ScienceDirect Business simulation as a means of developing intercultural competence (original) (raw)
Related papers
2013
Living in a global village needs an ability not only to communicate or to exchange information by using global languages such as English, but also to know other cultures as we get used to getting into contact with other people from culture other than our own.Intercultural understanding simply refers to the basic ability of people to correctly recognize, interpret, and react to other people, incidences or situations that are open to misunderstanding due to different cultural background meaning that they have different life, vision, religion, ethics, norms, laws, education system etc.Dealing with English language teaching especially for the learners of business communication, it has been widely recognized that they need not just knowledge and skill in the grammar of the target language but also the ability to use the target language in socially and culturally appropriate ways.Classroom speaking activities that can be effectively used to get the goals mentioned are simulation and role-...
Business-Related Simulation Exercises in the Russian Classroom
1994
Role-playing and simulation are recommended as effective methods of introducing business content into Russian language courses. The advantages of role-playing, which make it a flexible and effective tool throughout the foreign language curriculum, are discussed. Use of role-play in introductory courses is addressed, but focus is primarily on use in more advanced courses Proper techniques for use of simulation exercises are examined and several different exercise types are presented. The simulations and role-plays suggested here are structured to require the use of business themes, cultural information, and problem-solving and to provide opportunities for using language in varied ways. It is suggested that language teachers charged with preparing students for careers in business devote a .significant portion of class time to communicative activities such as role-playing. (MSE) *
Review of "Intercultural Business Communication and Simulation and Gaming Methodology
Ibérica, 2010
serve up an interesting set of articles on intercultural business communication (IBC). It is important to assume, from the very beginning, that IBC is a complex disciplinary endeavour, as many studies in the last fifty years have clearly highlighted. Thus, Hall (1959 & 1966), Hofstede (1980 & 1983), Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997) or Schwartz (1999) have pointed out fairly different perspectives that should be considered while analysing communication. In fact, we cannot avoid studying intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, or national perspectives in order to understand the way someone can communicate within a business framework. It is important to analyse how anyone can improve his/her competence in order to communicate effectively in a business-based environment. Some years ago Bargiela-Chiappini and Nickerson (2003) stated that interculturality should play an important role in order to communicate effectively in business settings. Thus, the fundamental constructs of communication involve an array of well-established and highly developed fields of enquiry. There are many approaches, theories and methodologies that tend to overlap. Among those methodologies which can help us improve our communicative competence in business settings is the simulation and gaming methodology, a target of this book as well. The volume is divided into three main sections: an introductory section "explaining intercultural communication", comprising three different chapters. The second section, devoted to "applied linguistic research on intercultural business communication", is clearly the longest one, being formed by seven contributions. Finally, the third section, "simulation and gaming methodology as a vehicle for communicative competence in intercultural business settings", comprises three different texts.
2010
serve up an interesting set of articles on intercultural business communication (IBC). It is important to assume, from the very beginning, that IBC is a complex disciplinary endeavour, as many studies in the last fifty years have clearly highlighted. Thus, Hall (1959 & 1966), Hofstede (1980 & 1983), Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997) or Schwartz (1999) have pointed out fairly different perspectives that should be considered while analysing communication. In fact, we cannot avoid studying intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, or national perspectives in order to understand the way someone can communicate within a business framework. It is important to analyse how anyone can improve his/her competence in order to communicate effectively in a business-based environment. Some years ago Bargiela-Chiappini and Nickerson (2003) stated that interculturality should play an important role in order to communicate effectively in business settings. Thus, the fundamental constructs of communication involve an array of well-established and highly developed fields of enquiry. There are many approaches, theories and methodologies that tend to overlap. Among those methodologies which can help us improve our communicative competence in business settings is the simulation and gaming methodology, a target of this book as well. The volume is divided into three main sections: an introductory section "explaining intercultural communication", comprising three different chapters. The second section, devoted to "applied linguistic research on intercultural business communication", is clearly the longest one, being formed by seven contributions. Finally, the third section, "simulation and gaming methodology as a vehicle for communicative competence in intercultural business settings", comprises three different texts.
2016
This article reports on the analysis of business meeting simulation data investigating the use of Business English (BE) in business meeting simulations at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The research explores the use of business meeting simulations in a higher education setting in order to bring into focus how patterns of linguistic interactions among BE students are structured, with and without a BE teacher’s corrective feedback. The findings provide possible solutions for the effective integration of business meeting simulations into BE programmes to improve students’ performance in international business meetings in which English is the lingua franca by using business meeting simulations as a BE teaching tool. Corpus analysis and qualitative analysis of linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic elements of foreign language communicative competence (FLCC) were used to explore the development of FLCC elements of BE students in the spoken corpus of Engli...
