What is intercultural communication? How does perspective shape a person’s definition of the key tenets of the term and the field? These are the core questions explored by this accessible global introduction to intercultural communication. Each chapter explores the topic from a different geographic, religious, theoretical, and/or methodological perspective, with an emphasis on non-Western approaches, including Buddhist, South American, Muslim, and Chinese perspectives. Featuring the voices of a range of international contributors, this new textbook presents the full breadth of diverse approaches to intercultural communication and showcases the economic, political, and cultural/societal needs for and benefits of communicative competence.
The intercultural occurs in the space between two or more distinct cultures that encounter each other, an area where meanings are translated and difference is negotiated. In this volume, scholars from diverse disciplines reflect on the phenomenon of interculturality and on the theoretical and methodological frameworks of interpreting it
Today‘s world is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. Within the context of globalisation and the associated increased contact between diverse groups of people, the psychology of culture is more relevant than ever. Asia-Pacific Perspectives on Intercultural Psychology brings together leading researchers from 11 countries to show
Intercultural Education: Critical Perspectives, Pedagogical Challenges, and Promising Practices, co-edited by Cinzia Pica-Smith, Carmen N. Veloria and Rina Manuela Contini, is an edited volume that brings together scholars from across the globe who delve critically into the frameworks of interculturalism and intercultural education to go beyond the European context, to reorient our perspectives on the frameworks and engage in new conversations across various institutional contexts and countries. The scholars in this volume explore and critique intercultural education on localized alliances, epistemologies, pedagogy, multi-sector collaborations, and language policies. Some scholars contextualize this phenomenon by acknowledging the on-going struggles for recognition, representation, and heritage language maintenance; while others write about the institutionalization that brings about warped narratives, produces challenges and tensions, and the interplay of power dynamics that impacts practice which is ultimately felt most by practitioners and students. Finally, authors move beyond this critique by working with diverse communities, expanding the dialogue to include multiple perspectives, and promoting the adaptation of indigenous practices in new ways.The scholar-practitioners in this collection engage with the theory and practice of intercultural education to describe, interrogate, critique, and put forth recommendations for future iterations of policy and practice. They do not stop at historicizing, contextualizing, and problematizing the conceptual framework. These scholars go beyond analysis and provided us a roadmap to real-life possibilities for changes to the framework of intercultural education that will manifest in policy and curricula that will impact the institution of schools, translating, ultimately, into real-time change in the lives of children and their communities.
With the development of instantaneous global communication, it is vital to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries. This addition to the acclaimed Encountering Mission series is designed to offer contemporary intercultural communication insights to mission students and practitioners. Authored by leading missionary scholars with significant intercultural experience, the book explores the cultural values that show up in intercultural communication and examines how we can communicate effectively in a new cultural setting. Features such as case studies, tables, figures, and sidebars are included, making the book useful for classrooms.
Many language teachers recognise the importance of integrating intercultural learning into language learning, but how this can be best achieved is not always apparent. This is particularly the case in foreign language learning contexts where teachers are working with a prescribed textbook and opportunities to use the language outside the classroom are limited. This book argues that teachers can work creatively with conventional resources and utilise classroom experiences in order to help learners interpret aspects of communication in insightful ways and develop awareness of the influence of cultural assumptions and values on language use. The book provides extensive analysis of a range of classroom interactions to demonstrate how teachers and learners can work together to construct opportunities for intercultural learning through reflection on pragmatics.
A fully revised edition of the seminal classic This classic study was originally written by Edward Stewart in 1972 and has become a seminal work in the field of intercultural relations. In this edition, Stewart and Milton J. Bennett have greatly expanded the analysis of American cultural patterns by introducing new cross-cultural comparisons and drawing on recent reseach on value systems, perception psychology, cultural anthropology, and intercultural communication. Beginning with a discussion of the issues relative to contact between people of different cultures, the authors examine the nature of cultural assumptions and values as a framework for cross-cultural analysis. They then analyze the human perceptual process, consider the influence of language on culture, and discuss nonverbal behavior. Central to the book is an analysis of American culture constructed along four dimentions: form of activity, form of social relations, perceptions of the world, and perception of the self. American cultural traits are isolated out, analyzed, and compared with parallel characteristics of other cultures. Finally, the cultural dimentions of communication and their implications for cross-cultural interaction are examined.
Transcultural Realities is an important collection of essays written by an outstanding cast of critical scholars who discuss the importance of transculture in interdisciplinary contexts. The primary goal of the contributors is to help the reader to understand that a state of "community" or "harmony" cannot be achieved in the world until we are all ready to accept different cultural forms, norms, and orientations. In this book, transculture is defined as a form of culture created not from within separate spheres, but in the holistic forms of diverse cultures. It is based on the principle that a single culture, in and of itself, is incomplete and requires interaction and dialogue with other cultures. Transcultural Realities is divided into five parts: Transcultural issues in international and cross-cultural contexts Historical and religious struggles within and between nations Socially constructed racial identities and their consequences for transculturalism in the United States The transformative effects of sojourning in diverse cultural environments The fundamentals of transcultural research Editors Virginia H. Milhouse, Molefi Kete Asante, and Peter O. Nwosu set out to meet three specific needs. First, that the book′s interdisciplinary approach to theory and practice in cross-cultural relations will make it an important book for several fields of study, including intercultural and interpersonal communication, international relations, human relations, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and sociology. Second, that the book will be a reference tool for scholars of transcultural researcch, providing up-to-date information on cross-cultural relations that are transcultural in nature. And finally, through the use of research is critical to a fuller understanding of cross-cultural relations in a transcultural world.
Intercultural Perspectives on Family Counseling expands cultural awareness in the practice of family counseling by offering cultural-specific perspectives for addressing common issues that emerge in dyadic, marital, and family relationships around the globe. The topics illuminated in the book serve to sharpen cultural mindfulness and expand the reader’s knowledge and understanding of intercultural family counseling issues. Each chapter examines a couple or family-related clinical issue, offering clinical intervention strategies within the context of a specific cultural population. By representing various national and cultural identities, this book showcases a transcultural understanding of family. Students and practicing marriage and family counselors and therapists will benefit greatly from this clinical resource that exposes them to the similarities and differences in addressing client issues across cultures.
Illustrated by an empirical study of English as a Foreign Language reading in Argentina, this book argues for a different approach to the theoretical rationales and methodological designs typically used to investigate cultural understanding in reading, in particular foreign language reading. It presents an alternative approach which is more authentic in its methods, more educational in its purposes, and more supportive of international understanding as an aim of language teaching in general and English language teaching in particular.
