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Copyright of Eurasian Journal of Philology: Science & Education is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study investigates how people from different cultures negotiate meanings in email interactions. The data is composed of 120 emails written by two groups of students: sixty emails are written by Jordanian university students and sixty by American university students. The emails are supposed to be written to hypothetical friends. The data were analysed qualitatively, relying primarily on discourse analysis complemented by the theory of politeness, in addition to the notion of cultural stereotypes. The evaluation of the data indicated that the American students used much more indirect strategies than their Jordanian counterparts. The results of this study offer insights into the nature of politeness strategies as employed by the two groups of students. This study argues for the importance of including pragmatic and intercultural communication instruction in language classes to teach students how to be polite in a foreign language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a genre-based approach to the study of negotiation within EAP classes and reports on results obtained using a negotiation model meant to increase students' awareness concerning the generic features of this communicative activity. The presented model is based on the Pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation, which offers a double perspective on the argumentation discourse analysed, namely a descriptive and normative perspective. The paper, based on desk and field research, aims to help business language students improve their abilities in argumentation and negotiation by developing discourse skills beyond a simple stage by stage negotiation strategy. In order to do so it examines the advantages and disadvantages of traditional teaching of negotiation skills and introduces the Pragma-dialectical theory of negotiation developed by van Eemeren and Grootendorst (1992) at the University of Amsterdam. The author demonstrates how the practical application of this approach has improved the performance of MA students in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although significant attention has been devoted to the notion of facework and its functions, facework among L2 speakers, whose cultural backgrounds and language proficiencies vary, has remained unexplored. The present study attempts to explore situations of intercultural communication in which facework is used as a way to remedy moments of potential face loss. The data are drawn from communication among Korean, Malaysian, and Japanese students who were enrolled in an online synchronous class. On the basis of these data, three different types of facework were identified: self-mocking humour, group embarrassment, and attempts to build group cohesion. Tensions among the intercultural group, which could have led to a potential break in face maintenance, emerged. These tensions resulted from discrepancies within the cultural groups concerning recognition of face, cultural assumptions, and language use. When participants did not find an equitable resolution of tension in words, nonverbal face-saving strategies functioned to resolve conflict and mitigate loss of face by re-contextualising the interaction. Overall, this paper highlights the complexities of intercultural communication in relation to face maintenance and offers insights for future research into L2 speakers’ use of facework in intercultural communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates and compares the use of discourse markers (DMs) by native speakers and learners of English based on a corpus of adolescent intercultural exchange students. The study employs a discourse analytical approach, in which Fung and Carter's (2007) multi-category framework is applied with a view to examining DMs used by a group of Taiwanese and British adolescents in an intercultural setting. The analytical framework contains four main functional categories: Interpersonal, referential, structural and cognitive DMs. Each DM was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively in order to identify the functions it serves in its original context and to further reveal the different uses of DMs between Taiwanese and British participants. The findings demonstrate that the DMs used by both groups of participants serve the four central functions, and in particular Taiwanese participants display a significant use of interpersonal (e.g., yeah, oh) and structural DMs (e.g., so, okay), while British participants have a significantly higher usage of referential (e.g., coz/because, and) and cognitive DMs (e.g., like, well). The results of this study have direct pedagogical implications that can enhance the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to better prepare learners for real life communication scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the discursive construction of corporate identity on the web from a glocalization perspective. Adopting a corpus-assisted discourse analysis approach, it compares English websites of top 10 energy companies in China and the US. The findings suggest that both global patterns and local preferences can be identified in their corporate identity construction. It is argued that they can be explained in terms of the special functions of the discourse itself and the particular socio-cultural context in which these companies are situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of intercultural communication, which is adopted in mainstream applied linguistics and communication studies, aims to explain the meaning of cultural differences and identities in the present global world. The present analysis of intercultural communication is based on theories of cultural variability, which highlight the basic distinctions between values determining cultural differences and identities. Some studies in applied linguistics observe cultural variability as a discursive construction based on a form of epistemological essentialism, produced in the Western part of the world to give meaning to its hegemony. However, these studies share some epistemological foundations with theories of cultural variability. This paper proposes a theorization of intercultural communication, which explains cultural differences and identities as constructed in communication systems and based on their particular structural presuppositions. In this perspective, the hegemonic structure of intercultural communication is ethnocentrism, including the presuppositions of Us/Them basic distinction, positioning of individuals as members of cultural groups and normative expectations about displays of We-identities. This theorisation also provides an explanation of the discursive construction of new hybrid forms of identity, which are observed as a result of globalisation, and of the interdependence between local and global communication systems. Finally, this theorization leads to explain the meaning of intercultural dialogue, which is