Intercultural Communication

This critical essay describes and demonstrates the uses and unique contributions of performative writing as a form of inquiry into the materialities and mobilities of sociocultural communicative phenom- ena. Embracing an Anzaldu an approach, the author utilizes Mesoamerican Aztec and Chicanx history, iconography, and mythos to argue for an ontological reimaging of where research should begin and end. As a methodological intervention, this article chal- lenges traditional impulses regarding where knowledge generation occurs, which knowledges are valid, and who counts as a valuable knowledge producer. By shifting genres, breaking grammatical rules, and creatively constructing poetics and rhythm (flor y canto), this “flight of the imagination” focuses on what Chicana, Latina, and indi- genous scholars have termed “fleshing the spirit” or “spiriting the flesh.” By embracing the soul work and spirituality of writing, this piece offers an art-based approach to methodological inquiry that functions as a sharp critique of the White capitalist cisheteropatriar- chal structure of higher education that maintains status quo under- standings of knowledge. When rerouting our methodological impulses toward a critical and decolonial telos and embracing the soul and spirit of performative writing, I argue that our first move must be to make an ontological shift in how we see the world and our place in it—we must begin and end with “theories in the flesh.”

This paper investigates the extent to which perceptions of cultural variation correspond to actual practice with reference to (national) cultures in Britain and Italy. More specifically, the aspect of im/politeness which is addressed is mock politeness, a subset of implicational impoliteness (Culpeper 2011) which is triggered by an im/politeness mismatch.
In the first phase of the study, two sets of comparable corpora are employed to investigate perceptions of mock politeness (using search terms such as sarcastic and patronising) in relation to cultural identities. The first pair of corpora is composed of national newspapers in England and Italy, collected in 2014, and the second set are web corpora (ItTenTen and EnTenTen12, see Jakubíček et al. 2013). What emerges from this stage is a strong tendency for both the English and Italian corpora to associate (potential) mock polite behaviours such as being ironic with a British cultural identity.
In the second stage of the study, I use a corpus of conversational data from British English and Italian online discussion forums, in which mock polite behaviours have been identified and annotated, in order to investigate whether there is any evidence for the cultural assumptions found in the first phase. As will be shown, the analysis reveals both variation in cultural practice and a significant gap between perceptions and practice.
In describing and identifying this gap between perceptions and practice, I show both how (anglocentric) academic description has underestimated cultural variation, and, in contrast, how cultural variation is over-estimated in lay description.

This article traces the historical background of the term 'belly dance', the English-language name for a complex of solo, improvised dance styles of Middle Eastern and North African origin whose movements are based on articulations of the torso. The expression danse du ventre -- literally, "dance of the belly" -- was initially popularised in France as an alternate title for Orientalist artist Jean-Léon Gérôme's 1863 painting of an Egyptian dancer and ultimately became the standard designation for solo, and especially women's, dances from the Middle East and North Africa. The translation "belly dance" was introduced into English in 1889 in international media coverage of the Rue du Caire exhibit at the Parisian Exposition Universelle. A close examination of the historical sources demonstrates that the evolution of this terminology was influenced by contemporary art, commercial considerations, and popular stereotypes about Eastern societies. The paper concludes with an examination of dancers' attitudes to the various English-language names for the dance in the present day.

The study explores the opinions and attitudes of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP)
English language teachers from Turkey, the USA, the UK, New Zealand and Spain on intercultural language
teaching. 16 teachers from Turkey, 15 teachers from the USA, 11 teachers from the UK, 10 teachers from New
Zealand and 8 teachers from Spain, in total 60 English language teachers participated in the study. An online
research survey which consists of seven open-ended questions was prepared. Textual (content) analysis and the
constant comparative method were used for the analysis of the research survey. The IBDP English language
teachers from Turkey, the USA, the UK, New Zealand and Spain found intercultural language teaching very
important in the globalization world and they thought that intercultural communicative competence (ICC) ought
to be given a good deal of emphasis in foreign language teaching.

The nature of society means health and medical communication often occurs in different international and local settings. Such interactions generally involve offering care-practices that help individuals maintain or return to a level of health and wellness. These exchanges usually take place in different cultural, linguistic, and geopolitical environments involving individuals who: Provide care to others Educate others on care and caregiving Receive or participate in such care In these situations, care-related information must be contextualized to address how care is perceived and administered in such contexts. Doing so is not easy, for it requires an understanding of the cultural context of care. In this special issue, the authors examine a range of contexts of care to show how technical communicators and rhetoricians of health and medicine can work at the intersections of health, wellness, and culture to contribute to healthcare practice.

