(1) Research (in small groups): Divide the class into small groups of 3-5. The teacher first provides relevant resources about the movies/films related to cross-cultural/inter-cultural communication, e.g. intercultural film database http://www.uni-hildesheim.de/interculturalfilm/index.php. And then divide the class into small groups of 3-5. Each group chooses one movie as a group project assignment (e.g. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Joy Luck Club, Outsourced, etc.) for undertaking the movie analysis in terms of cross-cultural communication

 

(2) Group Discussion: Each group selects at least 3 scenes from the chosen movie, which generate discussions on cross-cultural issues. Brief discussion guidelines for discussion are provided: each group is suggested to provide a “cross-cultural analysis” based on the selected themes, explicating how these movie scenes (a) help them understand issues related to cultural diversity, (b) sensitize them to the need for managing people/things differently in diverse cultural environments, (c) develop their cross-cultural competence: having skills for diagnosing and understanding heterogeneity of cultures, interacting with others appropriately in cross-cultural communication, and functioning effectively in different cultural environments.

 

(3) Group Presentation and Sharing: Each group plays the selected movie scenes as indications of cultural concepts. After showing the scenes, each group shares their analysis and findings focused on cross-cultural communication orally in class.

 

(4) Peer Review and Reflection: Individual students provide peer-reviews to other groups after listening to their group presentations and write down their reflection journals regarding learning from this project on “cross-cultural analysis” of the movie. They are encouraged to connect movie scenes to various cultural theories and concepts in cross-cultural communication which they may have learnt from other courses and/or their own life experiences.