Learning Objectives

Back to: Training Session: Critical Situations in Intercultural Contexts

In this section of the course you will

• become familiar with critical situations that might occur in cross-cultural interaction;
• get a clear idea of potential gaps and pitfalls happening when people from different cultural backgrounds communicate;
• learn how to recognise and define hotspots that frequently cause communication problems, e.g. welcome rituals, invitations, gifts, topics and taboos in conversation;
• be aware of hotwords and know that they are always connected to sensitive cultural topics, they are usually hard to translate and they are loaded with positive or negative emotions;
• know the concept of critical incidents and the methodology that raises awareness on possible problems caused by cultural diversity;
• understand by means of examples critical incidents referring to cultural dimensions, verbal and nonverbal communication, stereotypes and intercultural sensitivity.