Intercultural materials

The aim of the following activities is to develop intercultural understanding, which is the ability to appreciate and value cultural differences. Intercultural communication places an emphasis on how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate and perceive the world around them. Through the games and projects listed below, students analyze what influences various ways of thinking, beliefs, values, and identity, within and between cultural environments. This affords them the opportunity to overcome potential problems in message transmission and reception when interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds.

Project: GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS

In this activity, students represented members of political parties within the Global Government in 2050. Their task, to be completed by the following morning, was to decide on 10 human rights for all citizens of the world. The following day, they presented their decisions to the other parties after which all members of government held a meeting to reach a consensus. This gave students a chance to practice their critical thinking skills. Through a process of negotiation, the party members defended their positions by presenting convincing arguments to clarify their proposed solutions.

At the end of the activity, students watched a short video on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights to compare their own decisions to those declared by the United Nations.

CROSS CULTURAL EXCHANGE

Participants embark on an intercultural journey to explore and embrace diversity by sharing a wide range of artifacts and practices representing the values of their various cultures.

In this activity participants are asked to imagine that they are getting ready to travel on a spaceship to an intergalactic conference where they will exchange the cultural significance of their lives with individuals from different planets. In order to do so, they are asked to write down 5 essential aspects of their own culture that represent who they are. Then they get together in groups of mixed cultures to share among themselves these aspects in the form of artifacts, practices, customs, etc. Finally, they are asked to decide, still in their groups, which one of the 5 is the most essential for determining the meaning of their culture on the deepest level.

To culminate this activity, all participants come together in a large circle to share the ultimate features they have selected to represent their cultures. The forum is then opened for questions, comments and discussion to further understand each other’s sense of cultural identity.

Exploring Culture: Exercises, Stories and Synthetic Cultures
Interactive Methods for Teaching about Intercultural Differences

Riding the waves of culture

Cross cultural communication

Communicative Game: A BETTER WORLD

The group was divided into 4 teams which represented 4 planets. Each team was given a different problem sheet describing the situation on their planet, e.g.:

  1. You have a food supply and population problem on your planet (urban unemployment and poverty, rural depopulation, not enough people to farm the land).
  2. You have a lot of ecological problems on your planet (too much traffic, waste in the streets, air pollution, nuclear waste, trees dying because of sulphur dioxide).
  3. You have some social problems on your planet (violent crime, little discipline in schools, alcoholism, drug-taking and unemployment).
  4. You have some racial tension on your planet (minorities are discriminated, violence is on the increase, terrorist attacks on government offices).

The team members discussed their planet´s problems and came up with a set of laws designed to ameliorate the situation. Then each team sent out an ambassador to one of the other planets. The ambassador was not allowed to ask what problems the other planet had. Moreover, the planet groups were not allowed to tell him / her directly about the problems, but he / she could ask questions about what was and what was not allowed on the planet. When the ambassadors returned to their own planets with the information they have collected, the team tried to guess what the other planet´s problems were. Then the ambassadors were sent to a different planet and the process was repeated. It the end, the teams compared their answers and discussed the effectiveness of the laws.

What Are The World's Biggest Problems?

Role Play: THE CUBE

This activity simulated the experience of either being a manager or working for one in a multicultural business environment. The groups of students were presented with the task of creating a perfect cube with the materials provided. First of all, the managers had three minutes to think of a strategy. In the meantime, the employees were provided instructions including not to take any initiative during the role play and not to speak. Moreover, each employee in the group was forbidden to carry out a particular task such as using scissors or glue. Afterwards, the students had twenty minutes to complete the cube following the instructions. Facilitators shot a series of short videos capturing interesting interactions or even frustrations experienced during the activity. These were used at the end to help recall some specific moments and get feedback from both the managers and employees. They clearly showed that approaches to leadership vary and offered a wealth of opportunity for comparing the benefits and drawbacks of each. Finally, the groups presented their cubes and everyone voted for the most perfect one.

Management Style and the Boss-employee Relationship

International Language Exam

TOEIC ® Listening and Reading

The Technical University of Liberec provides the opportunity to take exams in the English language and obtain the international certificate TOEIC® (Test of English for International Communication).

What is TOEIC® Listening and Reading?

The TOEIC® Listening and Reading test is a valid assessment of English language reading and listening skills for the workplace. Employers worldwide use the TOEIC® test to determine who can communicate effectively in English across borders and cultures with coworkers and clients. The TOEIC® scores reflect the ability to communicate in different business areas when performing general every day working activities. The score ranges from 10 to 990 points and is comparable to the Common European Framework of Reference evaluating language skills in the range from A1 to C1.

TOEIC® Exam:

  • · is the most popular assessment of workplace English in the world
  • · can make you a stronger candidate for job opportunities with global organizations
  • · demonstrate your ability to communicate across borders and cultures with coworkers 
More information
Sample test online

INTERNATIONALES HOCHSCHULINSTITUT ZITTAU | FACULTY OF ECONOMIC OF THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF LIBEREC