 Price$400 |  Duration20 hours (over 10 weeks) |  DeliveryOnline |  Starts19 May 2025 |
About this course
Cultural Etiquette and Social Skills in the Workplace is a short course designed to develop your social skills and awareness of cultural etiquette in preparation for entering an international and globalised workplace. The course aims to develop your capacity to positively and productively engage with others in ways that are valued and generally accepted in the global workplace. Throughout this course, strong emphasis is placed on English language proficiency, particularly speaking skills.
This 20-hour course runs over ten weeks (2 hours per week) and classes are synchronously timetabled. You will be actively engaged in activities on a wide range of topics relevant to the workplace, and you will receive personalised feedback on your participation in these tasks. Activities in this course include:
- Dialogue-building activities reflecting workplace scenarios
- Text analyses
- Vocabulary building
- Adjusting formality
- Mock job interview
What you will learn
With a focus on English language proficiency, you will engage in a range of activities designed to boost your critical awareness of workplace cultural etiquette and enhance your social skills and confidence in global workplaces, including:
- Analysing cross cultural differences in workplace cultural etiquette
- Applying techniques to engage in formal and informal social interactions in the workplace
- Identifying and navigating communication challenges in the global workplace
- Preparing and participating in a mock job interview
Registration will be open soon
Lessons
- Getting to know each other
- Understanding cultural competence
- Workplace etiquette and expectations
- How different cultures view time
- Vocabulary building and listening activities
- Business etiquette around the world
- Exploring Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (e.g., individualism vs. collectivism, power distance)
- Pronunciation practice and paired research
- Making small talk and building workplace relationships
- Active listening and open-minded communication
- Vocabulary building and role-playing real-world scenarios
- Understanding different communication styles (e.g., direct vs. indirect, power dynamics)
- How people take turns in conversations (turn-taking, pausing, overlapping)
- Practicing workplace conversations – responding appropriately in different situations
- Using direct vs. tentative language at work
- Speaking diplomatically in professional settings
- Grammar, vocabulary building, and structured role plays
- What makes an ‘ideal’ employee?
- Recognising and handling workplace tensions
- Vocabulary, grammar practice, and real-world dialogues
- Key soft skills valued in Australian workplaces
- Understanding workplace hierarchy and participation
- Navigating Aussie humour and sarcasm
- Code-switching: When and why it happens
- Listening, vocabulary, and dialogue practice
- Asking for help and clarification
- Admitting mistakes professionally
- Expressing different opinions respectfully
- Listening, pronunciation, and vocabulary building through practical dialogues
- How job applications and interviews differ across cultures
- Breaking down common interview questions
- Crafting culturally appropriate responses
- Listening, grammar, and pronunciation practice
- Starting an interview and making a strong impression
- Mock job interviews with teacher feedback
- Final reflections and takeaways
Meet your instructor
Chris Jones (BSc, DELTA, MEd) has worked in international education for over 25 years.
Teaching courses in English Language, cultural competency and academic skills at universities and schools in Australia, the UK, Japan and Hong Kong.
At the University of Tasmania, Chris teaches courses supporting language development for students across a range of subjects and purposes, from engineering and business, to nursing and employability