IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sek/jijote/v8y2020i1p64-83.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cultivating Students? Communication Skills for the Global Workplace: A Cross-Cultural Online Exchange Project with Non-Native Speakers

Author

Listed:
  • Kate Sato

    (Hokkaido University of Science, Sapporo)

  • Birte Horne

    (Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences)

Abstract

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at universities with a distinct focus on science and engineering, we have found that one of the major challenges is a perceived lack of motivation in our students. Though acknowledging the theoretical importance of English as the lingua franca of science and business, students often do not appreciate the importance of its practical application when they enrol in technical degree courses. In order to stimulate and engage our students, we introduced a communicative business project to our respective courses from 13th April 2018 ? 22nd June 2018. Our aim was to provide a very practical and first-hand experience of how English may be an essential part of professional interaction. In groups, students were asked to produce two short videos. The first was an introduction of their team and the second gave business advice pertinent to a person visiting their country from the other country. To accomplish these assignments, students had to communicate regularly with their partner-group via a chat app on their mobile phones. Thus, cross-cultural communication was not only encouraged but became a crucial tool to complete given tasks successfully. Despite a number of hindrances, the students were able to complete the task and also said they benefitted from doing the project. Further projects were planned however, more research is needed to illuminate what factors helped this project succeed.

Suggested Citation

  • Kate Sato & Birte Horne, 2020. "Cultivating Students? Communication Skills for the Global Workplace: A Cross-Cultural Online Exchange Project with Non-Native Speakers," International Journal of Teaching and Education, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences, vol. 8(1), pages 64-83, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sek:jijote:v:8:y:2020:i:1:p:64-83
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://iises.net/international-journal-of-teaching-education/publication-detail-23100
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://iises.net/international-journal-of-teaching-education/publication-detail-23100?download=5
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Katerina Ananiadou & Magdalean Claro, 2009. "21st Century Skills and Competences for New Millennium Learners in OECD Countries," OECD Education Working Papers 41, OECD Publishing.
    2. Kate Sato & Toshiyuki Sakabe, 2018. "To what extent is the Course Experience Questionnaire applicable to Japanese Education?," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 7008494, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    3. Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI, 2020. "National Education Policy 2020," Working Papers id:13106, eSocialSciences.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katherine L. Nelson & Byron J. Powell & Brent Langellier & Félice Lê-Scherban & Paul Shattuck & Kimberly Hoagwood & Jonathan Purtle, "undated". "State Policies that Impact the Design of Children’s Mental Health Services: A Modified Delphi Study," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 27128eeb589049fca3f36053b, Mathematica Policy Research.
    2. Yu Zeng & Xing Xu, 2022. "The Construction and Optimization of an AI Education Evaluation Indicator Based on Intelligent Algorithms," International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence (IJCINI), IGI Global, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, January.
    3. Siddik Bakir, 2019. "An Examination of Preservice Teachers’ 21st Century Learner and Teacher Skills Based on Different Variables," Asian Journal of Education and Training, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 5(4), pages 595-602.
    4. Hemanshu Kumar & Rohini Somanathan & Mahima Vasishth, 2022. "Language and learning in ethnically mixed communities," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 835-846, May.
    5. Salah Al-Ali, 2021. "Technical and Vocational Education and Technology Transfer: Departments of Civil Engineering Technology at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, PAAE&T, Kuwait, As A Case Study," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 26(1), pages 101-111, Decembrie.
    6. Sylvia Christine Almeida & Aihua Hu & Michiko Inoue, 2022. "Alternative Perspectives on Environmental and Sustainability Education: A Study of Curriculum Policies across India, China and Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-14, August.
    7. Khushnam P.N., 2022. "National Education Policy 2020: A Prudent Vision of India’s Soft Power in the Emerging World Order," India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, , vol. 78(2), pages 318-333, June.
    8. Ester van Laar & Alexander J. A. M. van Deursen & Jan A. G. M. van Dijk & Jos de Haan, 2020. "Determinants of 21st-Century Skills and 21st-Century Digital Skills for Workers: A Systematic Literature Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440199, January.
    9. Małgorzata Tarczynska-Luniewska & Iwona Bak & Uma Shankar Singh & Guru Ashish Singh, 2022. "Economic Crisis Impact Assessment and Risk Exposure Evaluation of Selected Energy Sector Companies from Bombay Stock Exchange," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-25, November.
    10. Nina Goga & Maria Pujol-Valls, 2020. "Ecocritical Engagement with Picturebook through Literature Conversations about Beatrice Alemagne’s On a Magical Do-Nothing Day," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-16, September.
    11. World Bank, 2013. "Republic of Sierra Leone : Higher and Tertiary Education Sector Policy Note," World Bank Publications - Reports 16787, The World Bank Group.
    12. Sara Al-Marzooqi & Hamdy Ahmed Abdelaziz, 2022. "Public Libraries in the Post-COVID-19 Era: How to Transform Educational Services to Meet New Educational Needs," International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management (IJCRMM), IGI Global, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, January.
    13. Zar Shah & Khalid Zaman & Awais Rashid, 2022. "A Review of Transgender People: A Challenge and a Solution," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 12(4), pages 21-29.
    14. Mintu Mondal, 2021. "Reflections Of National Education Policy, 2020," Working papers 2021-38-04, Voice of Research.
    15. Bayley, Stephen H., 2022. "Learning for adaptation and 21st-century skills: Evidence of pupils’ flexibility in Rwandan primary schools," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    16. Salah Al-Ali, 2021. "How successful is the Higher Institute of Communications and Navigation, Kuwait, in reducing dependence on expatriates," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 23(1), pages 28-53, September.
    17. Moghari, Somaye & Ghorani, Maryam, 2022. "A symbiosis between cellular automata and dynamic weighted multigraph with application on virus spread modeling," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    18. M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández & Juan José Maldonado-Briegas, 2019. "Sustainable Entrepreneurial Culture Programs Promoting Social Responsibility: A European Regional Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-19, July.
    19. Ileana CIOBANU & Mihaela ZAMFIR & Andreea Georgiana MARIN & Mihai Viorel ZAMFIR & Rozeta DRAGHICI & Alina ILIESCU & Laszlo IRSAY & Mihai BERTEANU, 2021. "Ageing in COVID era Social isolation risk factors, outcomes and smart solutions," Smart Cities International Conference (SCIC) Proceedings, Smart-EDU Hub, vol. 9, pages 409-424, November.
    20. Joseph M. Cheer & Stephen Pratt & Denis Tolkach & Anthony Bailey & Semisi Taumoepeau & Apisalome Movono, 2018. "Tourism in Pacific island countries: A status quo round‐up," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 442-461, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    tertiary EFL; asynchronous PBL; inter-cultural communication; business English;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sek:jijote:v:8:y:2020:i:1:p:64-83. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klara Cermakova (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://ijote.iises.net/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.