scholarly journals Teaching Pragmatics and Intercultural Communication Online

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Waugh
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Instructional Designers

English in the Workplace (EWP) programs are increasingly surfacing across Can- ada to assist internationally educated professionals (IEPs) with the challenges of integrating into the Canadian workplace. One critical topic of these courses is targeted pragmatics (soft skills) instruction. By learning these skills, IEPs gain valuable tools for communicating effectively and appropriately with their Cana- dian-born colleagues and leaders. The workplace is also becoming increasingly culturally diverse, broadening the required skillsets of IEPs to include intercultural competence—the ability to adapt both cognitively and behaviourally across cultures to achieve communicative goals (Bennett, 1993). As an EWP instructor in a medium-sized institution in Alberta, I worked on the redesign of an EWP course with both pragmatics and intercultural components to be offered online. The course results showed learner development in both pragmatics and intercul- tural competence. In this article, I outline the theory that informed the course design, content, and assessment tools; discuss results of a sample of learners from four pilot offerings; and provide considerations for instructors and instructional designers tasked with the development of online courses of this nature.

Theoretical and practical considerations in the design of an intercultural communication course

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-191
Author(s):  
Teresa Yi-jung Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
Backward Design ◽  
Constructive Alignment ◽  
Active And Collaborative Learning

Abstract The aim of this article is to highlight theoretical and practical considerations in design of an intercultural communication course. The first part of the article considers intercultural competence, and uses Bourdieu’s notions of education to frame the design of an intercultural communication course. This is followed by discussion of general principles of intercultural course design; the concepts of backward design and constructive alignment as they relate to an intercultural communication course; and finally, the importance of including active and collaborative learning/teaching activities within course design. The remainder of the article draws on a case study of an existing Australian undergraduate course in intercultural communication to highlight how this course may be redesigned in line with the pedagogical principles discussed in the first part of the article.

The Quality Matters Program

2011 ◽  
pp. 1723-1727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Legon
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Peer Review Process ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
College Level ◽  
Quality Matters ◽  
Online Teachers ◽  
Blended Courses

The Quality Matters™ Program (www.qualitymatters. org) is a set of standards (or rubric) for the design of online college-level courses and the online components of hybrid/blended courses, and a peer review process for applying these standards. The Quality Matters Rubric is based on recognized best practices, built on the expertise of instructional designers and experienced online teachers, and supported by distance education literature and research. The goals of the program are to increase student retention, learning and satisfaction in online courses by implementing better course design.

scholarly journals Intercultural Competence Development at Universities

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1Sup1) ◽  
pp. 200-214
Author(s):  
Liudmyla Holubnycha ◽  
Ilona Kostikova ◽  
Natalia Soroka ◽  
Tetiana Shchokina ◽  
Inna Golopych
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Soft Skills ◽  
Competence Development ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Difference

The aim of the paper is to identify and describe some specifics of intercultural competence development at the tertiary level in the framework of language and culture. Different views on intercultural competence development in higher education are presented as well as intercultural competence development in different countries and many scholars’ points of views. The results show certain specifics of intercultural competence development including linguistic competence, linguistic and cultural competence, as well as the components of intercultural competence development: the knowledge of foreign languages, cultural background knowledge, and basic soft skills. It is stated that knowing foreign languages, understanding the national culture of the target language, and having universal soft skills are necessary for successful intercultural competence development. Some soft skills are developed too, such as: tolerance, a sense of responsibility for one’s actions, the ability to empathy, understanding and acceptance of a foreign culture, the ability and desire to understand the difference and unity of one’s culture and the country culture of a target language, a sense of adequate and friendly perception of a foreign language and its realities. It is concluded that it is important to know a theory and have a practice for intercultural competence development and intercultural communication, since a foreign language, culture can only be acquired through activities. As for the specifics of intercultural competence development at the tertiary level in national universities, an indirect character of its development and patterning during intercultural communication are characterized.

scholarly journals Developing Online Engineering Courses: A Resource Kit for Collaboration Between Faculty and Instructional Designers

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Hui-Ching Kayla Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Instructional Design ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Instructional Design Principles

The rise of online courses has created an ongoing demand for instructional designers in higher education. Collaboration between faculty and instructional designers in developing online engineering courses has therefore increased. Potential challenges during the collaboration can be addressed when faculty and instructional designers have a mutual understanding of instructional design principles. This article provides a resource kit that contains a synthesis of online learning theories and examples collected from online engineering courses. These examples can help create a course design that recognizes students’ cognitive load and provides meaningful interactions.

scholarly journals Quality of Online Courses

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Afsaneh Sharif
Keyword(s):  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Instructional Designers

Instructional designers strive to create quality online courses by using different methods and strategies; however, they rarely find the time to reflect on their work and evaluate their final course design. There are three main challenges that instructional designers face while developing online course. First, instructional designers have ambiguity around their roles, and their skills and expertise are often not used as they fulfill their responsibilities.

scholarly journals Case Study: Partnering Intercultural Communication Students with Campus Co-Cultural Student Groups to Develop Intercultural Competence, Allyship, and Curiosity

2022 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Kuehl
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Public University ◽  
Rural Land ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Communication Course ◽  
University Settings ◽  
Diverse Groups

