This activity is great for improving communication in diverse teams. More direct versus more indirect communication styles can be an issue in COIL/international virtual education as people with different cultural norms interact online. It might be helpful to talk explicitly about this difference in communication styles and help students practice "code-switching".  I would assign this in small groups or pairs with members of different cultural groups; they probably need to do the activity synchronously, especially if they include a role play. Some important points to emphasize: 1) there is no inherent hierarchy here, with one style always better than the other; 2) this is not a binary but a spectrum; 3) the same statement can be perceived as direct by some people and indirect by others - context matters!

This activity stands out for its adaptability and relevance in understanding and reflecting on communication styles. Designed to enable students to explore and recognize their own communicational styles, I think the true potency of this activity lies in its flexibility to be tailored to diverse learning objectives and cultural contexts. For example, I was able to replace the original five English sentences with ten Chinese sentences, commonly encountered in business settings. This modification, I think, not only enriched the students' understanding of linguistic nuances in a professional context but also deepened their appreciation for the cultural dimensions that shape communication. For our program which contains an element of language education, this activity goes beyond the confines of conventional language learning to immerse students in a process of cultural empathy and understanding. But when we are modifying this activity, I think we need to be extra careful, because given that we are responsible for authoring the sentences, there is a natural inclination to convey—and for students to concur—that our intentions and interpretations are the definitive ones. We need to remain vigilant against this tendency.