Business Communication

Professor Mariana Nicolae, Ph.D.; Reader Mirela Bardi, Ph.D., Dr. Mihai Delcea, Head

of the Consular office of Romania in Edinburgh

COURSE DESCRIPTION: What is international communication?/exploration of the standards

of international communication, use of languages in international organisations and markets; English as

a lingua franca; best practices in communication at the various levels of the international environment;

European Union language/s; new media and technology - challenges and impact on international

communication; theoretical input on the available literature on international communication; the values

of multiculturalism, of ethical implications and commitments in today's society; developing & adapting

strategies to promote best practices in specific inter/national contexts, country marketing

communication; promoting a Romanian service in a world market. Reading critically and evaluating

strength or argument; identifying the warrants and supporting evidence in building arguments;

increasing awareness of different genres and discourses at play in international communication.

2. COURSE OBJECTIVES:

To examine the specific issues involved in international communication,

to increase awareness to best practices, to develop & fine-tune skills of effective communication; to

examine business and communication ethics; to read critically and understand international messages.

Attention will be focused on synthesizing problems such as identifying and evaluating areas of

communication vulnerability, communication breakdowns, developing and adapting strategies to

promote best practices in specific inter/national contexts, fine-tuning communication strategies to

promote a Romanian company/product/service in a world market.

3. COURSE OVEIntroduction of course and course procedures. International Communication. International

Languages.

International Communication - intl orgs vs. governments vs. business vs NGOs

Country to Country Communication; Patterns of Communication in Intl Organizations;

Values and their roles in communication; doing business in a corrupt world;

Using Interpreters and Translators - linguistic & psychological challenges; Competitiveness

and language issues in the global job markets

The language of international management; international projects.

Awareness of audience and purpose of communication - variety of genres in international

communication

8 - 14

Types of reasoning, facts vs interpretation (text-based analysis)

Evaluating information - developing a strong argument (text-based analysis)

Evaluating strength of argument in texts from professional publications (1)

Evaluating strength of argument in texts from professional publications (2)

Linking argument to evidence (text-based analysis)

Project submission

3. GRADE ALLOCATIONcourse participation, assignments: 50%

final individual project: 50%

4. COURSE PROCEDURES:

This is an interactive course based on a combination of lectures,

group discussions, self-study and presentations of project reports.

5. CLASS POLICIES:

a. Projects should be given in on the date specified (4 February 2013) and will incur a 2%

penalty out of the overall grade, if late.

b. Plagiarism and dishonesty are strongly discouraged and will result in an F (fail/4) if

discovered.

c. Students with special needs:

Students who, due to a disabling condition, may require some

special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should notify the course leader.

6. REFERENCES:

A. Lecture notes given by your course team.

B. References :

Basil Hatim, Jeremy Munday,

Translation: an advanced resource book, Routledge Applied Linguistics, 2010

Bovée C.L., Thill J.V., Schatzmann B.E.,

Business Communication Today, Prentice Hall, 2003

Fairclough, N.,

Language and Power, Longman, 1994

Hewings, M.,

Advanced Grammar in Use, CUP, 2002

Lindsay Tighe,

The ANSWER - Improve your Life by Asking Better Questions,

http://www.betterquestionsaretheanswer.com/answer.php

Moulder, J.,

47 Poems by Mihail Eminescu, Editura Arhiepiscopiei Argeşului şi Muscelului, 2011

Stephen W. Littlejohn, Karen A. Foss, (eds.),