The Status Quo of Chinese International Business Practitioners’Intercultural Business Communication and PedagogicImplications

We propose an intercultural business communication(IBC)model and design a questionnaire basing on the model to gain detailed knowledge on the status quo of 239 Chinese international business practitioners’IBC activities.The factual questions include the main working languages,the communication media applied,their high-frequency communication situations,communication scenarios important to organizations and employees’career life,the most challenging communication situations,and sensitive communication topics.Pedagogic implications are discussed basing on the survey findings.

A Holistic Course Design for Intercultural Business Communication Based on CLT A Case Study of a Training Program for Chinese Business Professionals

BE （Business English） has been unprecedentedly emphasized and gradually developed into an independent discipline. The paper aims to explore a holistic course design for business professionals in IBC （Intercultural Business Communication） based on CLT （Communicative Language Teaching）. The proposed course design encompasses three-dimensional contents： comprehensive language and expertise training, intercultural communicative competence cultivation, and intercultural PBL （project-based learning）. A survey is conducted in a training program of Chinese business professionals in international institutions. Three principles are identified： （1） BE teaching is need-oriented, so the pedagogical methods should be tailored to meet the international workplace requirements; （2） The linguistic and professional knowledge acquisition is achieved through communicative function of the target language; and （3） Learners＇ participation in intercultural PBL can stimulate learners＇ interest and enhance their operational capabilities. The findings of the case study indicate that a holistic course design is： （1） Course syllabus should not be formed without taking the leamers＇ expectation and feedback into consideration; （2） Teaching strategies should be innovated to enhance learners＇ communicative confidence and competence; and （3） Teaching materials should be adapted and subjected to modification according to the authentic language used in intercultural settings. The study outcomes may also shed light on other disciplines of ESP teaching.

The Concurrent Predictive Validity of the Intercultural Business Communication Competence Scale

This article reports the concurrent predictive validity of a new Intercultural Business Communication Competence Scale(IBCCS)involving three dimensions:cognitive ability about intercultural business communication situation(CB),business English linguistic proficiency(LP),and intercultural business communication motivation(CM).Survey data were collected with 120 Chinese international business practitioners.It was found that the subjects’intercultural business communication competence(IBCC)appeared to predict the three dimensions of job performance(JP):task performance(TP),interpersonal facilitation(IF),and job dedication(JD).In the three facets of IBCC,CM emerged as significant predictor of the three dimensions of JP.The present study provides more validity evidence for the IBCCS and extends the existing research on the relationship between communication competence and JP to intercultural business context.