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This case study describes the value and impact of the ten-year Fudan-Appalachian Library Exchange Program ((FALEP)). Beginning in 2008, seven librarians from Fudan University and five librarians from Appalachian State University had the opportunity to explore library operations and service provision; learn from colleagues; investigate solutions to common problems; engage in scholarship together; and experience another culture. Librarians found that the exchange experience had a huge impact on their professional and personal lives as they learned to live in a different culture and work in another library system. The exchange program equipped participating librarians with global perspectives, intercultural skills, opportunities for cross-cultural scholarship, and new ideas that were then incorporated into their service provision and work with domestic and international students in their home libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) broadly influences different aspects of human life, especially human communication. One of the main concerns of the broad use of AI in daily interactions among different people could be whether it helps them interact easily or complicates their interactions. To answer the mentioned question, this study assessed the impacts of AI on intercultural communication among postgraduate students in a multicultural university environment. A newly developed survey instrument was used to conduct this study. The participants of this study were 115 postgraduate students from nine different countries. The descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and Bivariate correlation tests of the 29th version of IBM-SPSS software were used to analyze the quantitative data, and inductive coding and conceptual content analysis were used to code and analyze the qualitative data. Based on descriptive results, the vast majority (93%) of the participants already used and experienced AI in their daily lives, and the majority of them believed that AI and AI technologies connect different cultures, reduce language and cultural barriers, and help people of different cultures to interact and be connected. Based on the results from the correlation test, there were strong positive correlations between AI attitudes and AI benefits, and also between AI regulation and AI benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Amber, a fossil tree resin, due to its specific physical properties has a genuine aura that has made it popular both as a gemstone and as a magical-religious amulet to this day. The supra-regional – 'global' in ancient terms – distribution of Baltic succinite is also reflected in the Eastern Alps. The central communication corridor along the Salzach and the Tauern transit in particular features a high density of amber objects during all epochs. The region therefore serves as a model case for investigating temporally variable aspects of the appropriation, use, symbolic significance and dissemination of amber. In addition to very rare Bronze Age objects and more frequent use in the Early Iron Age, the Dürrnberg near Hallein, along with the adjacent salt district at Hallstatt, is one of the main European centres of amber use during the Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène periods. Here, new quantitative and qualitative analyses provide evidence for changing patterns in the fashion of wearing, use and symbolic-magical meaning of amber jewellery. In the later La Tène period, there was a gradual decline in amber use both regionally and in other areas of Europe. This trend continued in the Roman Empire in the area of the municipium Claudium Iuvavum (Salzburg), before a final but short-lived revival of amber jewellery began in the Early Middle Ages. In a diachronic perspective, time-specific patterns in the use and integration of the strange raw material into the indigenous material culture and magic ideas become evident. Amber, however, does not only appear as a 'by-product' of purely economic communication along trans-regional trade and transport relations of the so-called 'Amber Roads'. Rather, qualitative and quantitative analyses show that amber was consciously chosen and rejected as a medium of social communication at different times and that specific meaning was variably attributed. In processes of intentional cultural appropriation, the exotic material thus reveals differentiated decision-making and agency of indigenous communities in Central European pre- and protohistory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online program design is important for cross-cultural learning and cultural awareness and responsiveness. Because of the importance of these areas in journalism and similar fields, this research studies an intercultural "bridge" project with journalism and media-related students at a southwest U.S. university and four universities in Yemen. The paper presents an analysis of the students' experience of the cultural exchange on the platform, Slack, of journalism, and other types of media. Data demonstrated the impact of learning about each culture, and interculturally, through students' and instructors' perspectives versus news coverage provided by mainstream media. Intercultural bridge building and relationship development through collective activities and journalistic work also offered promise. The study also revealed impediments to seamless cultural exchanges and learning, and barriers to effective intercultural communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth of internationalization in higher education, there is a need to examine students’ experiences in increasingly diverse classrooms. This study explores students’ academic discourse socialization (ADS), within a context where the majority of students are non‐native speakers, in a course designed to enhance intercultural communication skills by providing students with both theoretical knowledge and practical experiences to collaborate with a diverse group of peers. We aim to answer the following questions: (1) Does native‐speakerism ideology impact Japanese students’ comprehension of intercultural communication with non‐native speakers, and if so, how? (2) How does the understanding of intercultural communication affect students’ interactions and group work with international peers? We conducted qualitative semistructured interviews with Japanese and international students at a private Japanese university. Our findings show that despite the absence of specific language instruction in the course, the group work predominantly utilized English and Japanese. Furthermore, the results revealed a unique ADS process in this context, with no clear dichotomy between experts and novices. Instead, all students negotiated their participation and language use within the academic community, with native‐speakerism ideology influencing the ADS process. These results enrich the research on ADS in non‐English‐speaking countries and development of new conceptual frameworks to better comprehend its dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the twenty-first-century working professionals need to possess strong Interactional Competence to handle professional communication in intercultural contexts (PCIC). However, the relationship among the three PCIC constituents – culture, workplace and interaction – is undertheorized in current research. This leaves PCIC practitioners oftentimes uncertain of how to better define and develop their communication skills. This article seeks to address the gap by first analysing the two dominant PCIC epistemologies: the inference-based, psychological-positivist approach and the practice-based, interactional-constructivist approach. I then propose an analytical PCIC framework to differentiate the inference we make about one another and the practice we observe in each other. Using authentic PCIC training materials analysed through Sequential-Categorial Analysis (combining Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorization Analysis), I argue the concept of Interactional Competence can bridge inference and practice, offering a route to assisting researchers in analysing PCIC, educators in developing PCIC training materials, and practitioners in refining their PCIC skills. Pedagogical applications of the PCIC framework are also