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The lack of meaningful interaction between domestic and international students is a persistent concern in international higher education. Conversation partner programs are a promising measure to promote the rich and repeated contact necessary for the development of intercultural relationships and communication skills. This article describes the process of launching and managing a successful student-coordinated conversation partner program with no or minimal funding. The five core team members (two faculty advisors and three student leaders) explain why they created or joined the program, their responsibilities, what worked, what was challenging, and what they recommend should other institutions want to start a similar program.

Group work is an integral part of many courses in business communication programs. Benefits are numerous: Students can develop projects more comprehensively, hone their interpersonal skills, be exposed to other points of view, gain insight into group dynamics, and become prepared for teamwork in their careers. Nevertheless, students often report negatively on their group experiences, citing process problems or personal difficulties. To address these issues, the author has found a two-pronged approach successful. The approach combines Habermas' ideal speech situation theory with strategies borrowed from cooperative-learning methodology. In this article, the author illustrates how such approach can help students to be aware of their weaknesses concerning group participation and how these weaknesses can be successfully addressed in the classroom. The author also shows how Habermas' theory and communication objectives together create a common ground and sense of culture that is beneficial for group effectiveness. (Contains 1 table.)

The use of authentic literature, especially novels, has proven electrifying for teachers as well as students: a development mirrored in the success of related methodologies and the increasing availability of materials accompanying literature. The benefits of using novels as textbooks are numerous. Research consistently shows the benefits of extended reading; novels are motivating and authentic; and they can support any curriculum and be used in a variety of programs. Issues discussed in the article include a rationale for using novels as textbooks, selection criteria, ways of teaching discrete and integrated skills, and reflections on the pros and cons of using literature to teach English.

International statistics can be an excellent tool to heighten global awareness and encourage political engagement domestically. In this activity, students locate comparative data for areas in which the United States is outperformed by another country, research the reasons behind differences, find organizations that work to improve the status quo in the United States, and present their findings with the use of carefully designed presentation graphics. The activity is effective for raising global awareness, promoting local engagement, and building students' computer and communication skills.

Individual or group presentations are common assignments in business communication courses, and many students use PowerPoint slides as audiovisual support. Frequently, curriculum constraints don't allow instructors much time to teach effective design and delivery of presentation graphics in their courses; guidelines in the form of minilectures or handouts often have to suffice. While some students heed the advice given, more often than not the guidelines don't stick, and presentations feature slides that are too text heavy, difficult to read, or otherwise less than effective. To involve the students actively and engage them more deeply in the learning process, the author designed an online tutorial that covers both the effective design and delivery of PowerPoint slides or similar presentation graphics. The tutorial consists of units that highlight specific design or delivery guidelines. The tutorial also provides advice on how to create an outline, delineates pros and cons of using PowerPoint, and lists further resources, including satirical and critical commentary on the medium.

At the core of intercultural communication lies the issue of cultural difference. Textbooks and courses focus on how difference can be approached and ultimately bridged by developing intercultural competence, particularly awareness of intercultural theory, knowledge of specific target cultures, and the communication skills necessary for engaging successfully in intercultural contact. The overarching goal thereby is to instill intercultural sensitivity, foremost by encouraging the development of tolerance and empathy. A great number of cultural differences make tolerance and empathy relatively easy. Students readily accept most eating habits in other cultures, clothing peculiarities, and gestures--to name just a few--as valid alternatives to the customs found in their own cultures. Tolerance and empathy are put to the test, however, when it comes to controversial topics, such as the unequal treatment of women across cultures (e.g., female circumcision, veiling, reduced educational and professional opportunities). In fact, the question arises whether tolerance is an appropriate response in some instances, such as the culture-related violence inflicted on girls and women through female infanticide or honor killings. By placing controversial differences in the context of the relativism/universalism debate, the activity presented in this paper provides students with a tool for analyzing contentious intercultural topics and for forming a personal opinion on how such issues should be handled internationally.