Internationalization is a catchword at universities in the third millennium. However, for many, internationalization means mobility of students, outbound or inbound. Research indicates that mobile students can benefit in a variety of ways, including the development of skills and knowledge on the way to intercultural competency. The research concern in this study is the non-mobile student, those who will not study abroad, but who will be members of multicultural societies and employees in an increasingly global marketplace.

The research project explores whether and how students who will never live abroad can develop intercultural (IC) competency without a period abroad, as suggested by some theorists. This study involved qualitative interviews with 15 participants (11 who have not lived abroad and 4 who have) of the Buddy Project at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland. The Buddy
Project is a volunteer social program that creates small groups of Finns and inbound (foreign) students with the intent to interact and perhaps build networks of friends.

The three findings of this study are
1. Intercultural competency is not possible without the individual spending some time outside the familiarity of his/her home culture. However, within certain conditions, individuals can develop intercultural knowledge and skills that will prepare them in some ways for social interaction in a multicultural environment and/or global marketplace. Several factors can facilitate such growth, while other factors can affect the relationship building process and/or hinder the IC growth from interaction.
2. The terminology used in the literature regarding intercultural (IC) and intercultural communication (ICC) competency is unclear at best. This thesis provides a synthesis of the building
blocks of intercultural competency, which includes intrapersonal elements (IC) and interpersonal (ICC) components.
3. Motivation to interact is a frequently cited component involved in appropriate and effective ICC interaction. However, the data in this study indicate that simple motivation (interest) is not sufficient for building IC relationships or participating in social organizations. Therefore, an engaged motivation model is proposed that suggests that interest, emotions, activity, and commitment are essential for the building of IC relationships.

While the role of culture in second and/or foreign language (L2/FL) learning and teaching has often been unquestioned, empirical research on culture learning and teaching in L2/FL education has been less common than opinion-oriented writings in relevant journals. This article offers a summary and synthesis of 52 empirical studies on L2/FL culture learning and teaching published during the 20-year period 1996-2015. In doing so, it first provides some background, then discusses the methods used for choosing, summarizing, and briefly analyzing these studies, and finally outlines a range of quantitative and qualitative findings. Culture learning and teaching research in L2/FL education during this period involved five main languages (English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) in 19 different countries; adopted mainly qualitative research approaches; and addressed a diverse range of age and educational levels, although postsecondary research studies were most common. The survey here highlights a shift from a focus on ‘culture’ to the ‘intercultural,’ and reveals that culture learning and teaching research has moved beyond reporting teachers’ and students’ attitudes to a range of topics impacting L2/FL learning and teaching, including instructional approaches, teaching materials, assessment, and technology. It also points to connections between the studies outlined and offers possibilities and directions for future research in this important area.

This study investigates intercultural competence of International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) students and non-IBDP students and whether it is affected by some variants such as grade, gender, nationality, being a native speaker of English, living in an English speaking country and travelling abroad. The data is gathered from the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) and the demographic part. The results reveal that there isn't a significant difference in ISS scores of IBDP students, but there is a significant difference in ISS scores between IBDP and non-IBDP students. The ISS scores differed in gender, grade and living in an English speaking country.

This book demonstrates the positive impact of using film and audiovisual material in the language classroom. The chapters are evidence-based and address different levels and contexts of learning around the world. They demonstrate the benefits of using moving images and films to develop intercultural awareness and promote multilingualism, and suggest Audiovisual Translation (AVT) activities and projects to enhance language learning. The book will be a valuable continuing professional development resource for language teachers and those involved in curriculum development, as well as bringing the latest research, theory and pedagogical techniques to teacher training courses.
http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?k=9781788924474

The need to address culture in the language learning process has been emphasized as a means to promote both intercultural awareness and communicative language curricula. In countries such as Turkey, this has been an ongoing concern in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) education. Thus, attempts have been made to enhance the cultural aspect of EFL learning in Turkey with the current English language curricula for elementary and high schools. To determine whether these curricula truly address culture in ways that support intercultural awareness, the researcher conducted a content analysis of the learning outcomes and objectives for each grade level, focusing on the curricula developed in 2013 and 2014 respectively for elementary and high school, as well as the program updates introduced in 2017 and 2018. The culture-related objectives and outcomes including products, practices, perspectives and persons relating to native Englishspeaking and international cultures were identified, and the total numbers of culture-oriented outcomes and objectives were recorded and analyzed. The findings indicate that culture-related outcomes and objectives were highly limited in number; and they mainly addressed superficial aspects of culture such as names of countries/languages, foods and traditional costumes. Abstract and complex topics such as pragmatics, beliefs, and worldviews were largely ignored. Moreover, while the updated programs of 2017 and 2018 were intended to improve on the 2013 and 2014 versions, little was accomplished in this regard. As such, the findings suggest that current EFL curricula are unlikely to support the development of intercultural awareness in language learners. Some recommendations for addressing this issue are offered.