presented. I conclude the paper with theoretical, methodological and practical implications for PCIC, where we constantly see grounds for inclusion and exclusion articulated around notions of culture and professional identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regular and sustained contact with speakers of other languages might offer members of multilingual societies opportunities to develop cultural awareness through interactions with diverse individuals. This study examines how the language awareness of individuals in a highly multilingual setting can act as a resource to support their learning about culture and development of cultural awareness. Participants were students, faculty, and alumni of an English teacher preparation program in Central Java, a community where Javanese, Indonesian, and English are used regularly. Data sources included class observations, interviews, and journal entries. The research participants appeared to be using their Javanese language awareness as a resource in two ways as they discussed and learned about culture: by using the Javanese language as a marker of cultural difference, and by connecting to structural and sociolinguistic aspects of Javanese, notably the use of indirect communication and the appropriate speech level. Educators working with students in both multilingual and monolingual settings could draw on these findings by purposefully building on students' language awareness as a resource to help them develop cultural awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on an ethnographically-informed case study of a Canadian university that is experiencing growth and systems change through three initiatives: internationalization, intercultural education, and Indigenization. The article describes the goals of internationalization and "interculturalization" (a term coined at the university) at the site of the case study. The study then examines points of convergence and tensions between internationalization and interculturalization and emerging Indigenization initiatives. The work draws upon conceptualizations of "imaginaries" in higher education, and identifies that plural imaginaries exist within a single institution, creating opportunities for convergence but also over–reach by particular actors. We conclude that imaginaries are a useful conceptual tool for understanding the broad-based goals of higher education and identifying their varied rationales and also for understanding intra-institutional dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the scope of this presented study, the authors aimed to investigate the peculiarities of intercultural communication and cultural exchange based on musical knowledge, considering the exploration of the Chinese music education experience in other countries. The scholars find that the strongest relationships of Chinese musical education are with American, European, Korean, and Japanese musical cultures. The research found that intercultural learning motivated students from European universities (202 respondents) and universities of Chinese (200 respondents) to pay special attention to American music (23%), reflecting modern approaches to performance. Western European (21%) music has a strong relationship with Chinese music. The research finds that Chinese music is popular among 20% of students who value national traditions. The research found that the benefits of intercultural learning involve learning mobility (an attitude of students reflected by rating index: 3.01), the development of worldview (an attitude of students reflected by rating index: 2.73), melodic skills development (an attitude of students reflected by rating index: 2.52), and the uniqueness of musical composition performance (an attitude of students reflected by rating index: 2.85). The scholars identified that for 86% of students, intercultural learning had a positive value and promoted musical knowledge development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to investigate the interactional strategies that secondary school EFL learners use during telecollaboration with interlocutors from a different cultural and linguistic background. Its novelty lies in the educational level and cultural contexts explored as well as in the goal of examining whether frequency of strategy use may depend on the interlocutor and, if so, what the relevant factors are for such variation. The study focuses on two projects in which 10 participants from one Bulgarian school and 18 partners from two schools in Spain took part in dyadic synchronous videoconferences discussing culture-related topics. Data were collected via video recordings, field observations, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. The article presents both descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis of the communicative behavior of three case study students interacting with different telecollaborative partners. We found that the participants demonstrate differences in interactional behavior and utilize strategies with varying frequency depending on their interlocutor. The results also reveal crucial factors in the design of telecollaborative educational projects if learners are to successfully implement skills of discovery and interaction in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Easterners are assumed to have a high‐context culture, Yamashina found that Japanese believe the Chinese to engage in a low‐context cultural communication style. We interpreted her results as follows: the Chinese whom Japanese know are likely to engage in intercultural communication that is used in low‐context cultural situations (code‐switching). To test this interpretation, we used a 17‐item online questionnaire on context dependency for participants (Japanese university students, Chinese university students, and Chinese international students living and studying in Japan) to score the self, average Japanese, and average Chinese. Hence, the design was 3 (culture) by 3 (object). The results showed that both Japanese and Chinese students rated people in their counterpart countries as having a low‐context communication style, supporting our interpretation. However, this effect was not evident among Chinese international students. These results confirmed that low‐context cultural situations may arise when people engage in intercultural communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture mediates how all people think and communicate and intercultural communication skills are required for effective collaboration. This study (2017–2021) explored intercultural communication with 40 participants in one very remote First Nations Australian community in Northern Australia. We explored the perspectives of both Yolŋu (First Nations Australian people from North-East Arnhem Land) and Balanda (non-Indigenous people, in this case Australian) on interactions during early childhood assessments of Yolŋu children (0–6 years). Our intercultural research team used a culturally responsive form of video-reflexive ethnography, a Yolŋu approach to in-depth discussion and collaborative analysis. In this article, we explore nine intercultural communication processes that were recognized and enacted by study participants. Each process is represented by a metaphor drawn from water traveling in North-East Arnhem Land. We share these processes so that others may consider exploring their relevance in other intercultural communication contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing scholarly interest focused on new media and cross-cultural adaptation research, but a bibliometric analysis with VOSviewer software still needs to be improved. The paper aims to review the literature on new media and cross-cultural adaptation during the past two decades, analyse the current research on new media and cross-cultural adaptation, get an overview of current research, identify the heated topics, and propose future directions. This paper examined 1,1518 English-language articles published in the Web of Science database from 2003 to 2023 using bibliometric techniques and the VOSviewer software. The methodology analysed the variables such as development time, Top 10 countries, organisations, authors, articles, journals, and co-occurrence keywords in the bibliometric analysis. A review of the past 20 years shows a significant increase in