Two online collaborative assignments that connected students in courses at Unitec, New Zealand, and Baruch College, City University of New York, are the focus of this article. For the first assignment, small, blended groups used five different online techniques to explore topics being discussed in an intercultural communication course at each university. In the second assignment, student teams discussed a case study posted online and produced a collaborative report on their findings. Both assignments were designed to enhance student learning in business communication through computer-mediated communication (CMC) and diverse team building. In this article, the authors first discuss their rationale and goal for this online collaborative project. They then describe how they implemented and evaluated the two assignments, and summarize student recommendations for further replication.

The number of international faculty members in the United States is steadily increasing. However, few of these instructors have formal training in pedagogy and many experience at least some communication difficulties. To address the needs of nonnative-speaking instructors at an urban college in New York, an international faculty program was created. Services include accent reduction tutorials, pedagogy workshops, classroom observations, and relevant library/lab holdings. The program has had an overwhelmingly positive response. Improvements in student evaluations, increased communication proficiency, and enhanced confidence in the classroom are evidence that the program has been successful in addressing participant needs.

Discusses the use of film in the classroom as a tool for second-language instruction. Argues that controversial subject matter, such as sex, violence, and profane language, can enhance students' learning experience and deepen their critical thinking skills if treated sensitively and in a pedagogically sound manner. (12 references) (Author/CK)

This study examined immigrant socialization into the American culture using dialectical theory and turning point analysis. Using a revised version of the Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT) and questionnaire data, we [...]

This study assessed the efficacy of a semester-long buddy project in facilitating intercultural friendship development. Results of pre-, post-, and follow-up surveys show significant improvements in knowledge and attitude; correlations between post-project knowledge, attitude, and interest in continued contact; and correlations between interest in continued contact and actual contact in the follow up. The majority of the participants evaluated the project as effective for friendship formation. Of the follow-up respondents, 23% developed friendships with their former buddies. The project serves as an example for assignments with the potential for friendship development, which is essential for optimal intergroup contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Foreign students abroad often complain about a lack of friendships with host nationals. Since little research is available on the subject of intercultural friendship, this qualitative study was conducted [...]

When communicating love, what is the right thing to do or say, when, where, by whom, and to whom? This chapter focuses on how love is expressed across culture and time. Following a review of definitions of love (including the questions of prototypicality, universality, and social construction), the chapter details historical and contemporary practices, in particular communication variables (such as mode, context, and gender), cultural dimensions, and recent changes in the use of verbal love expression in a number of cultures. The chapter concludes by grounding the prevailing understandings of love within the dialectics of expression versus restraint, autonomy versus unity, and role versus personal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes an online collaborative project between two international business communication classes at universities in the United States and Germany. The focus of the project was to compare a number of online communication channels (e-mail, discussion board, chat), evaluate each channel's effectiveness for virtual teamwork, and reflect upon the various aspects of the learning process. Students preferred chatting as a channel for informal introductions at the beginning of the project. E-mail and discussion boards were found better suited for in-depth communication. Interestingly, the U.S. students ranked email most effective for professional communication, whereas the German students preferred discussion boards. Overall, students responded very positively and found the project valuable in improving their intercultural and online communication skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of international faculty members in the United States is steadily increasing. However few of these instructors have formal training in pedagogy and many experience at least some communication difficulties. To address the needs of nonnative-speaking instructors at an urban college in New York, an international faculty program was created Services include accent reduction tutorials, pedagogy workshops, classroom observations, and relevant library/lab holdings. The program has had an overwhelmingly positive response. Improvements in student evaluations, increased communication proficiency, and enhanced confidence in the classroom are evidence that the program has been successful in addressing participant needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural friendship provides one of the main avenues for meaningful interpersonal contact and is considered a catalyst for successful sojourn experiences and positive attitudes toward the host culture. Yet one of the most common complaints of foreign sojourners in the United States is the lack of friendship with Americans. This chapter examines the unique challenges of intercultural friendship formation by discussing definitional issues, highlighting prominent theoretical frameworks for research in intercultural relationship development, and exploring the factors instrumental in intercultural friendship formation, including culture, personality, self-esteem, friendship elements, expectations, adjustment stage, communicative competence, demographic variables, proximity, host-culture elements, and chemistry. The focus is on foreign students on U.S. campuses. Examples from their experiences are supplied, culture-specific patterns are described, and international perceptions of U.S. friendship patterns are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]