Business Etiquette across cultures Lingva International Course

This course explores issues in cross-cultural communication in the business context. It is designed for intermediate level students who are in the business field or are studying business, or who are simply interested in cross-cultural conflict and resolution. The text employs a great range of communicative activities, including the case study approach, information gaps, interviews and role-plays to encourage students to think critically, solve problems, and develop their oral communication skills. The activities are supplied with cultural information from many countries so that students can compare their own ideas and traditions to those of people from other cultures.

Because of the nature of the content and the student-centered style of the activities, the book can be used from a lower intermediate through advanced level. No previous knowledge of business is required.
In our task design, our goal has been to get the learner to focus not on grammar or functions, but on what is happening in the conversation, and on how it is being accomplished. We have designed a diversity of activities that are authentic – ones that learners actually have to perform in everyday interactions.

Cultural similarities and differences:

1. Stereotypes Across Cultures (Cultural diversity and socializing): eye contact, physical distance, cooperation, giving opinions, listening small talk.
2. Making contacts across cultures (Cross-cultural understanding): making inferences, getting connected, introductions, names and titles, dressing for business.
3. Hospitality across cultures: an office party, socializing with colleagues, entertaining business clients/VIPs, gift giving.
4. Time across cultures: punctuality, business schedules, company time or personal time.
5. Decisions makers across cultures: Negotiator Qualities, styles of persuasion.
6. Contacts across cultures: what’s a handshake. Honoring contracts.
7. Telephoning: preparing to make a telephone call, receiving calls. Taking and leaving messages, asking for and giving repetition, telephoning across cultures, making arrangements, ending a call, cross-cultural communication on the telephone, problem solving on the telephone, complaints).
8. Presentation: presentation techniques and preparation, using visual aids, the middle of presentation, linking ideas, summarizing and concluding.
9. Meetings: effective chairing a meeting, establishing the purpose of a meeting, the structure of discussion, asking for opinion, interrupting and handling interruptions, asking for and giving clarification, delaying decision.
10. Negotiations: types of negotiations, preparation for a negotiation, making an opening statement.