excellent research publications on new media and cross-cultural adaptation. Regarding the region of publications, the number of publications in the United States is the absolute leader, followed by China, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, and Germany. However, the highest average number of citations is for Germany. As seen from the five categorised clusters, cross-cultural studies on social media use, Internet addiction, psychological health issues, and international students have become a growing concern in recent years. Future research on new media and cross-cultural adaptation may move toward exploring international students' social media usage and psychological adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalisation and its sibling, internationalisation, have led to the development of multilingual, multicultural universities, which are often branded as pathways to global success. However, these universities may not adequately consider the challenges that stakeholders face in adapting to these new environments. This paper investigates the implications of internationalisation for policy, pedagogy and practice by surveying policy, faculty, staff, and students of three multilingual programmes at a Spanish university. A document analysis, questionnaire, interviews, and focus groups were used to explore institutional strategy, student identity and agency, teacher pedagogy and practice, and staff guidance and support. The study applied a translingual and transcultural competence lens that focused on critical awareness, reflexivity, and the ability to operate between languages and cultures while building relationships. The findings reveal a strong programmatic focus on multilingual and intercultural development, a wide range of plurilingual and pluricultural identification and practices among students, the centrality of a teacher's role in facilitating and modelling translingual and transcultural competence, and a presently underexplored at-home/abroad nexus. The study implies a need for more community building beyond the classroom and across domestic and international students, greater empowerment of teachers, and a need for students to reflect and engage with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While English as a second language is a component of the education programme in Nunavik, Canada, Inuit (Indigenous people of the Arctic) need to protect Inuktitut (Inuit language) as they navigate an online world where English is often the lingua franca on social media. Inuit qaujimajatuqangit (traditional knowledge) could provide the framework for decolonizing English as a second language education, as it has guided Inuit through centuries of change. This narrative literature review with commentary analysed 50 studies and related resources, summarizing Nunavik's colonial history of linguistic imperialism and how some Indigenous communities resisted colonialism by decolonizing their education programmes. This analysis found a gap in studies specific to decolonizing English as a second language education in the Inuit context; therefore, the findings extrapolated that Inuit can decolonize by decentralizing colonial practices and centralizing Inuit qaujimajatuqangit and Inuktitut. The literature review offers pedagogical recommendations for decolonizing English as a second language education in Nunavik and other Indigenous communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This scoping literature review examines the extent of research in second-language learning through intercultural communication on social media, specifically in Inuit (Indigenous people of the Arctic) communities. The investigation maps out gaps in the literature and explains the need for research in the Inuit context. Forty-seven studies and related resources are examined through a conceptual lens focused on the intersections between intercultural communication, social media, and Indigenous peoples, revealing concentrations on authentic interaction, Indigenous identity, language revitalization, and maintenance. Particular to the Inuit context, the analysis identifies the following gaps: (a) intercultural communication in second-language learning and Inuit; (b) second language learning through social media and Inuit; and (c) intercultural communication in second-language learning via social media and Inuit. None of the studies reviewed describe pedagogical applications for Inuit. This scoping literature review suggests future research and curriculum development that could be implemented in the Inuit context, particularly in Nunavik. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, the author discusses the issues and challenges facing French language and literature education in the U.S. amidst the growing promotion of science, engineering and math courses. Also cited are how French capitalism, colonialism, slavery, and industrialization affected the world, and how language and literature improved the communication skills of graduates and make them competitive in the job market.

Risk communication during a public health crisis necessitates the provision of accessible, timely and accurate health information to the public. The aim of this research project was to explore the availability and characteristics of COVID-19 and vaccine health promotional materials published in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. We aimed to identify the strategies used by Aboriginal-led organizations and Departments of Health to improve communication about COVID-19 and vaccination. Health promotion resources published online between January 2020 and December 2021 were identified by means of a desktop scan and a content analysis was subsequently conducted. We also interviewed five Aboriginal-led organizations and interview data were analyzed thematically. Findings illustrate the vital role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages in high stakes information transfer and, in particular, the push by Departments of Health and language groups to create and disseminate important messaging in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. This is best achieved by utilizing local knowledge, existing relationships and local connections. Finally, a multimodal approach to the production and dissemination of pandemic health information better caters for the diverse specific needs of these communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People who speak languages other than English face structural barriers in accessing the US healthcare system. With a growing number of people living in countries other than their countries of birth, the impact of language and cultural differences between patients and care teams on quality care is global. Cultural brokering presents a unique opportunity to enhance communication and trust between patients and clinicians from different cultural backgrounds during pregnancy care—a critical window for engaging families in the healthcare system. This critical review aims to synthesize literature describing cultural brokering in pregnancy care. We searched keywords relating to cultural brokering, pregnancy, and language in PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL and traced references of screened articles. Our search identified 33 articles. We found that cultural brokering is not clearly defined in the current literature. Few of the articles provided information about language concordance between cultural brokers and patients or clinicians. No article described the impact of cultural brokering on health outcomes. Facilitators of cultural brokering included: interprofessional collaboration within the care team, feeling a family connection between the cultural broker and patients, and cultivating trust between the cultural broker and clinicians. Barriers to cultural brokering included: misunderstanding the responsibilities, difficulty maintaining personal boundaries, and limited availability and accessibility of cultural brokers. We propose cultural brokering as interactions that cover four key aims: (1) language support; (2) bridging cultural differences; (3) social support and advocacy; and (4) navigation of the healthcare system. Clinicians, researchers, and policymakers should develop consistent language around cultural brokering in pregnancy care and examine the impact of cultural brokers