Online Chinese Project

Created to help English-speaking travelers conduct business in China, this not-for-credit course provides students with a basic "survival" background in spoken Mandarin. The online curriculum, comprising a set of 20 modules, prepares students to perform a variety of business tasks in business settings and situations, e.g., participating in a business meeting, communicating via e-mail, giving a business presentation, and understanding the discourse and the repertoire specific to particular industries, such as consulting or investment banking. The goal is to progressively develop cross-cultural awareness and survival communicative skills. The modules build in skill-focused content that is connected to real-life situations through a series of scenarios.

CD and web-based versions will be created to make the courses widely available and to better serve far-flung business and business education communities (available in 2006). The modules will be suitable for use in both traditional and virtual classroom environments, with or without an instructor.

Online Survival Language Skills for Japanese and Arabic are also under development.