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Abstract:
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The article covers the question of the contemporary model of communicative competence
which should include a vital component of cultural awareness. It is obvious that in order to exist and
interact successfully in a diverse environment, it is necessary for students to develop this essential
competence.
In an EFL class, learners are monolingual and have little access to a well-educated native
speaker. From this perspective, online courses with an American professor teaching the class,
might be highly beneficial to the students whose major is English.
The article discusses the structure of an online course called “Intercultural communication”,
its main goals, topics and aspects of teaching. The course widens the learners‟ perspectives by
gaining insight into the American culture, including such critical notions as: attitudes, beliefs,
norms and values, discourse organization and body language. Special attention is paid to language
which also reflects and interprets culture. There are a lot of examples of unsuccessful cross-cultural
communication and such misunderstandings of verbal messages can often lead to the formation of
a distorted picture of another society.
Thus, this course helps both American and Russian students to view another culture
objectively, not as a violation from the norm but simply as an alternative. |
