Doing Business with the Caribbean

A new perspective in Foreign Language Business Classes

Marie Léticée

Maria Redmon

Foreign Languages & Literatures

The Caribbean basin

Do we know them now? …Good!

A wonderful basin of communities of:

Collectivistic ValuesLarge Power DistanceHigh-Context Verbal Rituals

RationaleThe Foreign language Department has a large pool of Language Combination Majors/Minors (French/Spanish).Both Languages have latin roots.Both languages are spoken in the Caribbean.There is a need to invest in and give back to the Caribbean community.There is a need to use to the US advantage what the Caribbean has to offer.

Objectives

Develop a four-week segment of joint activities centering on the business environment of the Caribbean-basin nations, Spanish, French as well as creole.

CultureTraditionsBusiness normsEtiquette

Objectives

Expand students knowledge of business environment in The Dominican Republic and Haiti.Acquire and appreciation for the cultures and languages of the Caribbean.

Present curriculum

Business FrenchPrimarily centered on FranceBourse de FranceEuro

Business SpanishSegmented view of the Caribbean

Objectives in Current Syllabi

FRE 3441Introduce students to the world of business and technology in French.Familiarize students with vocabulary and terminology in the French business world.

SPN 3141Introduce students to the International world of business.Use the world wide web to investigate the business world.

Learning Outcomes

Students will know about the Caribbean cultural environment.Students will have acquired knowledge of the business environment of La República Dominicana and HaïtiStudents will have developed a glossary of Creole, French & Spanish business terms.

Learning Process

Students will: develop web modules on:• Aspects of surface culture• Aspects of deep culture

pair up with partners from Business Spanish/Business French classes and research different areas of the Caribbean business world in those countries.

Learning Process

Students will: develop a glossary of business terminology in three languages• Creole• French• Spanish

Learning Process

Instructors will:Facilitate learning experienceBring in host from the communityContact chambers of commerce in both countriesProvide language support for both learning communities

ReferenceComhaire-Sylvain, Suzanne. Le creole haitien. Morphologie et syntaxe. Weteren (Belgique) Imprimerie De Meester; Port-au-Prince (Haiti) L'auteur, 1936.Howard, David, 1969- Coloring the nation : race and ethnicity in the Dominican Republic. David Howard. Oxford [England] : Signal Books ; Boulder [Co.] : Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001. Caribbean close-up [videorecording] : Dominican Republic, Haiti. Maryknoll, NY : Maryknoll World Productions, [1998?] 1 videocassette (28 min.)Vilsaint, Fequiere. Pictorial English/Haitian-Creole dictionary. Fequiere Vilsaint and Maude Heurtelou. Temple Terrace, Fl. : Educa Vision, 1996.

Reference Materials on the Webhttp://archive.nandotimes.com/prof/caribe/caribe.com.htmlhttp://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/Library of Congress Area Study: The Caribbean http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cxtoc.html http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/haiti/ Institute of Latin American Studies, University of TexasResearch Data Base http://lanic.utexas.edu http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/haiti/contents.html United Nations Women Watch (Statistics on women in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean) http://www.un.org/womenwatch/amestat.htm http://www.haitiglobalvillage.com/

Materials

www.dominicana.com/educaciÃ3n.htmwww.usc.edu/dept/education/globaled/wwcu/dominicanrepublic.htmlwww.usaid.gov/dr/bacground.htm