The question I analyze in this case study is how might one use civic engagement to foster campus/community relationships in this polarized era? I describe a teaching challenge in intercultural communication. Students have consistently reported that they arrive to this university from rural, majority-White communities where they have not experienced opportunities to communicate with culturally diverse groups. To address this challenge, I developed a semester-long assignment that provides a structured partnership between students in my Intercultural Communication course and campus co-cultural student groups. To assess this assignment’s benefit to the pedagogy surrounding polarization across cultural differences, I qualitatively analyzed themes in students’ reflection papers (N = 128 papers) from the last five sections of the course (2016–2020). Students addressed how these partnerships helped them develop (1) intercultural competence, (2) acceptance or appreciation through allyship, and (3) curiosity about other cultures. I conclude with implications, including how colleagues might use this assignment in other rural, land-grant public university settings.

scholarly journals Instructional Strategies that Respond to Global Learners’ Needs in Massive Open Online Courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trang Phan
Keyword(s):  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Massive Open Online Courses ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Massive Open Online ◽  
Learning Behaviors ◽  
Educational Backgrounds

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are one of the most innovative forms of online instruction delivered to learners of different language, cultural and educational backgrounds around the world. These multicultural learners have diverse communication styles, learning behaviors and needs that are manifested and demonstrated differently in such a large scale online learning environment as MOOCs. There is little research on how aspects of MOOC learners’ diverse cultural backgrounds and learning behaviors are perceived, how these learners are characterized in terms of their learning needs, and how the MOOC instructors and instructional designers respond to these needs in the course design process. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe how MOOC learners’ diverse learning needs, stemming from their different language, cultural and educational backgrounds, were perceived and responded to during the course design and delivery. Participants were fifteen instructors and instructional designers in American higher educational institutions who were involved in designing and delivering a wide variety of MOOC subjects on the Coursera hosting platform. The insights of participants into specific instructional strategies that were designed especially for MOOC multicultural learners’ needs were categorized into three themes: language, content and engagement. These strategies aimed to provide support and engage learners with English language barriers, or those who did not have the necessary subject background to keep up with the course, or those who were not familiar with the American education culture. The study also investigated the pedagogical challenges and concerns that the participants faced during and after the delivery of the MOOCs. Typical challenges included confusions caused during the discussion triggered by the subject, the participants’ struggle with the efficiency of peer assessment, and the applicability of the content materials for the global audience.

Authentic Learning in Online Courses

2012 ◽  
pp. 82-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deb Gearhart
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Real World ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Authentic Learning ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Online Course ◽  
Instructional Designers ◽  
Online Course Design ◽  
Design Students

The purpose of this chapter is to describe authentic learning, review the literature pertaining to authentic learning, discuss the benefits for online learning, and provide a model for the use of authentic learning in online course design. Students comment they are motivated by solving real-world problems and often express a preference for doing rather than listening. At the same time, most educators consider learning by doing the most effective way to teach (Lombardi, 2007). The chapter will be beneficial to instructors and instructional designers alike.

scholarly journals Developing the Intercultural Competence of Graduate Students

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 86-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanda Dimitrov ◽  
Debra L. Dawson ◽  
Karyn C. Olsen ◽  
Ken N. Meadows
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Communication Style ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Teaching Development ◽  
Teaching Competence ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Different Levels

This study explores how teaching development programs may facilitate the development of intercultural competence in graduate students and prepare them for communicating effectively in the global workplace after graduation. First, we describe the concept of intercultural teaching competence and examine the skills that graduate students may need to cultivate in order to communicate effectively in culturally diverse settings. Then, we discuss the findings of our qualitative study on the impact of teaching development programs enhanced with intercultural communication components. As a result of training, participants became more aware of cultural and disciplinary differences in communication, were able to adapt their communication style to audiences with different levels of background knowledge, and felt more prepared for interpersonal interactions across cultures with undergraduates. Finally, participants were able to transfer the skills learned to other areas of graduate study and used effective intercultural communication strategies when interacting with globally diverse peers and faculty supervisors.  

scholarly journals Critical Thinking and Intercultural Competence: Review, Use, and Classification of the 21st Century Skills in Intercultural EFL Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Metin Esen
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
21St Century Skills ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Intercultural Interactions

We all live in a globalised world today, and even the smallest interactions taking place in our daily lives can now take place in a global level thanks to the advancements in telecommunication facilities. To keep up with these intercultural interactions, whether virtually or in real life, people now need some abilities for effective communication and cooperation, and 21st Century Skills are a way to address this need. Among these skills, critical thinking – clear and rational thinking, might be a helpful way of approaching issues arising from intercultural communication and guiding learners in developing their intercultural communication and interaction skills. Both of these competences are used in the area of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL), in textbooks, materials, and assessment tools. This article review aims at scanning the literature to find traces of different uses of the skill of critical thinking and intercultural competence in the EFL context to tackle issues resulting from intercultural communication or develop language learners’ intercultural competence. The study also intends to classify these uses by analysing similar patterns in the studies investigated. The review explores 14 studies discussing these two competences in the EFL context and determines three distinct approaches by the researchers.

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