This reading and discussion text helps students understand and adapt to cultural differences and values when communicating with speakers of American English. Features readings, cultural notes, and discussion topics that focus on values, behavior, attitudes, and communication styles. Provides a variety of vocabulary, comprehension, and conversational activities designed to promote discussion of the subtleties of cross-cultural communication. Each unit includes: ¿ pre-reading exercises ¿ comprehension questions ¿ vocabulary exercises ¿ conversational activities
This book challenges two tacit presumptions in the field of intercultural communication research. Firstly, misunderstandings can frequently be found in intercultural communication, although, one could not claim that intercultural communication is constituted by misunderstandings alone. This volume shows how new perspectives on linguistic analyses of intercultural communication go beyond the analysis of misunderstanding. Secondly, intercultural communication is not solely constituted by the fact that individuals from different cultural groups interact. Each contribution of this volume analyses to what extent instances of discourse are institutionally and/or interculturally determined. These linguistic reflections involve different theoretical frameworks, e.g. functional grammar, systemic functional linguistics, functional pragmatics, rhetorical conversation analysis, ethno-methodological conversation analysis, linguistic anthropology and a critical discourse approach. As the contributions focus on the discourse of genetic counseling, gate-keeping discourse, international team co-operation, international business communication, workplace discourse, internet communication, and lamentation discourse, the book exemplifies that the analysis of intercultural communication is organized in response to social needs and, therefore, may contribute to the social justification of linguistics.
A comprehensive survey of the key areas of research in cross-cultural communication, based on the authors' experience in organizing and delivering courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students and in business training in the UK and overseas.
The Routledge Handbook of Language and Intercultural Communication provides a comprehensive historical survey of language and intercultural communication studies with a critical assessment of past and present theory, research, and practice, as well as an insight into future directions. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars from different parts of the world, this second edition offers updated chapters by returning authors and many new contributions on a broad range of topics, including reflexivity and criticality, translanguaging, and social justice in relation to intercultural communication.With an emphasis on contemporary, critical perspectives, this handbook showcases the varied range of issues, perspectives, and approaches that characterise this increasingly important field in today’s globalised world. Offering 34 chapters with examples from a variety of languages and international settings, this handbook is an indispensable resource for students and scholars working in the fields of intercultural communication, applied linguistics, TESOL/ TEFL, and communication studies.
When healthcare providers and patients do not speak the same language, medical interpreters are called in to help. In this book - the first ever ethnographic study of a bilingual hospital - Claudia Angelelli explores the role of medical interpreters, drawing on data from over 300 medical encounters and interviewing the interpreters themselves about the people for whom they interpret, their challenges, and how they characterize their role. Traditionally the interpreter has been viewed as a language conduit, with little power over the medical encounter or the relationship between patient and provider. This book presents an alternative view, considering the interpreter's agency and contextualizing the practice within an institution that is part of a larger society. Bringing together literature from social theory, social psychology and linguistic anthropology, this book will be welcomed by anyone who wants to discover the intricacies of medical interpreting firsthand; particularly researchers, communication specialists, policy makers and practitioners.
From a renowned American anthropologist comes a proud celebration of human capacities. For too long, people have taken their own ways of life for granted, ignoring the vast, international cultural community that srrounds them. Humankind must now embark on the difficult journey beyond culture, to the discovery of a lost self a sense of perspective. By holding up a mirror, Hall permits us to see the awesome grip of unconscious culture. With concrete examples ranging from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake to the mating habits of the bowerbird of New Guinea, Hall shows us ourselves. Beyond Culture is a book about self-discovery; it is a voyage we all must embark on if mankind is to survive. "Fascinating and emotionally challenging. . . . The book's graceful, non-technical style and the many illuminating, real-life illustrations make it a delight to read." —Library Journal "Hall's book helps us to rethink our values. . . . We come away from it exhilarated." —Ashley Montagu "In this penetrating analysis of the culturally determined yet 'unconscious' attitudes that mold our thought, feeling, communication and behavior. . . . Hall makes explicit taken-for-granted linguistic patterns, body rhythms, personality dynamics, educational goals. . . . Many of Hall's ideas are original and incisive . . . [and] should reward careful readers with new ways of thinking about themselves and others." —Publishers Weekly "A fascintaing book which stands beside The Hidden Dimension and The Silent Language to prove Hall one of the most original anthropologists of our era." —Paul Bohannan
This text is a practical guide that provides readers with effective approaches to communication theories and strategies and offers a wealth of tools for enhancing communication both in Canada and abroad. Informed by the authors’ intersection of cultural identities and lived experiences, Intercultural Communication demonstrates how communicative practices are established and influenced within societal realms. Readers’ understanding of culture is widened beyond discussions of race and ethnicity by critically examining factors like age, familial roles, sex, gender, socioeconomic status, and disability. Guided through real and complex scenarios, this text explores how different social and cultural practices present implications for communication, demonstrating how to manage conversations in appropriate and meaningful ways. Key topics include verbal and non-verbal communication, cultural values, self-awareness, and digital communications. Case studies, practical activities, and thought-provoking questions accompany each chapter, helping students to explore their own attitudes and actions through self-reflection. This invaluable and comprehensive guide is ideal for students enrolled in intercultural communication and cross-cultural communication courses, including studies in business, education, social work, health care, and law enforcement.
Today, students are more familiar with other cultures than ever before because of the media, Internet, local diversity, and their own travels abroad. Using a social constructionist framework, Inter/Cultural Communication provides today's students with a rich understanding of how culture and communication affect and effect each other. Weaving multiple approaches together to provide a comprehensive understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of cultural and intercultural communication, this text helps students become more aware of their own identities and how powerful their identities can be in facilitating change—both in their own lives and in the lives of others.
Text-based interaction among humans connected via computer networks, such as takes place via email and in synchronous modes such as “chat”, MUDs and MOOs, has attracted considerable popular and scholarly attention. This collection of 14 articles on text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC), is the first to bring empirical evidence from a variety of disciplinary perspectives to bear on questions raised by the new medium. The first section, linguistic perspectives, addresses the question of how CMC compares with speaking and writing, and describes its unique structural characteristics. Section two, on social and ethical perspectives, explores conflicts between the interests of groups and those of individual users, including issues of online sex and sexism. In the third section, cross-cultural perspectives, the advantages and risks of using CMC to communicate across cultures are examined in three studies involving users in East Asia, Mexico, and students of ethnically diverse backgrounds in remedial writing classes in the United States. The final section deals with the effects of CMC on group interaction: in a women's studies mailing list, a hierarchically-organized workplace, and a public protest on the Internet against corporate interests.
While research into intercultural teaching has grown exponentially during the past two decades, the research has primarily resorted to the use of quantitative data collection instruments and the interpretation of scores calculated through them. As such, studies in the field can seem somewhat decontextualized, ignoring in some cases setting-specific parameters. Therefore, further study is needed to bring together theory, research, and practice demonstrating how this teaching is reflected in research design and how it is undertaken in different settings. Intercultural Foreign Language Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Contexts is an essential reference source that provides a series of rich insights into the way intercultural education is practiced in numerous international contexts and showcases practical examples of teaching situations and classroom activities that demonstrate its impact within the classroom. Featuring research on topics such as higher education, multilingualism, and professionalism, this book is ideally designed for educators, researchers, administrators, professionals, academicians, and students seeking pedagogical guidance on intercultural teaching.