Teaching English as a Lingua Franca is an authoritative analysis of why and how English is used as an international language – and an argument for teaching it differently. It is the result of both academic investigation and practical experience, but, above all, of the conviction that a change is necessary. The authors reformulate EFL (English as a Foreign Language) as ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) – the way language is now used and will be used in the future – hoping to effect a serious shift in our
pedagogy and practice.

The book aims to:
- help teachers understand the concept of English as a Lingua Franca;
- help learners to operate as users of English as a global language;
- provide opportunities to move towards a new approach to ELT.

Given the prominence of Muslim veils—in particular the hijab and full-face veil—in public discourse concerning the place of Muslims in Western society, we examined their impact on non-Muslims’ responses at both explicit and implicit levels. Results revealed that responses were more negative toward any veil compared with no veil, and more negative toward the full-face veil relative to the hijab: for emotions felt toward veiled women (Study 1), for non-affective attitudinal responses (Study 2), and for implicit negative attitudes revealed through response latency measures (Studies 3a and 3b). Finally, we manipulated the perceived reasons for wearing a veil, finding that exposure to positive reasons for wearing a veil led to better predicted and imagined contact (Study 4). Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

The entries in this volume introduce technical communicators to foundational practices, current approaches, and emerging trends in translation and localization. To do so, the editors of this collection purposefully recruited authors from the translation and localization industries. All of these contributors, moreover, have previous experiences, stretching back decades, working with technical communicators on international projects. Each individual was asked to contribute a chapter that explained, to a non-translator/non-localizer, what a particular translation or localization practice was and how it worked. Contributors were also asked to draw from their prior experiences working with technical communicators and focus on the question, “Based on your prior experiences working with technical communicators, what do they need to know to work effectively with translators and localizers?” The objective underlying this approach was to provide technical communicators with the understanding of translation and localization needed to work effectively with professionals in these fields.

This article reviews some of the wide-ranging issues and research surrounding authentic materials and authenticity in foreign language learning. After a brief historical overview and a discussion of some of the definitional ambiguities associated with authenticity, the paper goes on to discuss four important areas of concern: i) the gap between authentic and textbook discourse; ii) the English-as-a-world-language debate; iii) authenticity and motivation; iv) text difficulty and task design and their effects on language acquisition. The article concludes by examining some of the reasons behind resistance to change in curriculum and materials design and possible future directions.

This is a Position Statement prepared by Cliff Goddard and Anna Wierzbicka for the Symposium “Global English, Minimal English: Towards better intercultural communication”, to be held at Australian National University, Canberra, 2-3 July 2015.

Este trabalho visa a questionar a interculturalidade, com base no pensamento abissal e da colonialidade. Infelizmente,
esse pensamento ainda está presente na Sociedade Brasileira não nos termos do acordo territorial, mas as negociações
têm imposto a nossa sociedade e reproduzir continuamente. Hoje, esses pensamentos são apresentados no poder do
racismo de maneiras diferentes. Portanto, para entender o tema deste trabalho, foi realizado um estudo da literatura para
entender a raiz do pensamento abissal e sua relação com o multiculturalismo. Este estudo conclui que não há nenhuma
maneira de separar o conceito de construção intercultural do conceito de um postabisal, capaz de superar o conceito
de superioridade ou inferioridade pensamento. Transcender o pensamento mais multicultural, multiculturalismo
incentiva uma interrupção das barreiras abissais, integrando grupos diferentes.

All students in the Faculty of Foreign Language Studies at Kansai University are required to study abroad for approximately ten months during their second year. One daunting aspect for students abroad may be how to deal with financial problems. This paper analyses the stressful but ultimately successful email negotiation by Mariko Tanaka (pseudonym) to get her funds returned by John Solo at Inhabil Bank (both pseudonyms). After using a schematic Move analysis, this paper discusses the strategies used by the client and the bank, and highlights the essential Moves that led to the successful conclusion of negotiation. The implications are then discussed from two perspectives. First, I suggest ways that the bank can improve customer service through improved communication and a proactive problem-solving approach. Second, I look at the perspective of the clients (in particular, students from Japan) by discussing how knowledge of cultural differences, the banking system and email communication can help them to deal with this type of problem.