presented as an alternative to ethnocentrism. The open question regards the explanation of dialogue as either a new discursive construction of hegemonic Western culture or a new structure, introducing equality in participation, sensitivity for participants' personal expressions and expectations of participants' empowerment in local and global communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing global mobility, and growing awareness of language rights in many parts of the world, issues related to minority language speakers' participation in the legal process are now attracting increasing attention from scholars and those in the legal profession. As Tiersma (1993: 135) argues, '[f]ew professions are as concerned with language as is the law'. One manifestation is the disadvantage suffered by lay people unfamiliar with how language works in legal contexts such as police interviews and courtroom cross-examination. This gap in the access to linguistic repertoire between lay people and legal professionals can be widened when people participating in the legal process come from linguistic and cultural backgrounds that are different from those who speak the language of the court and are familiar with the culture in which the legal system is embedded. This paper discusses the participation of minority language speakers in the legal process, and some of the challenges that linguists face in trying to improve legal processes for minority language speakers. The following key aspects of communication are discussed: access to language assistance; quality of language assistance; attitudes towards minority language speakers; and intercultural issues. Drawing on the author's own studies of interpreter-mediated police interviews and multilingualism in criminal courts, as well as other relevant studies, the paper presents linguistic analyses that elucidates problems in legal interaction involving minority language speakers and legal professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Desacatos is the property of Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropologia Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study of intercultural communication in literary discourse attempts to foreground the relevance of the study of Indian Diasporic literary texts by analyzing intercultural communication as represented in Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard and The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Desai is an Indian Diasporic writer who introduces words from the Indian languages in particular contexts, and predicates culture specific differences to convey her meaning to the reader. The study aims at providing a contextual framework to the field of literary discourse based upon the tools for analysis of Intercultural Communication enunciated by Allwood (1985). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas (RLLA) is the property of Universidat Politecnica de Valencia, Department of Applied Linguistics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper deals with results from an ongoing research project about how patients and health professionals talk about and enact culture in a specific Danish hospital ward, whether this may have implications for staff–patient relationships and how knowledge of cultural complexities may add value to patient care. The project and this paper are based on a discourse analytic and social constructivist approach and, contrary to some earlier studies focusing on health professionals’ perceptions of culture in relation to the care of minority ethnic patients, this project and paper deal with culture seen from a patient perspective. Data have been collected from interviews with minority ethnic patients and with nurses about the intercultural encounter in an infectious diseases ward, and the analysis focuses on evaluating statements present in the discourses. The analysis aims at studying how such discourses may display the patients’ roles and self positioning, to discuss whether such positions and roles are attributable to culture, language proficiency or social conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking its point of departure in ten semi-structured interviews with ten members of staff in a Danish-owned, cross-border software company, Softia, this article analyzes how members of staff talk about and make sense of ways of ''doing culture'' in a corporate context. The article adopts a discourse analytical perspective and applies systemic functional grammar in order to identify the characteristics of three major discursive constructions which members of staff draw on interchangeably, and to a greater and lesser extent, to give expression to their intercultural practices in Softia. This text-focused, practitioneroriented, discursive approach provides valuable insights into the practitioners' understandings of intercultural practices, and, therefore, offers a welcome contribution to the ever-growing, but less text-focused, literature on intercultural business communication and cross-cultural management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether a short training in grounding strategies could improve intercultural communication. Forty intercultural dyads (Anglo-Canadians and Mainland Chinese) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Prior to their conversations the experimental groups received 10–15 min training on grounding while the control groups received no training. The trained dyads performed significantly better than the untrained dyads in grounding, speaker presentation and listener recall, thus documenting that the 10–15 min training on grounding was fruitful in improving intercultural communication. Grounding training may open a new avenue for reducing intercultural miscommunication, thus improving information transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes multicultural teams in decision-making meetings and uses discourse analysis and observational methods to study how member participation in meetings changes when teams are comprised of multicultural members. We use a four-by-four design to document differences in discourse patterns of teams of different composition. Our findings suggest that among high-proficiency English speakers of East Asian origin, there are no significant cultural differences in the discourse patterns when compared to US-born English speakers when speaking English and working in homogeneous groups. However, differences in discourse patterns do emerge when members are combined in mixed groups. Americans tend to increase their participation while East Asians withdraw. The paper examines possible causes of this divergence in communication styles and outlines directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the circulation of Bourdieu's symbolic capital at the level of face-to-face interactions. Recounting a single interaction between three individuals, this study provides an example of (1) the negotiated nature of capital articulation and (2) the relationship between identity practice and capital articulation, when addressed at the microlevel