Cross-cultural communication problems lesson plan

[Алексей Конобеев]

Here is the plan for a lesson to teach cross-cultural awareness to upper-level students (final grades at school or junior university students). To do the lesson you will need to download several short (1 - 2 minute) clips from YouTube or play them online. Hope you will find the suggested lesson interesting.

Warning: there are some words in the fourth clip that you might want to explain to the students or even to avoid. Decide for yourselves which is more suitable for you.

 

I'd be happy to read your comments on the lesson.

 

Communication problems

Aims:

1. Raise awareness of cross-cultural differences

2. Practise discussion skills

3. Design tips for your fellow students for travelling abroad

 

 

Plan:

1. Lead-in. What is a typical Russian/American/Brit like? (brainstorming)

 

2. Cultural awareness: Will these stereotypes help you to communicate with people from other cultures?

Watch this clip:

and say if you think the stereotypes in it are correct or not. Do you have the same perception of Americans?

Do you think that your stereotypes are correct?

 

3. Gestures. What else can cause communication problems? What do these gestures mean? (make “OK” and “thumbs up” gestures, elicit their meaning in the students’ culture). Can the same gestures be interpreted differently in other countries? Watch the clip

(silent view) and guess the meaning of these gestures.

Now watch again with the sound on. Choose a country and try to remember what the gestures shown mean there. Present the gestures with their country-specific meaning to the group.

 

4. Pronunciation. What else can cause trouble when you go abroad? Have you ever head trouble misunderstanding foreigners or foreigners misunderstanding you because of pronunciation? Watch this clip and say what caused the problems:

 

5. What other ways of avoiding communication problems when you travel abroad can you think of? Watch this clip and say which ideas you agree with and which you disagree with : http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aXNpVi0AW1s

 

6. Small group work: write down your tips for your fellow-students telling them how to avoid communication problems abroad. Present the tips to the group.

 

The plan has been jointly developed by Alexey Konobeiev (Obninsk), Marina Kuzina (Ryazan State University) and Natalia Eylelman (Novosibirsk State University)

[Genya]

Действительно очень интересный и "грамотный" урок! Спасибо, что даете возможность познакомиться с вашими разработками!