340084 UE Text and written and oral communication English (2024W)

Transcultural communication is based on three principles:
(i) any idea can be expressed in DIFFERENT ways (in our context: verbally);
(ii) there is always a BEFORE (i.e., the source—sometimes only imagined) and an AFTER (our target);
(iii) when we make, when we co-create meaning, we always work with and for somebody else—thus, we have to provide, i.e. safeguard, enough room for others to participate in this process.

In transcultural communication, our staple is texts—seen as multimodal, multisensory, multicodal events.

In this course, we will assess (read/analyse), compose (design/edit) and perform (embody/enact) texts; we will identify (and mimic) patterns—and break with patterns. We will work with pen and paper, voice and body. GENRE, REGISTER, TEXT TYPE, DOMAIN, SUBLANGUAGE, AND STYLE will come as our toy blocks and building bricks, and we will try to drop them in our ‘shape sorter cubes’. PRINTED and PERFORMED texts are quite different phenomena—mosaic and kaleidoscope …

As we often work in highly asymmetric communicative settings, we will not only determine the purpose of a given assignment but also reflect upon the concept of PURPOSE in general: Whose purpose, really? To whose benefit?

The course provides collaborative opportunities to jointly work on texts with your peers. We will discuss choices, compare solutions, and rehearse ideas and arguments before you create your own texts individually or as a team. Our class will also provide stimuli to think and move beyond templates (i.e., dominant, widely circulated formats), thus working on texts that are fit to print and not only printed to fit. As a result, you will enact these texts—face to face—in class (our teatro!).

In our class, you will experience a cooperative and supportive environment.

Learning objectives:
(i) to help students to develop their assessment and composition repertoire (including design, visuals, hyperlinks, etc.);
(ii) to hone reading and design skills with a focus on the communication situation and text organization.
(iii) to deepen the resonance of the audience in terms of being a participant, not a passenger.
(iv) to raise awareness of what has been achieved (NOT: "Ah cuid hae dane better", BUT: "... went well, was crackin', an' after all, wasn't easy".)

In-class readings, regular writing assignments w/ presentation in class, peer reviews.
Individual, pair and group work.

So, let’s hit the ground running …