Developing Emotional Awareness in Cross-Cultural Communication: A Videoconferencing Approach

Abstract

Cross-cultural interactions are inherently emotional processes because they involve a considerable amount of uncertainty and a potential for misunderstanding. This study aims to fill a gap in the literature by designing an easy-to-implement teaching module that brings emotions and emotional awareness more centrally into analysis of cross-cultural business communication. The business schools of a Hungarian university in Budapest and an American university in northern California collaborated in the teaching module by using videoconferencing and screen-capture technologies. The authors examined the effectiveness of this module based on their observations and an analysis of the qualitative data collected from the participating students. The results of the study suggest that the videoconferencing technology can be a viable tool to create real-time interactions between students in different countries in which they can experience, express, observe, and reflect on emotions. Students gained firsthand experience in videoconferencing and enhanced their understanding of cross-cultural communication by reflecting on their observations and emotions.