Communicating in Culturally Diverse Contexts

Skip to:

Header
Main Navigation
Main Content
Footer

Key facts

UNE unit code: LING350

*You are viewing the 2025 version of this unit which may be subject to change in future.

Start

Trimester 1 - Online

Campus

Armidale Campus

24/7 online support

Intensive schools

Supervised exam

Credit points

UNE student studies on a laptop on her lounge at home

In an increasingly multicultural society, it is critical that we understand how to communicate effectively with others.

This unit is about communication between people of differing cultural backgrounds in different social and professional contexts. It covers principles of cross-cultural communication, how problems can arise, and what can be done to overcome them.

The approach is linguistically-oriented but assumes no prior knowledge of linguistics. You will learn how to apply linguistic methods to understand and improve cross-cultural communication.

You do not need to know any other language to do this unit. The unit is supported by a variety of online tools including online assessment.

Offerings

Teaching period	Mode/location
Trimester 1	Online

*Offering is subject to availability

Intensive schools

There are no intensive schools required for this unit.

Enrolment rules

Pre-requisites

12cp

Restrictions

LING110 or LING150 or LING250

Combined units

LING150 Communicating in Culturally Diverse Contexts

Notes

Please refer to the student handbook for current details on this unit.

Unit coordinator(s)

Finex NdhlovuAssociate Professor, Language in society/Sociology of language - Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education; School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:

identify and examine several approaches to studying cross-cultural communication;
effectively communicate how cultural assumptions and expectations shape communicative style with reference to specific examples from a variety of settings;
apply linguistic methods and concepts to analyse cross-cultural interaction in original or secondary data;
critically evaluate frequent causes of cross-cultural communication problems, with reference to concrete examples;
effectively communicate how people acquire communicative style through language socialisation, and be able to apply analytical concepts to real data; and
use autonomy and judgement in the explanation of strategies for communicating more effectively across cultures.

Assessment information

Assessments are subject to change up to 8 weeks prior to the start of the teaching period in which you are undertaking the unit.

Title	Must Complete	Weight	Offerings	Assessment Notes
Essay/Project	Yes	30%	All offerings	Research essay or project No. Words: 1500-2000
Online Assignment Note	Yes	5%	All offerings	No. Words: 350
Online Worksheet	Yes	25%	All offerings	No. Words: 1000
Take Home Exam	Yes	40%	All offerings

Learning resources

Textbooks are subject to change up to 8 weeks prior to the start of the teaching period in which you are undertaking the unit.

Note: Students are expected to purchase prescribed material. Please note that textbook requirements may vary from one teaching period to the next.