Communication Across Cultures

Reviewed by Jennifer Riggs, Professional Specialist, Saint Mary's College on 10/3/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

I am reviewing this OER for the purpose of using it during study abroad orientation sessions for first and second-year college students who have never travelled abroad before. I believe that the text is comprehensive enough for this purpose. It acts as a complete package that includes a text, lesson plans and learning activities in one place. Looking at the three modules of this text: 1. What culture means, 2. Understanding culture shock, and 3. Addressing intercultural challenges, however, it seems like the title of the text, Communication Across Cultures, is a bit misleading. While communication is definitely an important part of all three modules, I would say that the overall themes of the text are awareness and acceptance of cultural diversity versus communication. It doesn’t seem to be a thorough-enough text for use in an intercultural communication class.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

YouTube videos and hyperlinked articles are provided along with source information. The references used are vetted by authors who are experts in their fields, but not necessarily by research or peer-review. It is difficult to determine if all information is evidence-based. However, what the program lacks in academic rigor, it makes up for with creativity and interactive exercises which are as important to me when looking for something to use to engage young college students.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

After looking over the text, I read Dr. Adkins’ review. I was pleased to find that, while he recognizes the disadvantages of using this text for a credited intercultural communication course, he seems to accept it for beginners. The culture shock videos capture the real experiences of students. And, the interactive activities ask students to put themselves in another’s shoes and consider an alternate perspective. Relevance seems important to learning for this generation of students, and I believe that these activities will feel relevant to students.

Clarity rating: 5

The modules are concise, visually appealing and easy to navigate. The text is clear and easy to understand.

Consistency rating: 5

Each module is formatted in the same way. Quality and quantity of information, activities and videos are also consistent across the book. I believe that students and advisers will appreciate the short reading sections.

Modularity rating: 5

The authors describe this resource as an “activity-based booklet.” It is text that also includes audio clips, real and animated videos, recording exercises, digital journaling, online quizzes and collaborative activities. They note that the intention for this type of resource is to facilitate a “discovery-based, experiential approach” to learning. I believe that this engaging text will be appreciated by all of our students, but especially by the many audio, visual and kinesthetic learners that we have in nursing.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This book/program begins and ends with a self-assessment questionnaire that allows students to assess thoughts, feelings and behaviors of cultural understanding before and after learning. Each of the three modules begins with aims or objectives and then lists 7-8 tasks to be completed. The tasks include interactive activities described above. The last task involves a learning journal that asks students to reflect on what they have learned. The authors suggest that students download and store their work on their personal computers because work is not saved in the program itself. Students also have the option of using the web social annotation tool Hypothes.is. With this tool, students can highlight or comment directly on articles, websites, videos and more and can communicate with one another directly over content or via tagging. I believe that students will appreciate the diversity of activities and use of technology that this book offers.

Interface rating: 5

I have not experienced any interface issues with this book. The book is available as an online book and an e-book and can be downloaded in pdf format.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Grammar is correct. Language is appropriate for an undergraduate student.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

One of the first things that I noticed about this book is that it is written by three authors who hail from Australia, the UK and Japan, respectively. They have diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise within the fields of multiculturalism, world languages and linguistics. I like to think that they represent the type of cultural awareness and inclusion that this book is trying to promote. Even though this book is fairly introductory, it could help to facilitate more in-depth learning in the classroom, as well as encourage lifelong learning, on the subject of cultural understanding. The authors note that living or studying abroad does not necessarily lead to positive attitudes toward those cultures and that these materials can help students develop knowledge and strategies to call upon when they encounter cultural challenges. The amount of information provided would be appropriate for a study abroad orientation.

