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Constructive Alignment: Teaching Business Communication to Asian International Students
Mingsheng Li
School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing, Massey University, New Zealand
Volume 10: 2017, pp. 57-74; ABSTRACT
This paper adopts constructive alignment principles to examine contemporary situations in teaching business communication and the debates about what constitutes the course content, teaching principles, and the best pedagogical practice in the field. Effective pedagogy in a cross-cultural setting with diverse student population is implemented from a holistic perspective through marrying inclusivity and alignment with structured pedagogy, differentiation, reciprocal adaptation, a close rapport between students and academics, and blended learning that offers students multiple opportunities and engagements. I argue that the current pedagogical practice in teaching business communication over-emphasizes business writing and oral presentations over other important domains of the discipline. It is suggested that business communication as a course should shift its historic legacy of written communication to embracing multidisciplinary topics and research findings to be in line with rapid changes in globalisation and technological development.
