Intercultural Communication in English Communication Courses

The drive for globalization of universities in Japan has affected the focus of many programs and courses at these universities. English courses in particular have seen their focus be moved more towards a communicative approach, often to the point where the title of the course itself is changed to reflect this. However, this shift in approach does not always align with what it means to communicate in an international or intercultural setting. This paper will share data collected from an English communication course utilizing participant developed mind maps to analyze student knowledge of intercultural communication. This analysis will show the effectiveness and alignment of one such course in enhancing student knowledge of communication. This data will be shared and suggestions for future research and course development are given.