The purpose of this article is to examine the personal, academic, and professional experiences of five Japanese university students who did short-term academic internships in three southeast Asian nations. Since students in Japan often associate international opportunities with inner-circle English-speaking countries (e.g. the United States of America or the United Kingdom), this article highlights the perceived benefits of choosing Southeast Asia as an educational destination. In limited published studies, researchers have revealed that Japanese students may gravitate towards Southeast Asia for multilingual language learning opportunities, lower perceived discrimination, and reduced financial costs. This article provides additional insight into the discerned advantages and disadvantages. Data for this qualitative exploratory study include weekly written reflections from students who were in southeast Asian countries from late 2018 to early 2019, followed by a focus group and individual questionnaires in the months following the participants’ return to Japan.  Based on thematic analysis of self-reporting, results suggest that the participants found value in their experiences due to the (a) proximity and costs involved, (b) comfort with using a non-native variety of English, and (c) development of intercultural competences and soft skills.  More specifically, participants felt that their experiences were less financially burdensome on parents, compared to similar experiences in inner-circle destinations. Also, participants reported feeling comfortable using English as a lingua franca, despite communicating in lower-context environments. This, in turn, contributed to the development of their adaptation, negotiation, and communicative skills. If higher education stakeholders and recruiters can better promote the educational experiences of Japanese university students in Southeast Asia, such as those featured in this article, then it is possible that access and participation may increase in the future.

Universities focus significant attention on internationalization to prepare empathyglobally minded graduates by engaging students in study abroad programs and expanding international student enrollment. However, scholarship has not yet considered the role returned study abroad students play in meeting friendship needs of international students. This research aimed to determine if such experiences impact friendships between participants and internationals. Four basic themes emerged: isolated application of intercultural competencies, differences in empathy experiences, friendships between study abroad and international students, and institutional contributions. Key findings revealed institutions do not teach study abroad students to utilize their experience in fostering empathetic friendships withinternational students and should consider how the experience can more effectively impact intercultural friendships rather than focusing solely on domestic students’ reverse culture shock.

Ce bulletin présente les résultats d’une étude de nature qualitative où différents acteurs locaux de plusieurs arrondissements de Montréal ont été interviewés afin de cerner les enjeux et autres défis auxquels ils doivent faire face pour faire participer des populations immigrantes à différentes activités de loisir. Cette recherche terrain permet notamment de mettre en avant le fait que le loisir apparaît, aux yeux de ces acteurs locaux, comme un véritable vecteur d’intégration pour les populations immigrantes et qu’il est source de cohésion sociale, particulièrement en contexte interculturel.

This timely and engaging book addresses communicative issues that arise when science and technology travel across socio-cultural boundaries. The authors discuss interactions between different scientific communities; scientists and policy-makers; science and the public; scientists and artists; and other situations where science clashes with other socio-cultural domains. The volume includes theoretical proposals of how to deal with intercultural communication related to science and technology, as well as rich case studies that illustrate the challenges and strategies deployed in these situations. Individual studies explore Europe, Latin America, and Africa, thus including diverse Global North and South contexts.

This paper considers how, in the process of positioning that is implicit in every interaction, all of us employ multiple and often competing narratives when we talk about cultural identity and our relationships with new cultural environments. In interviews with newly arrived postgraduate students about their experience of travelling to study abroad, the students employ competing block and thread narratives. Block narratives represent an essentialist discourse of culture. As such, they are easily converted into cultural prejudice by blocking the possibility for understanding and sharing at the point of tolerating an Other who can never be like 'us'. These are default narratives because of the way in which we are brought up in our societies within a global positioning and politics. Thread narratives instead support a critical cosmopolitan discourse of cultural travel and shared meanings across structural boundaries that act against cultural prejudice. Threads need to be nurtured as alternative forms of engagement. Therefore , there is a place for the researchers to intervene with their own thread narratives. This intervention is both allowed within and supported by an understanding that researchers join with their participants in the creative intercultural events of the interview. Nel processo di posizionamento che è implicito in ogni interazione, ognuno di noi impiega narrazioni molteplici e contrastanti per trattare i temi della diversità culturale e del rapporto con nuovi contesti culturali. In interviste realizzate con studenti che si sono spostati all 'estero per gli studi post-To cite this article: Sara Amadasi & Adrian Holliday (2017): Block and thread intercultural narratives and positioning: conversations with newly arrived postgraduate students, Language and Intercultural Communication,

