OXFORD UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

English Language Teachers’ Summer Seminar 2022

Week 2: Aug 2-5

A Fresh Take on Building Effective International Communication Skills

Tutor: Chia Suan Chong

With English now an essential tool for global communication, many students choose to learn the
language to communicate with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
However, when communication breaks down, it’s not always because of linguistic issues, but as
a result of mismatched expectations, misplaced assumptions, and conflicting beliefs and
attitudes.

To help our students communicate more successfully as global citizens, we need to raise their
awareness of the potential issues they might encounter when using English outside the
classroom. To do so, we need to equip them with a toolkit of practical skills and strategies that
will help them build relationships, select the most appropriate channel and communicative style
for different social contexts, and manage difficult conversations. This series of workshops will
enable you to support your students in becoming successful, culturally sensitive international
communicators.

During this course you will:

• identify the skills students need for effective global communication

• learn how to incorporate intercultural skills and interpersonal skills training into your teaching
• develop your awareness of different aspects of intercultural and interpersonal communication
• practise the skills required for effective reflection, communication, and relationship building.

Session 1 Skills of an international communicator

Monday ▪ What makes a successful global communicator?
▪ What is culture and how might we incorporate aspects of it in our
lessons?
▪ Which factors can influence our beliefs, attitudes and behavior?
▪ How can language and discourse lead to misunderstandings?
▪ Are there ways in which we can actively avoid miscommunication?
▪ What is a critical incident and what are the benefits of using critical
incidents in the classroom?
Session 2 The way we are
Tuesday We all communicate and behave differently. When others behave in
unexpected ways, or do things that surprise us, it can be all too easy to jump
to certain conclusions. In this session, we reflect on our individual
communication styles and consider ways of becoming more flexible and
accommodating. We will also see how the ADAPT Model can be used as a
tool to promote understanding and flexibility.

Session 3 Collaborating and building relationships

Wednesday Our students use English not only for transactions, but for interpersonal
communication to build relationships. How they go about doing this can differ
significantly depending on the person and the situation in question. In this session,
we look at ways of moving students beyond everyday transactional situations and
consider important interpersonal communication strategies that help build rapport
and trust. To do so we explore notions of politeness, directness, and face.
 Session 4 Dealing with difficult conversations
Thursday Despite the fact that disagreements and conflict are part and parcel of life and
students will most certainly be faced with difficult conversations at some point, they
often receive scant treatment in language classrooms. Today, we consider different
types of conflict, different ways of dealing with it, and the benefits that effective
conflict management can bring to a relationship.

Session 5 Influencing and listening

Friday How effective are our students’ skills of persuasion? Can they successfully
express their personal opinions? How might they react to someone looking to talk
about a personal problem? In our final session, we consider the different
preferences for presenting information and how our students can improve their
personal interaction skills. We also explore how skillful listening strategies can not
only aid our understanding of intercultural situations, but can also help the people
we communicate with to develop their own thinking.

Please note: This course schedule is intended to give an overview of the topics to be covered in each
session; however, it may be liable to change at the tutor’s discretion.

SUGGESTED READING
There is no required preparatory reading for this course. However, you may wish to have a look at:

Chong, C.S. (2018) Successful International Communication, Pavilion Publishing.

Molinsky, A (2013) Global Dexterity, Harvard Business Review Press.
Kline, N (2002) Time to Think: listening to ignite the human mind, Cassell.

Please note: This course schedule is intended to give an overview of the topics to be covered in each
session; however, it may be liable to change at the tutor’s discretion