Incorporating inter-cultural awareness in the teaching of business communication: The IIUM experience

Abstract

Students of The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) come from many Islamic countries around the world. They are enrolled in different faculties including the Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences. One of the compulsory courses for these students is The English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). It is meant for final year students (3 credit bearing) to equip them with the necessary skills before joining the workforce. Over the years, various approaches have been introduced and applied in ensuring that the best method is applied so that this course will be more meaningful and effective to the students. However, the course content only focuses on the communication skills in Business English without taking into account the different cultures of students who may have different business cultures back home. This study hence will look into the possibility of incorporating cultural awareness across context in the teaching and learning of English for Occupational Purposes and answering research questions related to culture, communication, teaching and learning. The qualitative methodology employing the interpretive analytical framework and case study are used in the 2-semester observations and interviews of the EOP students and lecturers. Findings are discussed with regard to the developmental theories of intercultural communication and the business communication aspects