ABSTRACT
Participants on international courses not only have the opportunity to put new knowledge into practice in breakout groups, but also have the opportunity to learn from each other if the breakout tasks are well conceived and organized. The most common training mechanism used is that of getting participants to work together in small groups or teams or, as they are commonly termed, breakout groups. During the training they will be influenced by each other's willingness to participate, their ability to understand what is being said and what is being meant, and the tacit assumptions each makes about the other's culture. The clearest challenge is whether the participants will be able to understand each other. The majority of training that involves multiple nationalities of participants is carried out in English. In mono-cultural courses participants generally form breakout groups very readily, although the group dynamic will still impact on the outputs achieved.
