INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
TSLP 833: Winter 1997
MW 7:10 - 9:30, Room 401 Sparks Hall


Instructor:
Mary Lou McCloskey, Ph.D.
Web Site: http://www.gsu.edu/~eslmlm
e-mail me at: mlmcc@gsu.edu
Office: Room 1026, Urban Life Building
Office Hours: Winter 1997 => MW 3:30 - 6:30
Office Phone: (404) 651-0254
Home Office Phone: (404) 636-9711

Department of Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language
College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia, USA


Course Description

Texts

Course Objectives

Assignments

Grading

Class Listserv

Class Web Page Description

Bibliographies

Culture Texts

Culture Readings

Travel Genre Books

Fiction/Non-Fiction Authors and Titles for Culture Study


Course Description
Humans interpret reality in terms of their own cultures and frequently assume that others are seeing that same "reality." Many people assume that other countries have cultures whereas their own country has "Truth." This course will (1) explore humans as cultural beings (who we are, how we think, how we write, what we say, and how we say it) and (2) look at how cultural differences among humans relate to language learning and teaching.

Course Objectives
Students and professor will participate in a learning community, sharing resources and facilitating one another's learning through experiences in the classroom and uses of technology to carry the community beyond the classroom. Participants will become familiar with:
a) communication theory
b) basic concepts in the field of intercultural communication
c) intercultural differences/similarities in perceiving and "being" in the world
d) intercultural differences/similarities in communication styles
e) intercultural differences/similarities in pedagogy
f) ESL/EFL intercultural textbooks
g) a wide range of resources available for studying culture
h) two or more cultural groups that are different from their own

Texts
Hall, E. T. (1991). Beyond Culture. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books/Doubleday Press. ISBN 0-385-12474-0

Hu, W. & Grove, C. L. (1991). Encountering the Chinese: A Guide for Americans. Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press.

McCloskey, M.L. & Nelson, G. (Eds.) TSLP 833 Coursebook: Intercultural Communication, Winter, 1997. Atlanta: Georgia State University. (This includes course readings, bibliographies and handouts.)

Assignments
Information on assignments is included in your course packet. Further explanations will be distributed via class e­mail messages. Please feel free to ask questions in class or on e­mail.

Pragmatic Ethnography Projects (webs and papers)

Mini-reviews of resources encountered during the course

"Culture Cap" Classroom Observations

Reviews of intercultural textbooks

Planning mini-lessons/discussion guides on class readings

Take-home final exam

Grading 10% Participation in class and in e-mail discussion *
20% Pragmatic Ethnography Project (this may be completed as a web site or as a paper)
10% 4 mini-reviews (100 words max) of resources discovered/used during the course *
5% "Culture Cap" Classroom Observation *
15% Review of an intercultural textbook
20% Planning and conducting mini­lessons on class readings
20% Take-home final exam
* These are ungraded activities. Satisfactory completion/active participation will gain full credit.

Class Listserv FAQ
What is a class listserv?
A class listserv is an e­mail address to which our class members can post and receive messages for our class only. We will use our listserv to share resources and information about the course and, we hope, for lively discussions of course themes and content.

How will we use it in our course?
Participating in the listserv is part of our responsibility as members of our class learning community. Some class assignments will be posted on the listserv, including our resource reviews. Participate as often as you wish. Please read your e-mail before each class. Post at least one message of use to the class each week. Respond to someone else's posting at least once a week. We will develop a contact list in class so that you may also send private messages to one another and to me through e-mail.

How do I participate?
Once you have joined the listserv, you will automatically receive all messages posted. They will remain on the current list for about a week and then will be archived.

How do I subscribe?
Send an e-mail message to: listproc@listproc.gsu.edu
In the body of the message, type: SUBSCRIBE TSLP833 [FIRSTNAME] [LASTNAME]

How do I send messages?
To post messages to the listserv, use this address: TSLP833@listproc.gsu.edu

Class Web Page
During the term, we will participate in developing a class web page. We will all be contributors, and I'll serve as editor. This is my first experience with this kind of project, so I'm eager for input and assistance from those of you who are technologically more advanced or just interested. Please let me know how you might help.

Since the audience of our website is the whole world, we will use it for class products that may be of interest to others. I will include course information including the syllabus, readings list, and bibliographies. After we've shared our information on the listserv, responded to, revised and edited them, we can select links to be added to the website, including the resources we discover, our mini­reviews and textbook reviews, our ethnography projects, etc.