on health outcomes. Synopsis: Cultural brokering, understudied and ill‐defined in pregnancy care, may present an opportunity to enhance communication and trust between patients and clinicians from different cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To expand the application of mobile technology and smart classroom environment in education, and explore their influence on learning engagement, this paper, based on the Situated Cognition Theory, took 296 sophomores from six universities in China as the research objects and investigated the relationship between mobile technology, smart classroom environment, and learning engagement. The findings show that: (1) in the mobile technology and smart classroom environment, the frequency of learning by mobile devices in class, the frequency of learning by mobile devices after class, the duration of learning by mobile devices in class, the duration of learning by mobile devices after class, the hardware environment, software resources, and technology acceptance have positive effects on learning engagement; (2) mobile technology and smart classroom environment can better mobilize learners' interest and initiative in learning and increase learners' engagement in learning; (3) mobile technology and smart classroom environment can greatly improve college learners' behavioural engagement, emotional engagement, and cognitive engagement respectively. This study helps turn the learners' external learning needs into their internal learning motivation, thus enhancing their learning engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly globalised society, the internationalisation of higher education has become a prime goal for many universities, which seek to promote the development of intercultural competencies and insert their actors in dynamics of academic cooperation, knowledge construction and negotiation of meanings in an environment of respect. What is sometimes overlooked, however, is the fact that university campuses are already intercultural spaces by nature, even in the absence of internationalisation initiatives; in other words, university campuses are places where diversity abounds, making it possible to experience intercultural encounters, leading to the development of intercultural competencies. This article presents the narratives of four students and their home-making experiences at a Colombian university. Through their stories, these students give us a glimpse of the intercultural challenges they face when they try to create a sense of belonging while developing, constraining or reaffirming their identities on campus. The article analyses the student narratives through the lenses of new materialism, social semiotics, intersectionality and intercultural communication to understand the complexity of building a home with others amid diversity and, sometimes, adversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how racial and linguistic identities are constructed on the Australian reality TV show Border Security. Based on an analysis of 108 episodes of the show involving 253 border force officers and 128 passengers, we explore how the hegemonic Australian identity of the White native speaker of English is constructed on the show. Officers are represented as a relatively uniform group of heroes devoted to protecting Australia's national security. Simultaneously, most of them look white and sound like native speakers of Australian English. In contrast to the officers, passengers, as their antagonists, do not have a predominant racial or linguistic profile. They are represented as highly diverse. What unites them is not any racial or linguistic profile but that they represent a security risk. Threat thus comes to be mapped onto diversity. The show's schema of heroes and antagonists invites the audience to identify with the heroes. By identifying with the White-English heroes, the audience also comes to take on their power of judgment over its diverse linguistic and racial Others. The analysis shows how the White-English identity bundle is constructed as the authoritative and legitimate position of the judging knower. The article's main contribution is to show how the raciolinguistic construct of the White-English complex is made hegemonic in a diverse society officially committed to multiculturalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the digital era, a new concept of teaching foreign languages using digital technologies has been developed. Today’s emphasis is on cultivating highly competitive specialists who not only possess fluency in their respective professions to meet global standards but are also prepared to actively leverage digital technologies. The purpose of the article is to reveal current trends in teaching a foreign language in the digital era and to assess the opportunities and main ways to improve foreign language training for future specialists in the field of intercultural contacts, since the digitalisation of education has brought foreign language teaching to a qualitatively new level. The article explores the methodological foundations underpinning the concept of foreign language training for a competitive specialist through the integration of digital technologies. Employing analytical-synthetic methods, the comparative approach, and contrastive analysis of national and foreign educational practices, the study looks into the aspects of language training in the contemporary context. The authors reveal the content of the concepts ‘digital educational environment’, ‘digital technologies’ and ‘digital educational resources’ and identify problematic aspects of modern professional training for a foreign language teacher in the context of digitalisation of education. The identification of the most prominent trends in modern foreign language education was a key focus. The imperative shift towards utilising digital tools in language instruction was underscored, affirming their role in attaining high-quality outcomes in the training of competitive specialists. The article’s scientific novelty and theoretical significance stem from the authors’ rationale for incorporating digital technologies and establishing a digital learning environment in foreign language instruction. This entails not only an optimal blend of promising technologies but also the utilisation of a comprehensive array of tools and software. These tools enable the development of more advanced educational materials and foster foreign language speech activity among students through immersion in a dynamic digital language environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the content strategies of 12 Chinese universities' international websites. Going beyond the Hofstede–Hall model, we explore a novel mixed-method study using both content strategy analysis and user research to investigate intercultural web-based communication strategies. Our study identifies the impacts of Chinese cultural and socio-political values on web content and the mismatch between such values and the information needs of globally distributed prospective students. We conclude that universities' web content strategies should fully understand target audiences' needs. Designers benefit from doing stakeholder interviews and competitor analysis to provide relevant, accurate, and accessible information to users from different cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study abroad (SA) has recently become an increasingly popular option for language learners who wish to engage in an immersive educational experience while living in a different culture, but not all SA programmes are created equal. Length of time can vary significantly, from a days or weeks up to a year or more spent in the target culture, and this can affect not only linguistic development but also non-linguistic factors such as intercultural communication, confidence using the second/foreign language (L2), and a sense of L2 self. The purpose of this study was to examine how two groups of Japanese learners of English going abroad for different lengths of time (one month (n = 79) and one year (n = 70) respectively) were affected across a range of non-linguistic variables. Pre- and post-SA survey data were collected, and results indicate that both groups achieved significant benefits in increased L2 speaking confidence and a strengthening of sense of an ideal