Intercultural Communication — Think Globally, Communicate Confidently
Designed for English majors yet loved by language learners and culture enthusiasts, this 7-unit course sharpens cultural understanding, global perspective, and critical thinking. From decoding cultural differences to mastering verbal & non-verbal skills, you’ll explore key theories and real-world cases that make cross-cultural communication effective, ethical, and impactful.
Step into the world—your global voice starts here!
Overview
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Syllabus
- 1 Introduction to Intercultural Communication
- 1.1 Approaching Intercultural Communication
- 1.2 Globalization and Intercultural Communication
- 2 Communication and Culture
- 2.1 What is Communication
- 2.2 What is Intercultural Communication
- 2.3 What is Culture
- 2.4 The Iceberg Model of Culture
- 2.5 The Onion Model of Culture
- 2.6 Culture as Software
- 3 The Deep Structure of Culture
- 3.1 An Overview of the Deep Structure of a Culture
- 3.2 Family: Definition and its Functions
- 3.3 Nuclear Families vs Extended Families
- 3.4 Cultural Differences in Valuing the Elderly
- 4 Cultural Values
- 4.1 Kluckhohn and Strodbeck's Value Orientations
- 4.2 Hall's Low and High Context Culture
- 4.3 Hofstede's Four Cultural dimensions
- 4.4 Face and Facework
- 5 Verbal Communication
- 5.1 Language and Culture
- 5.2 Culturally Loaded Words
- 5.3 Color Words
- 5.4 Animal Metaphors
- 5.5 Taboo and Euphemism in Chinese and English
- 5.6 Idioms and Proverbs in Chinese and English
- 5.7 Daily Verbal Communication
- 6 Nonverbal Communication
- 6.1 Definition and Time
- 6.2 Space and Distance
- 6.3 Body Language
- 6.4 Silence
- 7 Accepting Differences and Appreciating Similarities
- 7.1 Potential Problems in Intercultural Communication
- 7.2 Culture Shock
- 7.3 Cultural Identity
- 期末考试
Taught by
Tan Xiaocui , Yangxiang Ma, Mina Hao, and Sheng Wei