In the contemporary globalized world, where the tempo and intensity of international contacts are continually strengthening, the role of international communication has become increasingly crucial.

This minor will help students develop an understanding of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural issues involved in international communication. Since different nations are associated with different languages and cultures, international communication is inseparable from intercultural communication – in the era of ‘global English’ more than ever, because one ‘international English’ can conceal deep differences in cultural assumptions. This minor will explore issues involved in interaction between speakers from different backgrounds and will equip them with conceptual tools to explore those issues.

The minor will include either one year of language study (for beginners) or one semester of language study (for non-beginners), one compulsory course (for everyone), for beginners one other course from a list of eight and for non-beginners two other courses from the same list.

Learning Outcomes

On satisfying the requirements of this minor, the students will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the complex and multifaceted relations between communication, culture, language and identity;
• demonstrate an understanding of the limits of translatability of key concepts across languages, and the implications of these limits for international communication;
• analyze cultural assumptions underlying expressions such as “the ideals of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law” (Obama 2006: p. 284) and explain their linguistic underpinnings;
• explain the sources of miscommunication between speakers of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds who communicate using English as a lingua franca;
• demonstrate and understanding of potential sources of miscommunication within multilingual and multi-cultural societies such as Australia.
• Students will have basic knowledge of another language, sufficient for basic communication and for understanding of the issues that can arise in international communication due to linguistic differences

Relevant Degrees

• Bachelor of Arts (BARTS)
• Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (Sustainability) (BISSU)
• Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (Sustainability) Advanced (Honours) (AISSU)