Simulation games as educational texts and mediational tools for intercultural learning
2020
This article reports on the results of research carried out with university students using simulation games as educational resources. The aim of the study was to analyse the role of simulation games as mediational tools in the creation of playful, creativity-based educational interaction and the development of intercultural competence. Our approach is grounded in Moeglin's (2008) discussion of the role of mediatisation in the process of learning, Huizinga's (1971) theory of play (as it relates to learning), and Vygotsky's (1978) idea of a social constructivist pedagogy. The results suggest that simulation games exhibit the potential to develop important elements of intercultural competence, by helping to: turn learning into play, develop decision-making and other intercultural skills (as opposed to simply providing knowledge), and maximise students' potential learning outcomes. In addition, simulation games provide a multimodal platform, encouraging the development o...
Intercultural Simulation Games for Management Education in Japan
Managers in Japan are isolated both geographically and psychologically from encountering people from other cultures. This presents a difficulty in acquiring competency in intercultural communication, an increasingly needed skill for corporate internationalization. Undergraduate education in the economics, commerce, and management departments of major universities can play a role in addressing this need. Simulation games, in particular, allow students to both experience meeting another culture in a short time and discover new dimensions of self-awareness, cultural sensitivity and communication skills. This paper justifies the use of simulation in relation to traditional classroom methods, compares five different intercultural simulation games developed for management training in North America and documents a case study of adapting one of these simulation games with a group of international business students in Japan. This simulation, called Bafa Bafa, was tested with fifteen students, aged 19-22, who experienced three hours of learning a simulated culture, visiting another unknown culture, discussing their problems and reflections, and summarizing these through concept mapping. Written participant comments were analyzed by coding sentences according to criteria of the Bennett model of developmental stages of intercultural sensitivity. This content analysis indicated students were able to identify new ways to communicate when rules and language are not explicit and they were forced to learn by trial and error. The process of culture shock was reproduced in the game, revealing the affective aspects of cross-cultural learning.
Improving strategies for intercultural communication through simulated experiences
Proceedings of the Cross Cultural Learning Styles, Graz, Austria, 2006
The chorus of political, business, community and education leaders is drawing our attention to the need for improved intercultural communication competence. Student opportunities for study abroad, foreign language immersion and global learning, through the use of the Internet, are available but need to be provided on a larger scale. Even so, many students may not have such opportunities. To prepare students to take maximum advantage of these limited opportunities during their studies as well as after graduation, an ...
Toward a model for intercultural communication in simulations
Simulation & Gaming, 2012
The growing need for intercultural literacy in an increasingly interconnected and computer-mediated world contrasts with the dearth of investigation in best practices when designing simulations aimed at improving intercultural communication. Synthetic cultures inspired by real-world cultural traits, problem-based learning, and a social constructivist theoretical base represent core components of immersive learning environments designed to improve intercultural literacy. Through an analysis of the literature, a model is proposed primarily to promote discussion and debate about intercultural simulations. The Model for Intercultural Communication in Simulations asserts that along with those components, the Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC), natural decision making, and third place thinking form an approach in understanding how intercultural simulations should be designed. The Model for Intercultural Communication in Simulations challenges the learner to move beyond known paradigms and encourages simulation and e-learning designers to employ socially situated contexts. Accordingly, within the context of the model, a culminating evaluation of an online intercultural training simulation (ARGONAUTONLINE) follows the introduction of the model.
Abstract—This research paper aims at exploring the views of Thai adult learners enrolling in the one-year Graduate Diploma Program in English for Business and Management (EBM), Thammasat University, on the use of business simulations in terms of their realistic nature, level of engagement, and usefulness. In addition to the learners’ views, outcomes of four different simulated meeting tasks conducted by a group of four learners were analyzed to explore how realistic patterns of interaction used in those simulations were. The hypothesis of this study is that if the learners find the simulated tasks engaging and representative of the real-world contexts, they are likely to focus on using specific and work-related language to fulfill the task purposes. In-depth interviews with a total of eight EBM students and audio-recordings of simulated meetings were the main data collection methods of this qualitative study. Discussion of the findings led to the conclusion that simulations strived to elicit the use of language which was similar to the authentic generic patterns found in the real world’ business meetings. It further pointed out that the participants believed simulations were likely to assist them in improving their use of specific language to achieve their real-world business operations.