ENHANCING THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT CROSS-CULTURAL EXPERIENCE

1. ENHANCING THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT CROSS-CULTURAL EXPERIENCE • PhDr. Dominika KOVÁŘOVÁ, Ph.D., MBA • dominika.kovarova@vse.cz • Department of Romance Languages • Facultyof International Relations • University ofEconomics

2. CONTENTS • Prague and University ofEconomics • Theoretical Framework • TeachingMethods • Project Presentation • Conclusion

3. THE CZECH REPUBLIC • Capital: Prague • Official language: Czech • Area: 78 866 km2 • Population: 10,5 million • President: MilošZeman

4. PRAGUE • Population: 1,8 million

5. UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS • Thebiggest public economics univerzity in the CR • Bachelor´s, master´s and doctoral study programs • Sixfaculties: • Facultyof Finance and Accounting • Facultyof International Relations • Facultyof Business Administration • FacultyofInformatics and Statistics • FacultyofEconomics • Facultyof Management

6. UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS • 20 000 students • Highlycompetitiveentrance • „ECTS Label“ and „DS Label“ • Ranked by theFinantialTimesannually • Eduniversalawards • 200 partner universities • 700 outgoingstudents/year • CEMS – TheGlobalAlliance in Management Education • PIM – Partnership in International Management

7. FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS • Founded in 1991 • Branches: • International Trade • Tourism • Business and Law • International Politics and Diplomacy • EuropeanIntegration and PoliticalSciences

8. FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS • 170 pedagogues • 3 500 students • EPAS accreditation (EuropeanFoundationof Management Development

9. DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES • 20 pedagogues;3nativespeakers • 4 foreign languages: • French • Spanish • Italian • Portuguese • Cca 1800 students/semester • Courses A0-C2 • Certificates Paris/Madrid Chamber of Commerce(business language)

10. DEPARTMENT OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES • EconomicsFrench/Spanish/Italian – 4 semesters (B1-C1) • Business French/Spanish/Italian – 2 semesters (C1) • LSP – LanguageforSpecificPurposes • Business, Economicstopics (Banking, Money, European Union, International Trade, Macro/MicroEconomicsetc.) • CLIL – Content and LanguageIntegratedLearning • Anydualfocused type ofprovision in which a second language, foreignorother, isusedfortheteaching and learningof a non-languagesubjectmatter, withlanguage and contenthaving a joined and mutuallybeneficial role (Marsh 2002)

11. TERMINOLOGY • Foreign language = nativelanguage + 1st foreign language, 2nd, 3rd,… • Language = L1 (nativelanguage), L2 (1stforeignlanguage), L3, L4 • Our students: • L1 = Czech (Slovak, Russian,..) • L2 = English • L3 = French, Spanish, Italian (German, Russian) • L4 = French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese(German, Russian, Chinese, Swedishetc)

12. CULTURE • ICEBERG concept – surface, shallow, deepculture • Business context – negotiationstrategies, organizationalstyles, keynegotiatingpointers, nonverbalcommunication, stereotypes … (Hofstede, Trompenaars, Hampden-Turner, …)

13. 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 • interculturalcommunicative competence

14. 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),

15. LANGUAGE STUDY x LANGUAGE AND CULTURE STUDY L = language C= culture

16. METHODS ENHANCING CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS • Study abroad • Role-plays • Simulations • Case study • Nativelecturers / businesspersons • OurProject

17. STUDY ABROAD + - Not accessibleforallstudents Expensive Timetaking • Linguisticchange • Culturalchange • Personalchange

18. ROLE-PLAYS and SIMULATIONS + - Cross-culturalinteraction • Linguisticchange • Knowledgeapplication • Presentationskills • Negociationskills • Independent work • Team work • Accessibleforallstudents

19. CASE STUDY + - Cross-culturalinteraction • Knowledgeapplication • Linguisticchange • L3/C3 context • Accessibleforallstudents

20. NATIVE LECTURERS / BUSINESSPERSONS + - Time limited Insufficientinteraction • L3/C3 context • Accessibleforallstudents

21. OUR PROJECT • „Intercultural Dimensions of Organizational Culture in MNCs – Comparative Study in Romance Cultures“ • 2 yearsproject • 20 students (master´s program) • 4 pedagogues (French, Spanish, Italian) • Quantitative and qualitativeresearchproject

22. 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 theCzech culture. Cultures that meet within an organisation create a new culture with patterns of both (more) cultures.

23. 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 rolesof the Czech and Romance languages in the Romance MNCs in the CR?

24. OUR PROJECT - METHODOLOGY • Theoretical part = excerpts, synthesis and analysisofthetheoretical data (Czech and French/Spanish/Italian/Englishbibliography) • Quantitativeresearch = questionnaire survey • 80 items questionnaire = basic rules for questionnaire item construction; different question types – dichotomous, nominal-polytomous, ordinal-polytomous, continuous etc. • predefined organizationsin the Czech Republic and abroad; • Qualitative research – interview • aimsto gather an in-depth understanding of business behaviour, and the reasons that govern such behavior. • MNC´s and other Romance organizations in theCzech Republic and abroad (Erasmus)

25. BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS • Direct contactwithtargetculture (C3) • Theoretical knowledgeacquirement • Researchmethods • Languagecompetences • Lexical, gramatical, pragmatic and intercultural • Professionalcommunication within the business environment, especially in international companies • Direct contact with practice, practical application • Independent work; team work

26. STUDY IN OWN COUNTRY x STUDY ABROAD L = language C= culture

27. TAXONOMY

28. STUDY ABROAD

29. STUDY IN L1 COUNTRY

30. OUR PROJECT

31. CONCLUSION • „If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain“ • „Ifthe student will not come to L3/C3, then L3/C3 must go to the student (withteachers´ contribution)“

32. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! MERCI POUR VOTRE ATTENTION! DĚKUJI ZA VAŠI POZORNOST!