BA course 'Intercultural Communication China (Intermediate)'*

This course is taught to students in the 7th and 8th term of their BA study. The students are made familiar with different communication and culture concepts fundamental to the study of intercultural communication in and with China which enable them to make analyses and assess cases of intercultural communication (e.g. between minorities and majorities and/or between Chinese and Europeans) within different theoretical frameworks. For successful negotiations with the Chinese, not only a solid background in Chinese language is mandatory, but also a deep going knowledge of Chinese people’s mentality, their cognition processes, their cultural traditions, and their selfunderstanding. In this course on Intercultural communication in and with China, students learn more about these parameters, partly by reading Western theory and analyses about the most salient differences and characteristics in English language, partly by reading Chinese sources about the problems discussed. Three big themes are dealt with: a) differences in Chinese and Western cognition patterns, b) cultural traditions that have an impact on business negotiation between East and West, and c) the Chinese discourse about China’s particular social and political dispositions.

The teaching consists of lectures, discussions and role plays. The language of instruction is English for the theoretical part and Chinese for the study of relevant case studies, newspaper articles etc.. The Chinese texts, which are always discussed in Chinese language, deal with basic Chinese Confucianist concepts such as guanxi, face, human heartedness, respect for seniority, hierarchy between superiors and inferiors, self-cultivation, and harmony, but also with Taoist traditions such as Sunzi’s Art of War and the 36 stratagems, as well as critical Chinese discourses on the 'Chinese condition' (guoqing). Key literature for the course is Tony Fang 1998: Chinese Business Negotiating Style (in English), Wu Xiaolu, 2008: Talking about Culture (in Chinese), as well as many articles in Chinese and English language. To train students for the final written exam (an English-language analysis of a Chinese text with relevance to Intercultural Communication in China), they must prepare an oral home assignment with relevance to communication styles and manners in China or with relevance to cultural differences between China and the West. During an oral presentation (approximately 15 minutes), the student must summarize and explain the text and comment on it in Chinese. To ensure that students are well prepared for each lesson, a syllabus is handed out at the beginning of the course in which the tasks that need to be prepared for every lesson are outlined. The homework includes reading material in English and Chinese as well as audiovisual material in both languages. Apart from the required reading material and audiovisual material which must be worked through, the students are confronted with a number of questions in English and Chinese which they have to answer before each lesson. Since the BA curriculum does not offer any other classes to train Chinese language proficiency except from Negotiation Skills after the students’ return from China, it is essential that the course provides the above-mentioned opportunities for reading and speaking Chinese on an advanced level. Group size ranges from 10-16.

*This course was part of the study programme 'BA and MA in Business, Language, and Culture (Chinese)' offered at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) between 2007 and 2021. The programme ended in 2021.