Intercultural communication is crucial to comprehending the world of today and participating in the world of tomorrow. Globalisation has led to ever-greater centrality of knowledge and information. Different linguistic communities have ever-increasing contact – through migration, tourism, education, and information and media flows yet linguistic and cultural barriers persist. 

As language and intercultural exchanges become more frequent and diverse – and the media that carry these exchanges proliferate – it is even more crucial to understand intercultural communication and how to use and promote it. This course will equip you to do just that. 

You will explore how the linguistic forms and patterns within a language give expression to that culture’s worldview, sociocultural norms and values. And you’ll approach linguistic communication as a cultural practice, used to both create and sustain our sense of personal, cultural and national identity. You’ll use a variety of different analytic approaches, ranging from discourse analysis and anthropological linguistics to semiotics and cross-cultural pragmatics. 

We do not assume pre-existing knowledge so we introduce you to all these approaches. However, we do expect an awareness of intercultural communication and a capacity to develop an academic interest. You might already have studied, or have a career in, business, development studies, education, hospitality and tourism, law, management, marketing, psychology or medicine, for example, or a less vocational degree in English, history, geography, media or politics. Or you might have a background in languages and communication. Either way, as graduate of this course you will bring significant added value to your chosen profession. 

Our students come from across the globe and this makes our seminars particularly engaging – you’ll take part in fascinating cross-cultural exchanges both with your peers and your tutors. 

You will also study digital technologies which increasingly mediate international human communication, and constitute one of the key infrastructures that enable and inflect global cultural interchange. This will equip you with the theoretical and empirical understanding necessary to explain global cultural communications today. 

You will graduate with excellent employment prospects, boosted by our strong links with our past graduates and valuable contacts in the language professions 

You could go on to work in communication, language consultancy, PR, translation, interpreting, mediation and training, publishing, teaching, administration for government organisations, diplomatic services, marketing, human resources, quality control, language consultancy, translation and localisation project management, or information services. 

Translation agencies, and other international and national organisations from around the world, regularly approach us with employment opportunities, which we promote via our graduate LinkedIn network. As a postgraduate student you will also benefit from a variety of workshops and sessions focused on improving your career development. 

CAREER DESTINATIONS

• Intercultural brand management 

• Human resources 

• Project management in international finance 

• Mediation 

• Education 

• Translation and localisation