L2 self, while also undergoing a weakening of ought-to L2 self. However, the degree of change was not uniform across groups. Moreover, the short-term SA participants demonstrated a decrease in ethnocentricity whereas the long-term participants did not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural communication at Bawaka often brings ŋäpaki, non-Indigenous visitors, into a series of new relationships – with Yolŋu people, with each other, with place, and with themselves. From a Bawaka Yolŋu ontology, this is part of bala ga' lili, giving and taking, co-creating balance through relationships of reciprocity and responsibility. This paper is a collaboratively written piece by Yolŋu hosts and non-Yolŋu academics as part of Bawaka Country and reflects our own efforts at embodying bala ga' lili. It considers how visitors to Bawaka come into relationship with themselves, their hosts, each other, and place. It discusses the opportunities and limitations of these relationships and emphasizes the importance of multi-directional, embodied, more-than-human communication. Through an analysis of a student fieldtrip and discussion of Yolŋu hosts' expectations and aspirations, it argues that with communication and the formation of new relationships comes responsibilities to translate new understandings across time and place, assisting with the important, although only ever incompletely possible, work of breaking unjust systems and contributing to more just and sustainable processes and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article explores the epistemological conditions of intercultural encounters. Based on an analysis of Raimon Panikkar's intercultural hermeneutics, we argue that intercultural encounters cannot take place adequately when they are based on purely rhetorical rationality or rational persuasion. We point to the limitations of grounding intercultural relationships on dialectical dialogue and, therefore, of educating them by simply enhancing discursive capacities. We underline the need for other epistemological conditions that should be fostered in order to move forward on the path to actual interculturality. These can be summarised by what Panikkar calls "conversion", an epistemic framework of love—personal relationality, that goes beyond objectifying rationality—for the communication between (culturally different) subjects. We conclude that the culturally diverse human condition refers to being encountered and being understood on a level that is not merely logical or linguistic. What can be understood of a person with another cultural background goes beyond what can be comprehended by logical rationality or captured by veritative judgements about objects. In other words, in intercultural encounters, ontological, rather than merely logical truth is at stake, which means that the presence of the other can lead to experiences of meaning: it reveals a being that calls for conversion. Conversion demands an ontic action on the part of the subject, not merely an epistemological one, that cancels the violence that rational persuasion might entail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses how foreign faculty adapt their communicative behaviors to the academic workplace. Through a descriptive qualitative approach, the results showed how and why these adaptations occur and how culture is an undeniable component of communication. Two themes emerged, cultural expectations and accent. Together, these factors can prevent foreign faculty from fully adjusting to the academic workplace and create a feeling of otherness. The results of this study suggest that the U.S. academic workplace needs to improve communication among all faculty so that diversity, equity, and inclusion are continuously respected and cultivated. This research is significant because it extends a gap in the literature about the acculturation of foreign-born faculty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious issues are one of the factors that often cause tension in the social life of the community. The purpose of this research is to find out the dynamics of intercultural communication in Surokarsan, Yogyakarta. This research is a qualitative research. The subjects in this research are the general secretary of Sapta Darma spirituality, the chairman of the Sapta Darma citizen's association (Persada) of Yogyakarta city, members of Sapta Darma adherents. The results show that intercultural communication carried out by Sapta Darma Yogyakarta presents an example that exclusivity will only hinder the creation of social integration. On the contrary, openness and respect for different beliefs are important keys to strengthening unity. Inclusive intercultural communication can reduce the potential for erupting horizontal conflicts based on religious sentiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2010, the Philippines has been one of the largest contributors of workers to the increasingly global industry of remote English language tutoring. In this nascent and growing industry, Filipino online English tutors are employed by online platforms as independent contractors where they instruct students on a piece-meal basis. This article draws on interviews with 11 Filipino online tutors to discuss the various strategies that Filipino online English tutors deploy to successfully navigate their encounters with students whose cultural backgrounds differ from their own. We suggest the notion of intercultural bricolage to make sense of online tutors' self-acquired strategies for retaining students and succeeding as online tutors despite the various difficulties encountered with this type of remote work. While the notion of intercultural bricolage applies to the practices of many offline language teachers as well, we highlight how elements unique to online teaching—including lesson-by-lesson contracts—make intercultural bricolage an indispensable component of tutors' success on online language teaching platforms. • Filipino online English tutors are crucial to growing global online English teaching industry. • Filipino tutors come up with various strategies to deal with students from foreign cultural backgrounds. • Filipino online English tutors rely on national stereotypes in their efforts to keep students happy and retain their jobs. • Online English tutors are forced to become intercultural bricoleurs: creative and resourceful teachers that satisfy students despite their lack of pedagogical training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, the efficiency of cultural diplomacy is ensured by the "separation of powers" approach: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the official lead agency for foreign policy, holds the decision-making power, while leaving the concrete implementation to cultural intermediaries. This paper aims to explore Germany's cultural diplomacy strategies in China by analyzing the content of the public account operated by one of its main institutions in China, the German Cultural Center Beijing - Goethe-Institute. It combines qualitative and quantitative research methods and integrates the disciplinary perspectives of linguistics and intercultural communication. Our findings suggest that the Germany's cultural diplomacy strategies are characterized by preference, pluralism, interaction and individualism. These findings can also provide an optimizing path for China's own cultural institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's globalised business world, effective communication and collaboration across cultures are crucial for success. Cultural competence, the ability to understand and navigate cultural differences, plays a vital role in achieving this. However, traditional language learning approaches often fail to adequately prepare learners for the cultural challenges they will face in professional contexts. English for Specific Purposes 'ESP' teaching, on the other hand, is well-suited to address this gap by integrating cultural content and skills into language teaching. This paper will explore the importance of cultural competence in Business English and discuss how ESP teaching can bridge the gap between traditional language learning and the needs of the business world. Precisely, the paper will aim to define cultural competence and its importance for Business English learners. It will also outline