Modular Curriculum Design for Developing Future Managers’ Intercultural Communication Skills

Abstract

Relevance. The article substantiates a modular curriculum design for developing future managers’ intercultural communication skills through foreign-language training. The problem is that foreign-language, professional, intercultural, digital, and multilingual components are often represented separately in bachelor’s programs in management; consequently, their potential does not form a coherent trajectory of observable professional communication actions. The study aims to design a modular architecture that can be embedded in existing language courses without requiring a separate compulsory discipline. The methods included theoretical analysis, pedagogical design, learning-outcome mapping, and structural-functional alignment of content lines, modules, tasks, learning products, and expected performance. Results. Six cross-cutting content lines and eight interconnected modules were developed: intercultural business communication; business correspondence and digital etiquette; negotiation and mediation; teamwork in a multilingual environment; corporate culture, leadership, and communication; multilingual work with professional texts; automated translation and generative AI; and presentation of managerial decisions to international audiences. The proposed design follows the principles of sequencing, variable repetition, professional authenticity, multilingual mediation, digital criticality, and reflective assessment. Its central result is a constructive alignment matrix that connects each module to professional situations, language operations, learning products, and assessment criteria. The modular architecture supports three implementation options: cross-curricular integration into existing foreign-language courses, a stand-alone elective course, or an interdisciplinary block shared by language and management disciplines. Conclusions. The design provides a practical mechanism for moving from broad declarations about intercultural competence to teachable and assessable actions such as clarifying meanings, adapting messages, mediating misunderstandings, and critically revising digitally generated professional texts.