Course Schedule (Subject to Revision)
Jan 6: Introduction, Syllabus
Community Development
Critical Incidents

Jan 8 Culture and the Language Classroom; What is Culture?
Nelson, (1995a); Hofstede (1986)
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30

Jan 13 Technology Orientation: E-Mail, Listserv, and Web Pages - Room 305CS
Karen Oates, GSU Department of Instructional Technology
You MUST have a computer ID and have logged in to participate
Bring text you would like to include on your home page.

Jan 15 Ethnography, Preparation for Papers
Damen, Chapter 4; Watson­Gegio (1988)
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30
Resource 1 due on listserv by class time.
Survey due on listserv by class time.

Jan 20: No class in honor of MLK's birthday

Jan 22: China
Hu & Grove: Preface, Intro, Chapter 1, 2, 3
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30
Resource 2 due on listserv by class time.

Jan 27: China
Hu & Grove, Chapters 4, 5, 6
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30
E-mail your classroom observation plan by class time

Jan 29: China
Hu & Grove, Chapters 7, 8, 9
Mini­Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30
Resource 3 due

Feb 3: China
Hu & Grove, Part II
Yum (1988); Kanet (1994)
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30
Make an appointment for discussion on project by today.

Feb 5: US Culture
Miner (1987); Stewart (1987)
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30
Resource 4 due
Nacirema Web: Check this out AFTER you read Miner

Feb 10: Culture and Writing
Kaplan (1966); Bohannon (1966); Thrush (1993); Carson (1992); Kinsella (1995); Reid (1989)
(You'll prepare one of these for jigsaw; read any others you can.)
Jigsaw 7:10 - 8:10
Lecture, activities: 7:40 - 9:30
Observation Summary due on listserv

Feb 12
Writing Process Support Groups
Nelson (1995b); Hudson­Ross & Dong (1990); MacKay (1994)
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Small Group Exchanges on Target Cultures: 7:40 - 8:30
Lecture, activities: 8:30 - 9:30
Prepare a 10­15 minute presentation/discussion on target cultures to present to your group.

Feb 17: Writing Process
(We have requested a computer classroom for this class)
Writing Process Support Groups 7:10 - 8:00
Lecture, activities: 8:00 - 9:30
Draft of Ethnography Project Due (Bring copies and/or disk for sharing with group)

Feb 19: Cultural Asjustment; re-entry; Writing Process
1 Hojer (1988); Holm (1990) [2 parts]
2 Oberg (1958); English (1989); Caudron (1991)
Mini-Lesson 1: 7:10 - 7:40
Mini-Lesson 2: 7:40 - 8:30
Support Groups: 8:30 - 9:30
E-mail response to peers' drafts (please copy me) due by class time.

Feb 24: Textbook reviews
Damen (1986), Chapter 13; Pennycook (1996)
Mini-Lesson: 7:10 - 7:40
Lecture, activities: 8:00 - 9:30
Practical ethnography Projects Due

Feb 26: Hall
1 Hall (1976) Intro, Chapters 1-3
2 Hall (1976) Chapters 4-6
Sample Reviews in coursebook
Mini-Lesson 1: 7:10 - 7:40
Mini-Lesson 2: 7:40 - 8:30
8:30 - 9:30 Analysis of Textbook reviews (Bring samples from coursebook.)

Mar 3: Hall
1 Hall (1976) Chapters 7-9
2 Hall (1976), Chapters 10-12
Mini-Lesson 1: 7:10 - 7:40
Mini-Lesson 2: 7:40 - 8:30
Lecture, activities: 8:30 - 9:30

Mar 5: Hall; Cultural/Political Issues in ESL/EFL
1 Hall (1976), Chapters 13-15
2 Widdowson (1994); Kachru (1988)
Mini-Lesson 1: 7:10 - 7:40
Mini-Lesson 2: 7:40 - 8:30
8:30 - 9:30 Cultural/Political issues in ESL/EFL
Textbook Reviews Due
Take-Home Final Distributed

Mar 10: Cross-Cultural Simulation -- BaFaBaFa
Activity: 7:10 - 8:30
Discussion, Conclusions: 8:40 - 9:30

Mar 12: No class meeting due to TESOL Convention.
We will substitute individual appointments on projects in Feb.)
Take-Home Final due at 5PM. Turn it in early and go to TESOL in Orlando!

TSLP 833: Intercultural Communication -- Syllabus, Winter 1997 (McCloskey)
Last update: 1/13/97