the challenges and opportunities for integrating cultural content and skills into ESP teaching. Additionally, it will answer the following question: How can ESP practitioners design and implement practical learning tasks to promote cultural competence in their students? The paper will conclude with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for ESP practitioners and syllabus designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to find out the role of folk and author's dolls in intercultural communication. The research methodology in the cultural discourse is based on the comparative method for comparing the peculiarities of using folk and author's dolls in the dialogue of cultures, the method of comparative analysis for systematising information about dolls from different nations of the world, and the method of generalisation for forming the conclusions of the article. The scientific novelty. The classification of the main folk and author's dolls is supplemented to study the role of the doll in intercultural interaction in different countries of the world, and it is found out how exhibitions of folk and author's dolls promote intercultural communication. Conclusions. It has been found that the author's doll is a reflection of the author's worldview and his/her interpretation of the world. In turn, the folk doll as a part of the cultural heritage of a particular nation and a national and cultural symbol contributes to the realisation of one's own national identity in intercultural communication. As a result, both folk and author's dolls can become intermediaries in the dialogue of cultures during exhibitions and contribute to the preservation of national cultural values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In a global era where nuanced cross-cultural communications have become essential, mastering English language skills and acquiring cross-cultural competence pose a significant challenge for L2 learners residing in regions where English is not prevalently spoken. The aim of this study was to investigate how Taiwanese language learners’ perceptions, cultural appreciation, and language learning as key component in socio-cultural communication are influenced by engaging in video creation projects designed to present their local culture to a global audience. Participants were 69 students enrolled in an 18-week undergraduate course entitled Multimedia English. Data were collected from the students’ midterm essays and final oral presentations, detailing the process of video production. These data were examined utilizing thematic analysis and Matrix Coding Query. The findings demonstrated that the involvement in this interactive and student-centered video creation project improved students’ comprehension of diverse cultures, understanding of their own cultural context, and boosted their English language proficiency. The research phase was a pivotal juncture in their learning trajectory, as it served to activate their inherent knowledge and understanding of their own culture. This project also encouraged the students to assume greater ownership of their learning, thereby influencing their overall success. The paper concludes by discussing practical implications and other pertinent considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores university students’ communicative competence for English-Medium Instruction (EMI) at a Swedish university in the era of digitalisation and blended learning. Based on a linguistic ethnography, we present an argument for communicative competence as repertoire assemblages orchestrating digital materiality and human language to construct meanings. The study shows how diverse digital multimodalities and AI-language tools are essential features of spatial repertoires for academic communication, and how they cooperate with and mediate students’ personal repertoires to accomplish interactive learning tasks in EMI contexts. The study also highlights how digital diversity in EMI causes a ‘digital divide’, potentially impacting power relations among students. These findings underline the importance of acknowledging the communicative value of digital materiality and negotiating difference and normativity for intercultural academic communication in EMI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article systematically reviews the literature (313 articles) on language and communication in international students' cross-cultural adaptation in institutions of higher education for 1994–2021. We used bibliometric analysis to identify the most impactful journals and articles, and the intellectual structure of the field. We used content analysis to synthesize the results within each research stream and suggest future research directions. We established two major research streams: second-language proficiency and interactions in the host country. We found inconclusive results about the role of communication with co-nationals in students' adaptation, which contradicts the major adaptation theories. New contextualized research and the use of other theories could help explain the contradictory results and develop the existing theories. Our review suggests the need to theoretically refine the interrelationships between the interactional variables and different adaptation domains. Moreover, to create a better fit between the empirical data and the adaptation models, research should test the mediating effects of second-language proficiency and the willingness to communicate with locals. Finally, research should focus on students in non-Anglophone countries and explore the effects of remote communication in online learning on students' adaptation. We document the intellectual structure of the research on the role of language and communication in international students' adaptation and suggest a future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this phenomenological study was to explore South Korean university students' views of the importance of intercultural communication. It also sought to obtain participant recommendations on how to improve awareness of intercultural communication in their personal lives, on campus, and in society. Intercultural communicative competence is becoming increasingly important as the world becomes more interconnected online and through intercultural exchanges that take place in a variety of capacities. This study was conducted during the spring semester of 2020 at a university in central South Korea. Participants included 14 South Korean university students who were enrolled in an intercultural communication class that was conducted online and designed for English language learners. Data comprised individual interviews, a focus group, and essays. Data analysis centred on examining commonalities and key statements made by participants. In terms of why it is important to study intercultural communication, results highlighted the need for people to be understanding and knowledgeable about diverse cultures, have respect for other people and cultures, and ensure that past intercultural conflict does not happen in the future. Students provided a wide range of recommendations for improving their awareness of intercultural communication. This paper concludes with practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored intercultural communication from the perspectives of partners from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. We used a culturally responsive form of video-reflexive ethnography to study intercultural communication processes between Yolŋu, pronounced Yolngu (First Nations people from the region that is now called North-East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia) and Balanda (non-Indigenous people). Yolŋu and Balanda researchers worked collaboratively throughout the study (2017–2021). In a very remote Yolŋu community in northern Australia, five early childhood assessment interactions were recorded and analysed by the 40 Yolŋu and Balanda participants. Researchers analysed data collaboratively using an approach aligned with constructivist grounded theory. We connected key research findings about intercultural communication processes to a place-based metaphor which foregrounds Yolŋu cultural knowledge and encourages reflection on deeper ways of thinking about how we connect, collaborate and communicate interculturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the potential of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) for intercultural learning and teaching is acknowledged, few studies have explored the teaching of culture in EMI programmes in higher education contexts. Thus, this study examined the perceptions and practices that six EMI teachers from a variety of disciplines have of culture and cultural instruction at a Chinese university. Data were obtained from 24 classroom observations and six post-observation interviews. Drawing on Larzen-Ostermark's tripartite culture-teaching orientations and Rasouli and Moradkhani's culture-teaching taxonomy, the findings revealed that teachers with a humanities and social sciences background had a fluid and dynamic view regarding the understanding of culture, while teachers with a science, technology, engineering and mathematics background did not recognise the need to incorporate cultural instruction into their EMI classes. In analysing classroom data, five categories of cultural instruction were identified: contrast, authentic material, groupwork, codeswitching and guided discussion of culture. The five categories are mainly in line with the affective and action orientations in Larzen-Ostermark's three-orientation framework. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of the study's findings for EMI policymakers and EMI teacher training programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Good communication is key in cancer care, especially when doctors and patients come from different cultures or speak different languages. We studied 42 videos of doctors talking to Italian and foreign cancer patients during their visits. We looked at how they talked to each other, whether they misunderstood anything, whether there were interruptions, and how much trust and emotion were shown. The type of appointment and the doctor's personal style mattered more than whether the patient was Italian or foreign. This tells us that even when foreign patients can speak the language well, doctors cannot only rely on this to communicate effectively. Doctors should pay attention to interruptions and focus on taking care of the patient as a whole person. The methods we used in this study could help doctors improve their communication skills, which will lead to better care for all patients. Effective communication is crucial in cancer care due to the sensitive nature of the information and the psychosocial impact on patients and their families. Patient-centered communication (PCC) is the gold standard for providing quality cancer care, as it improves patient satisfaction, treatment adherence, clinical outcomes, and overall quality of life. However, doctor–patient communication can be complicated by ethnic, linguistic, and cultural differences. This study employed the ONCode coding system to investigate PCC practices in oncological visits (doctor's communicative behavior, patient's initiatives, misalignments, interruptions, accountability, and expressions of trust in participants' talk, Markers of uncertainty in doctor's talk, markers of emotions in doctor's talk). Forty-two video-recorded patient–oncologist encounters (with 22 Italian and 20 foreign patients), including both first and follow-up visits, were analyzed. Three discriminant analyses were conducted to assess differences in PCC between patient groups (Italian or foreign patients) according to the type of encounter (first visit or follow-up) and the presence or absence of companions during the encounters. Multiple regression analyses were performed to evaluate the PCC differences by oncologist age, patient age, and patient sex, controlling for the type of encounter, the presence of a companion during the visit, and patient group on ONCode dimensions. No differences were found in PCC by patient group in discriminant analyses and regressions. Doctor communication behavior, interruptions, accountability, and expressions of trust were higher in first visits than in follow-ups. The disparities in PCC were primarily linked to the type of visit and the age of the oncologist. However, a qualitative analysis showed notable differences in the types of interruptions during visits with foreign patients compared to Italian patients. It is essential to minimize interruptions during intercultural encounters to foster a more respectful and conducive environment for patients. Furthermore, even when foreign patients demonstrate sufficient linguistic competence, healthcare providers should not solely rely on this factor to ensure effective communication and quality care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discussion of interculturality in the Japanese context is often associated with Nihonjinron (the theory of Japanese people), which is constructed around the ideological standpoint that Japanese identity is racially and linguistically homogeneous. This study aims to explore foreign language teachers’ perceptions and practices and reflections on interculturality in language education in the Japanese context. Data were collected from 67 foreign language teachers in Japan through a web-based survey and interviews. The results of the survey indicated the general tendency not to practice an intercultural approach, despite teachers' willingness to integrate cultures, as demonstrated by previous studies conducted in various parts of the world. However, during the interviews, teachers started to realise that they were integrating culture into their teaching more than they had thought. Thus, the necessity of integrating interviews into the studies on teachers’ perceptions and practices was revealed. Secondly, language teachers’ reflections on their intercultural experiences, in the classroom and beyond were explored relying on the notion of critical reflexive interculturality (Dervin, F., and Jacobsson, A., 2021. Teacher Education for Critical and Reflexive Interculturality. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan). Implications of the study on language education, teacher education, and curriculum development will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical reflexivity, situated in a critical communication pedagogy framework, enables students and instructors to critique their identity positions alongside broader contextual structures enmeshed within the dynamics of intercultural conflict. This study therefore examines undergraduate students' discourses of critical reflexivity following a retreat workshop experience in an intercultural conflict course. After collecting data through reflection papers, we found uneven understandings and applications of critical reflexivity that reflect the potential of critical reflexivity in helping students to question various assumptions about themselves and others but also the challenges of disrupting dominant ideologies such as individualism to increase understanding of structural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the work is to establish the historical context of the formation of the concept of communication as a scientific discipline, to analyse modern theoretical approaches to the study of communication, to study the relationship between culture and communication in terms of moral and ethical norms. The research methodology is based on the use of methods of collecting and analysing information from available open sources, in particular, from reports of all- Ukrainian sociological surveys and studies of intercultural experience in the world. The conceptual methodological basis of the research is a systematic analysis of communication as an integral part of human life and culture, which is constantly evolving under the influence of changes in the modern world. The scientific novelty lies in the study of modern trends in the development of communication processes and the formation of new forms of intercultural communication. In addition, the study reveals the impact of modern technologies on communication processes and their interaction with cultural, social, and political aspects of society. This study is particularly important for the field of musical culture, as it shows the role of intercultural communication in the development of this field. Conclusions. The study found that communication as a process of information transfer is an integral part of the concept of culture. Interaction between cultural