400 words

Providing language and cultural training for employees is big business. If you were going to develop a training program on how language affects intercultural business communications, what would your lesson plan look like? When answering the following questions remember to consider the countries that your franchise will be moving to: United Arab Emirates, Israel, Mexico, and China.

• What would your students need to know in regards to high- and low-context language, language diversity, interaction, nonverbal communication, and so forth?
• What are some conversation taboos that they should be aware of?
• What are some of the nonverbal communication aspects that they should know?
• After receiving the training, should they still use an interpreter?
• What are the pros and cons of using an interpreter in these countries?

Make sure that your lesson plan includes an example of a country where you can describe the differences between the United States and that country in language and nonverbal communication.