ENHANCING THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT CROSS-CULTURAL EXPERIENCE

PhDr. Dominika KOVÁŘOVÁ, Ph.D., MBA

dominika.kovarova@vse.cz

Department of Romance Languages

Faculty of International Relations

University of Economics

CONTENTS

• Prague and University of Economics• Theoretical Framework• Teaching Methods• Project Presentation• Conclusion

THE CZECH REPUBLIC

• Capital: Prague• Official language: Czech• Area: 78 866 km2 • Population: 10,5 million• President: Miloš Zeman

PRAGUE

• Population: 1,8 million

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS

• The biggest public economics univerzity in the CR

• Bachelor´s, master´s and doctoral study programs

• Six faculties:– Faculty of Finance and Accounting– Faculty of International Relations– Faculty of Business Administration– Faculty of Informatics and Statistics– Faculty of Economics– Faculty of Management

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS

• 20 000 students• Highly competitive entrance• „ECTS Label“ and „DS Label“• Ranked by the Finantial Times annually• Eduniversal awards• 200 partner universities• 700 outgoing students/year• CEMS – The Global Alliance in Management

Education• PIM – Partnership in International Management

FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• Founded in 1991• Branches:

– International Trade– Tourism– Business and Law– International Politics and Diplomacy– European Integration and Political Sciences

FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• 170 pedagogues• 3 500 students• EPAS accreditation

(European Foundation of Management Development

DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES

• 20 pedagogues; 3 native speakers• 4 foreign languages:

– French– Spanish– Italian– Portuguese

• Cca 1800 students/semester• Courses A0-C2• Certificates Paris/Madrid Chamber of Commerce (business

language)

DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES

• Economics French/Spanish/Italian – 4 semesters (B1-C1)• Business French/Spanish/Italian – 2 semesters (C1)

• LSP – Language for Specific Purposes– Business, Economics topics (Banking, Money, European Union,

International Trade, Macro/Micro Economics etc.)• CLIL – Content and Language Integrated Learning

– Any dual focused type of provision in which a second language, foreign or other, is used for the teaching and learning of a non-language subject matter, with language and content having a joined and mutually beneficial role (Marsh 2002)

TERMINOLOGY

• Foreign language = native language + 1st foreign language, 2nd, 3rd,…

• Language = L1 (native language), L2 (1st foreign language), L3, L4

• Our students:– L1 = Czech (Slovak, Russian,..)– L2 = English– L3 = French, Spanish, Italian (German, Russian)– L4 = French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (German, Russian,

Chinese, Swedish etc)

CULTURE

• ICEBERG concept – surface, shallow, deep culture

• Business context – negotiation strategies, organizational styles, key negotiating pointers, nonverbal communication, stereotypes …

(Hofstede, Trompenaars, Hampden-Turner, …)

CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS

• new interdisciplinary discipline– cross-cultural capability– cross-cultural skills– cross-cultural competence– cross-cultural awareness– inter-cultural studies– intercultural communication– intercultural effectiveness– intercultural awareness– intercultural communicative competence

CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS

• “language learning should lead to insight and increased understanding of the society and culture of speakers of other languages, but also of learners´ own society and culture and the relationship between the two, a cognitive learning process (…) Language learning should lead to positive attitudes towards speakers of other languages, an affective change.” Byram and Fleming (1998),

LANGUAGE STUDY x LANGUAGE AND CULTURE STUDY

L1/C1

L2L3

L4

L1/C1

L2/C2

L3/C3

L4/C4

L = languageC= culture

METHODS ENHANCING CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS

• Study abroad• Role-plays• Simulations • Case study• Native lecturers / businesspersons• Our Project

STUDY ABROAD

+• Linguistic change• Cultural change• Personal change

-• Not accessible for all

students• Expensive• Time taking

ROLE-PLAYS and SIMULATIONS

+• Linguistic change• Knowledge application• Presentation skills• Negociation skills• Independent work• Team work• Accessible for all

students

-• Cross-cultural interaction

CASE STUDY

+• Knowledge application• Linguistic change• L3/C3 context• Accessible for all

students

-• Cross-cultural interaction

NATIVE LECTURERS / BUSINESSPERSONS

+• L3/C3 context• Accessible for all

students

-• Time limited• Insufficient interaction

OUR PROJECT

• „Intercultural Dimensions of Organizational Culture in MNCs – Comparative Study in Romance Cultures“

• 2 years project• 20 students (master´s program)• 4 pedagogues (French, Spanish, Italian)

• Quantitative and qualitative research project

OUR PROJECT - HYPOTHESES

• Cultural differences and cultural stereotypes enter into business relationships, influence and directly affect management and corporate communication. Perception of these differences is rather intuitive, but there are procedures to effectively enhance intercultural communication and awareness.

• There is a link between the cultural characteristics of a nation and the style of management. Cultural paradigms enter into the organizational structure of the company and affect the manner and style of management, depending on where the company is located.

• Romance cultures (French, Spanish, Italian) are specific and differ from the Czech culture. Cultures that meet within an organisation create a new culture with patterns of both (more) cultures.

OUR PROJECT - QUESTIONS

• What are the specific features of negotiation and persuasion in negotiation meetings of each studied culture, what are the differences between the Romance cultures and a Czech speaker (e.g., the relationship to authority, time, emotions, individualism, collectivism, nonverbal communication, ...)?

• Which forms of intercultural communication training organizations offer to their employees (courses, seminars, trainings, intercultural coaching, counselling etc.)?

• What are the most important differences between the Czech mentality and the mentality of given Romance culture (negotiation behaviour, stereotypes, customs, rituals etc.)?

• What are the roles of the Czech and Romance languages in the Romance MNCs in the CR?

OUR PROJECT - METHODOLOGY

• Theoretical part = excerpts, synthesis and analysis of the theoretical data (Czech and French/Spanish/Italian/English bibliography)

• Quantitative research = questionnaire survey– 80 items questionnaire = basic rules for questionnaire item

construction; different question types – dichotomous, nominal-polytomous, ordinal-polytomous, continuous etc.

– predefined organizations in the Czech Republic and abroad; • Qualitative research – interview

– aims to gather an in-depth understanding of business behaviour, and the reasons that govern such behavior.

– MNC´s and other Romance organizations in the Czech Republic and abroad (Erasmus)

BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS

• Direct contact with target culture (C3)• Theoretical knowledge acquirement • Research methods• Language competences

– Lexical, gramatical, pragmatic and intercultural• Professional communication within the business environment,

especially in international companies• Direct contact with practice, practical application• Independent work; team work

STUDY IN OWN COUNTRY x STUDY ABROAD

L1/C1 L2/C2 L1/C1 L2/C2

L = languageC= culture

TAXONOMY

STUDY ABROAD

STUDY IN L1 COUNTRY

OUR PROJECT

CONCLUSION

• „If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain“

• „If the student will not come to L3/C3, then L3/C3 must go to the student (with teachers´ contribution)“

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

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