Teaching Intercultural Communication in a Technical Writing Service Course: Real Instructors' Practices and Suggestions for Textbook Selection

摘要

This article addresses the problem of textbook selection for teaching intercultural communication in the service course. The study analyzes the pedagogical elements of textbooks, using a model of awareness, information, and practice. Applying the Burkean pentad as an analytical tool, the article situates the pedagogical elements of textbooks in four areas: the instructor's experience, course goals, classroom situation, and teaching techniques. It then describes a tool for textbook and context assessment useful for guiding textbook selection. It reports the results of a contextual inquiry to validate the assessment tool. We conclude that the assessment tool offers instructors a valuable predictor of the fitness of a given textbook to a given instructional situation.