W jaki sposób ludzie mogą zorientować się w obowiązującym ich prawie? Jakie szanse na to mają osoby znajdujące się na terytorium obcego dla siebie państwa (np. turyści i migranci)? Czy teorie opisujące i analizujące przebieg kontaktu ludzi z różnych kultur, teorie komunikacji interkulturowej, są istotne dla analiz sytuacji ludności napływowej w zakresie zorientowania się przez nich w lokalnym prawie? Niniejsza publikacja udziela odpowiedzi na te pytania, proponując całościowe ujęcie procesów uzyskiwania orientacji w prawie przez jego adresatów. Jest pierwszą w polskiej literaturze próbą kompleksowego ujęcia kwestii orientowania się w lokalnym prawie przez cudzoziemców i zestawienia jej ze współczesnymi teoriami komunikacji interkulturowej. Praca może zainteresować nie tylko przedstawicieli nauk prawnych, ale także socjologów, komunikologów, antropologów i filozofów.

"Analizy przeprowadzone w recenzowanej książce wyraźnie wskazują, że teorie komunikacji interkulturowej w niewielkim stopniu, jeśli w ogóle, mogą okazać się istotne lub przydatne w rozważaniach nad komunikowaniem prawa. Tezę taką można odczytać jako twierdzenie, że mimo uznania prawa za zjawisko kulturowe można kwestionować przydatność sięgania poza mniej lub bardziej tradycyjną sferę nauk prawnych. To interesujące stanowisko, gdyż w polskim piśmiennictwie ostatniego ćwierćwiecza stale obecna była gotowość do korzystania z dorobku innych dziedzin i niekiedy bezkrytyczne zainteresowanie tzw. integracją zewnętrzną nauk prawnych. Michał Dudek wskazuje, że taki zapał może prowadzić do pozornych lub w gruncie rzeczy nieistotnych wyników."

Z recenzji dra hab. Tomasza Staweckiego, prof. UW

Purpose: Study abroad has been exceedingly popular among students, recently. Turkish youth have become even more willing to study abroad and improve their English language skills. As lingua franca (ELF), English is the main Language for interaction, particularly in international education. The current study investigated the language learning perceptions of Turkish students having participated in the Erasmus Exchange Program before. Research Methods: The participants were 100 (58 females and 42 males) university students from different departments having been in the Erasmus Exchange Program in the last five years. The data were collected Received: 25 Dec. 2019 Received in revised form: 6 Mar. 2020 Accepted: 7 Mar., 2021 DOI: 10.14689/ejer.2021.93.3 Keywords Erasmus program, intercultural communication, study abroad, English as a foreign language using two sets of questionnaires containing 41 items and an interview protocol. These aimed to elicit information about participants’ views ...

Abstract: Each year, increasing numbers of international students enroll in Chinese universities, yet no literature is available on their intercultural communication competences (ICC) and acculturation status. The study aimed at investigating these two key concepts at Central China Normal University. Two dimensions of intercultural communication competence (affect and behavior) and two dimensions of acculturation (attitude towards maintenance of one’s culture and attitude towards contact with other cultures) were employed to measure and analyze the two research constructs. A representative sample of 302 international students shows that Asian international students are less motivated to adapt than other students from other continents. In addition, time and education level do not seem to be sufficient factors in facilitating adaptation. Furthermore, the most preferred acculturation strategy is found to be integration. Finally, attitude towards contact positively correlates with affec...

En esta presentación toco los siguientes temas:
El fenómeno del lenguaje y la comunicación humanos en el marco de la Teoría de los Sistemas Dinámicos

Texto y contexto: Distintos tipos de contexto y su interrelación


Variables en la relación entre lenguaje, cognición, comunicación y cultura.


Pragmática y Análisis del Discurso como disciplinas lingüísticas y su doble aplicación a la enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas.


La expresión y conceptualización de las emociones como un rasgo clave del discurso: El contexto emocional y su importancia en la comunicación humana y en la enseñanza de lenguas . Proyecto de investigación EMO-FUNDETT

Despite all the advances in educational technology, basic principles of the educational setting still apply. By going virtual we expand the group of students who can have intercultural collaborative experiences, but this adds the issues of virtualisation, including trust development in collaborative teams, and (amongst other aspects) the emergence of virtual leaders. In all this we must not forget to equip our academics with the right skills and knowledge to mitigate the pitfalls and to enhance the benefits. Last but not least, in our globalised world the use of virtual teams is steadily increasing. We owe it to our students to give them the opportunity to learn this new way of working together across the globe.