Reviewed by Roger Adkins, Executive Director of Global Education, Earlham College on 8/9/25

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

The text is divided into three main modules, including one each on understanding what "culture" means, understanding culture shock, and addressing intercultural challenges. These three topics, taken together, can provide a strong introduction to intercultural communication. However, this text relies too heavily on outside resources from many different creators, effectively becoming a hodgepodge assemblage of disconnected and even conflicting points of view on the text's themes. Moreover, with so little original content, and insufficient author-created content to explain and link the many external resources, the overall result is a disjointed text that may leave at least some learners confused.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

Unfortunately, a substantial percentage of the external resources used in this text are poorly created and oversimplify some of the complex issues involved in intercultural communication. As a rule – there are a few exceptions – these easily digestible video resources and the text itself are not informed by research in the field of intercultural communication or even strong practitioner scholarship from fields like second-language acquisition and teaching, global learning/international education, or media and communication studies. The text's treatment of the topic is at the beginner level (think: study abroad pre-departure orientation, first meeting), and it is fairly accurate for that level, but this would not be considered an accurate text for a credited course (module) in intercultural communication.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 2

The text is not terribly relevant to the current state of the field of intercultural communication or its discussions over the past decade or two. Had the authors provided more original content to help explicate and contextualize the themes found in the external resources, it might have been a more relevant resource for introductory-level discussions of communication across cultures – again, for contexts such as study abroad orientation, international student arrival orientation, etc.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is highly accessible, given the content provided. One strength of the text is that it might make a good resource for lower- to intermediate English language learners. It would be accessible for ELLs studying English after arriving in an English-speaking institution as it showcases (via mostly the external resources) the kinds of experiences that newer international students will face.

Consistency rating: 3

The content provided by the authors is consistent, but the external content – which makes up more than half of all content in the text – is not consistent because it comes from many different authors, institutions, countries, etc. Again, the authors of this text do not sufficiently explain these variations – a missed opportunity, in a resource on communicating across cultural differences! The framework of the text is largely consistent, with repetitive assignments for writing and oral/recorded reflections throughout as well as a journaling exercise at the end of each module.

Modularity rating: 5

Modularity is very high in this resource. In fact, it would be quite possible to use its linked or embedded external resources only, and some users might be inclined to do so. That said, even those who would find value in using the authors' own content and exercises for students would be able to make highly selective and even out-of-sequence use of modules and/or the individual tasks they contain without detriment to learning outcomes.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The three modules of the text proceed in a logical order that is common to the introductory unit of most intercultural communication courses and discussions. Again, though, the external resources present varying approaches and are structured in divergent ways, and little assistance or 'roadmapping' provided by the authors to help learners follow the flow of discussion between these quite different treatments of topics within the subject area.

Interface rating: 3

Some of the many external resources that the text utilizes are embedded within the structure of the text itself. At its best, it includes video resources embedded in frames that allow learners to click on a pencil icon to pause the video resource and take notes in a panel with three consistent content sections: cues (main ideas or terminology), notes (more detailed or personal comments), and summary (restating the main points made). However, there are also numerous links that exit the text interface, sometimes even with complicated instructions about how to use an external resource, save the result, then use another resource, save that result also, and finally to add one file to the other. While the fact that the interface opens a new window or tab makes it possible to toggle back to the instructions, I found myself doing so repeatedly to the point of annoyance as I tried to follow the instructions as if I were a student user. There is also a section early in the text on Hypothes.is which, while it is an interesting and powerful tool, is not really connected to the text in any meaningful way. Perhaps the authors meant to suggest that instructors using this text might also use Hypothes.is in order to allow for subsequent generations of student users of the text to have asynchronous online discussions and share notes, but that is not clear to student users, who may be confused about what they are supposed to do with Hyposthes.is vis-a-vis this particular text.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no significant grammatical or writing errors in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This text is itself focused on this very question of cultural sensitivity and presents a strong array of examples coming from different cultural contexts and of direct relevance to diverse peoples. That said, a few of the external resources oversimplify cultural differences and present national groups ("Japanese," "Australian," etc.) as monolithic cultures with characteristics that are not, in reality, shared across such large groups. This effectively makes the very mistake that a text like this is intended to address and help students learn to avoid. (Indeed, the best practice in intercultural education now is to help students understand the complexities of cultures in intersectional ways, and this text tends to reify "culture" as a relatively static and isomorphic phenomenon.) In addition, one of the final assessments includes a question clearly targeted to student users based in Australia, which will be a very confusing moment for students in any other contexts.

As of this iteration, this text makes a strong start in providing an introductory resource in intercultural communication. With additional original content that both introduces appropriate (i.e., introductory) ideas current in the field of intercultural communication and better connects and explicates the external resources used, tying them back to the core content provided by the authors, the book will become a much more useful resource.