolbox. London: Macmillan Publishers.

DeVito, J. A. (2016). The Interpersonal Communication Book. Harlow: Pearson.

Hofstede, G., Minkow, M. (2010). Cultures and Organisations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Holliday, A. (1999). ‘Small cultures.’ Applied Linguistics, 20(2): 237-264.

Holliday, A., Hyde, M. and Kullman, J. (2004). Intercultural communication: an Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge.

Holliday, A. (2019). Understanding Intercultural Communication. Negotiating a Grammar of
Culture. Oxon/New York: Routledge.

Holliday, A., Amadasi, S. (2020). Making Sense of the Intercultural. Finding DeCentred Threads.
Oxon/NewYork: Routledge.

Kramsch, C. (2010). ‘Intercultural Communication’ in Carter, R. and Nunan, D. (eds). The Cambridge
Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, pp 201-206. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Norton, B. (2006). Identity as a sociocultural construct in second language education. In K.
Cadman & K. O'Regan (Eds.), TESOL in Context [Special Issue], 22-33.

Novinger, T. (2001). Intercultural communication: A practical guide. University of Texas.

Piller, I. (2017). Intercultural communication: A critical introduction. Edinburgh University Press.

Risager, K. (2006). Language and culture: Global flows and local complexity. Multilingual Matters.

Rosenberg, M.B. (2015). Nonviolent Communication. A language of Life. Encinitas: Puddle Dancer Press.

Spencer-Oatey, H. & Franklin, P. (2009). Intercultural Interaction. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Intercultural Communication. London: Macmillan Publishers.

Scollon, R., Scollon, S. and Jones, R. (2001). Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Scollon, R., Scollon, S., Jones, H. (2012). Intercultural Communication. A Discourse Approach. Chichester : John Wiley & Sons.

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