groups in the modern world depends on communication, which makes it possible to reduce the distance between cultures and increase understanding between them. Intercultural communication helps Ukrainian culture to preserve its uniqueness, as well as to develop and interact with other cultures to gain new knowledge and views, new experience, in particular in the field of music. Research in the field of intercultural communication is important for the development of social sciences, as it allows for a better understanding of the cultural and social processes that occur in different cultural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in student mobility world-wide and the globalization of teaching and learning practices has resulted in the prevalence of multicultural classrooms. However, knowledge on how cultural differences interact with increasingly student-centered practices is scarce. This is especially relevant for the provision of effective formative feedback, which as any form of dialogue, is bound to be affected by cultural customs and expectations. This rigorous literature review aims to examine the current knowledge on the role of culture in the provision of formative feedback in higher education: cultural differences, potential conflicts, and mitigation strategies. The results highlight three main themes of variation: perception of formative feedback, feedback as communication, and the affective/interpersonal domain. Three strategies to address potential clashes derived from these cultural differences are provided, and their applicability discussed. Finally, some issues and concerns are raised about current practices on studying cultural differences in the provision of formative feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a significant amount of literature in which the educational question concerning intercultural communication is seen in terms of providing students with the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and competencies that will enable them to become effective intercultural communicators. While this line of thought seems to have become the 'common sense' of much educational policy, there is also a growing body of research in which critical questions are raised about this approach. There are particular concerns about the totalising tendencies in such approaches, and ethics is often mobilised as a way to understand and enact the intercultural encounter differently. In this paper, I contribute to these discussions from an educational perspective. I contrast a pedagogy of empowerment with a pedagogy of disarmament, show how the idea of culture functions as an explanatory device, raise the question of time in intercultural encounters, and argue that an ethical 'turn' may run the risk of becoming another totalising gesture in intercultural communication. Through these explorations, I outline the contours of a pedagogy for intercultural communication beyond culture and without ethics in which the central challenge is that of trying to become 'contemporaneous'. I pay particular attention to what this may require from the teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can Levinas's work help language educators respond ethically to encounters with students? This paper considers this question in the context of adult immigrants learning an additional language, and is interested specifically in the existential aspects of language learning. How does the experience of coming into being in a new language play out in the classroom encounter, and how, if at all, can language teachers respond ethically to this experience? The paper discusses three challenges when considering Levinas's ethics to answer this question. The first is that language education is dominated by what Levinas calls 'the Said'. The second is that the impossibility of knowing whether one has responded ethically results in a compulsive return to the pedagogical scene. The third and final challenge involves the tensions between Levinas's ethics and political critiques of language education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the trends of the present world, the informatization of society, the intensive development of innovative technologies entails a rethinking of values in art and language environment. Learning a language certainly includes considering a whole range of external circumstances in which it really develops and actively functions: the society that uses the language, its social structure, age difference between native speakers, social status, level of culture and education, place of residence, as well as differences in their speech behavior depending on the language situation. The relevance of the study is determined by the change in human consciousness during the postmodern cultural era, a feature of which is the rethinking of values, the definition of specific trends in the philosophical essence of the postmodern. The study presents the theoretical foundations of postmodern reflection in the social manifestation of speech. Postmodern forms a value attitude to progress as a single unchanging constant, formed throughout historical development. The article examines the conditions of equality of social factors between men and women who choose different strategies of speech behavior, manifested in the models of text construction, use of linguistic means, associations arising in both sexes as one of the aspects of postmodern semantic representation. In the course of the study the concept of "ethnicity" is defined, replacing the concept of "ethnos" and denoting the existence of separate ethnic groups. The study is based on the method of analysis and synthesis, the research, descriptive and scientific method was used to determine the postmodern aspect of the social factor of language variation. The results of the study are the basis for determining the social factor of speech in the context of postmodern society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of models of diversity governance signals not just persistent unease with diversity itself, but also a trend toward increasingly intensive investments in governance and governmentality across political, social, and media platforms. And, following Sara Ahmed (2012), we are cognizant that the institutionalization of diversity may reinforce as much as it may disrupt whiteness. In our response, therefore, we first consider Elias and Mansouri's proposals in the context of diversity governance as a political project. In a second step, we explore how cultural difference is expressed in Elias and Mansouri's idea of intercultural engagement. Third, we bring into better focus how communication is envisioned and deployed, activated and delimited in the interculturalism model that the authors promote. Ultimately, we argue that at the heart of intercultural understanding is a peculiar bundling of culture and communication that targets the interactional order of human relationality in ways consistent with a liberal social order reproducing its social inequities more than challenging them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our work at the intersection of language and the arts has led us to fundamental critiques of both language and understanding, which we outline here as possible starting points for the future development of this domain of research. In Bradley & Atkinson's arts-based research with linguistic landscapes ([11]), "language", as encountered visually in public spaces, is decentred, as participants explore their own sensory engagements in these everyday spaces through the arts. IV Conclusions We have considered the two domains of language education and the arts, the possibilities and impossibilities in research and practice at the margins, or I entre mundos i ([29], p. xxi), and the value of decentring (see also [40]). Keywords: creativity; engagement; intercultural communication; language education; the arts EN creativity engagement intercultural communication language education the arts 359 367 9 03/02/23 20230301 NES 230301 I Opening comments We thank the editors for inviting us to make this final comment on the special issue, which represents an important opening-up of the language education field to consider, and make more prominent, the links between language and intercultural education, the arts and social engagement. [Extracted from the article]