of interaction. Given a group task which forced participants to negotiate at an explicit level symbolic capital affordances, one participant - a non-native speaker of English in an English conversation - was able to articulate cultural capital by way of her links to academic institutions. However, later in the group task her attempt to index capital by way of her reflexive positioning as Asian was rebuked, leading her to disengage from the group task. This study emphasizes the need to analyze symbolic capital from the 'ground-up' for that is where its distribution is reproduced but also potentially transformed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an effort to find out how Chinese Spring Festival celebration is constructed discursively as a site of harmonious intercultural communication, how the construction is historically and socially influenced, and why it is constructed in such a way. It adopts van Dijk's socio-cognitive approach to analyze Chinese news reports and commentaries and Wodak's discourse-historical approach to scrutinize the historical and philosophical origin of the discourse. The analysis demonstrates that Chinese writers struggle hard to elaborate the "harmony" enmeshed in the celebration held in intercultural settings by literal reiteration, selective use of pronouns, cultural symbol depicting and social activity description. The "harmony" being referred to is emphasized in the construction because it is the core value of traditional Chinese Taoism and Confucianism. It has become a kind of historical discourse which penetrates into every corner of Chinese society; the discursive strategies are chosen not at random, but in fact they fall right into the established cognitive framework of Chinese people which makes the construction better accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Los Angeles and Southern California have become the hub of the United State's economic, political, and cultural connection to the Pacific Rim. This region comprises large numbers of individuals, businesses, and cultural institutions with international linkages to China, South Korea and Japan. As a result, multicultural work teams of Asian and American origin are increasingly becoming a norm rather than an exception in the modern business climate of Southern California. Our study examines such multicultural teams and compares the interactions of four types of teams: homogenous teams composed of U.S.-born students; homogenous teams composed of Asian-born students; heterogeneous teams composed of a majority of U.S.-born students and a minority of Asian-born students; and heterogeneous teams composed of a majority of Asian-born students and a minority of U.S.-born students. Other studies have shown that personal variables and value diversity predict greater satisfaction and contribution levels than minority status alone. Our research further explores these concepts by looking at the effect of group composition on group performance and examines six non-verbal communication elements that are important for the functioning of multicultural groups. These are number of turns taken, number of words spoken, turn length, number of cooperative overlaps, number of backchannels, and latching per team member. We hope to contribute to the existing body of research in two ways: our study will add to our understanding of the influence of culture on decision making in cross-cultural teams composed of U.S.-born and Asian-born members and will have pedagogical implications regarding the way group work is taught to diverse student bodies and business professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article attempts to prove that the confrontation against dissidents was an ideological postulate of the Soviet press and it was declared in the Press Decree (on November 9, 1917) by V. I. Lenin. The press of perestrojka (1986-1991) has given rise to ironical discourse, which is determined by social-historical principles: the negation of political values of the Soviet past. Modern Russian press distinguishes itself in stylistics of intolerance, which can be traced as a standard of communication during the long period of confrontation, as well as in low level of tolerance culture in the society. It is necessary to teach tolerance standards of communication to the modern Russian society in professional spheres of education (schools, higher schools) and journalism (forming Quality press). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates level of formality in international students’ emails sent to academic staff. National cultures have different traditions when it comes to adopting an egalitarian or a more distant student–professor relationship. Hofstede's cultural dimension of power distance (PD) is used to distinguish between relatively high and relatively low PD cultures. The students’ choice of initial greeting and complimentary close is discussed with respect to PD ranking, rapport management and the sociopragmatic conventions set out in business communication literature. The analysis is based on 344 emails written by 110 students in Norway, a low PD culture. The findings indicate that students from relatively high PD cultures are more likely to opt for formal alternatives, concluding that national culture is an aspect to take into account when analysing lingua franca English communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural communication is quickly becoming a pivotal area of study in an increasingly expanding global village brought about by rapid telecommunications technology. As a result, the danger for misunderstandings to arise when interlocutors who belong to different speech communities enter into intercultural communication situations are many. The study of the linguistic and interpersonal dynamics that characterize such situations has been carried out in recent years, producing many interesting findings. What this line of research lacks, however, is a theoretical framework. The recent work by Klukanov, which proposes ten principles for the study of intercultural communication, can be enlisted to construct such a framework. This paper examines these principles in the light of their general implications for the systematic study of intercultural communication and for discourse theory generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the problems that translators and Arab learners of English encounter in translating Arabic sentences containing the Arabic discourse marker 'fa' into English. Several types of texts were surveyed in order to identify the salient functions that this marker has in Arabic discourse. Five major functions were identified: Explanatory, Consequential, Causal, Sequential and Adversative. A translation task was designed to find out how this marker translates into English. The subjects were 50 English-major Arab students studying at the University of Sharjah. The difficulties that Arab learners encounter in translating Arabic 'fa' into English were identified and rank ordered in terms of difficulty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]