TITLE:
Research-Informed Teaching: Integrating Cases of Chinese Enterprises Overseas into the Practical Reform of an Intercultural Communication Course
AUTHORS:
Yawei Chen
KEYWORDS:
Intercultural Communication, Chinese Enterprises Overseas, Research-Informed Teaching, Case-Based Teaching, Curriculum Reform
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.6,
June
29,
2026
ABSTRACT: As Chinese enterprises continue to expand abroad, intercultural communication, social coordination, and organizational image construction have become central issues in overseas operations, generating new demands for communication education in higher education. In response to the overemphasis on theoretical instruction, the limited range of case materials, and the insufficient practical training in the Intercultural Communication course, this paper presents a teaching reform report based on first-hand materials collected through the instructor’s field investigations of Chinese enterprises in the Gulf region and Southeast Asia. The reform was implemented in a 16-week Intercultural Communication course for two cohorts of undergraduate Journalism and Communication students, involving 188 students in total. Fieldwork materials from 35 overseas units were transformed into anonymized teaching cases and integrated into case-based modules, task-driven learning, scenario simulation, and curriculum-based ideological and political education. Evidence from classroom observation, student feedback, student coursework, and peer observation suggests that the reform made the course more realistic, increased student participation, and helped students apply intercultural communication concepts to concrete overseas enterprise situations. Since no formal experimental design or standardized pre-test/post-test assessment was conducted, the reported outcomes should be understood as classroom-based and observation-supported teaching effects rather than statistically verified learning results. The paper argues that research-informed, case-based, task-driven, and situated teaching provides a feasible pathway for improving the practical orientation of the Intercultural Communication course.