The Language and Intercultural Communication Reader by Hua, Zhu;

Short description:

Language is key to understanding culture, and culture is an essential part of studying language. This reader focuses on the interplay between Language and Intercultural Communication.

Long description:

Language is key to understanding culture, and culture is an essential part of studying language. This reader focuses on the interplay between Language and Intercultural Communication.

Reflecting the international nature of the field, this reader covers a wide range of language and cultural contexts: Arabic, Chinese, English (British, American, Australian and South African), Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Samoan and Spanish. Divided into six parts, it covers: Culture, language and thought; Cultural approaches to discourse and pragmatics; Communication patterns across cultures; Teaching and learning cultural variations of language use; Interculturality and Intercultural Communication in professional contexts. With twenty two readings by eminent authorities in the field as well as cutting-edge materials representing current developments, the book explores the breadth and depth of the subject as well as providing an essential overview for both students and researchers.

Each part begins with a clear and comprehensive introduction, and is enhanced by discussion questions, study activities and further reading sections. Alongside a comprehensive Resource List, detailing important reference books, journals, organisations and websites and an annotated Glossary of key terms, the final section offers advice on how to carry out research in Language and Intercultural Communication. 

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Themes and issues in the study of Language and Intercultural Communication  Part I: Culture, Language And Thought  1. The relation of habitual thought and behaviour to Language  2. Is the world made up of nouns or verbs?  3. Hofstede’s value dimensions and Hall’s high context/low context Part II: Cultural Approaches To Discourse And Pragmatics: Theoretical Considerations  4. Interpersonal politeness and power  5. Politeness phenomena in Modern Chinese   6. How and why honorifics can signify dignity and elegance: The indexicality and reflexivity of linguistic rituals  7. Managing rapport in talk: Using rapport sensitive incidents to explore the motivational concerns underlying the management of relations   8. Cultural scripts: what are they and what are they good for? Part III: Communication Patterns Across Cultures: Empirical Examples  9. Requests and Apologies: A Cross-Cultural Study of Speech Act realisation patterns   10. The dugri ritual  11. The pragmatic functions of the recitation of Qur’anic verses by Muslims in their oral genre: The case of Insha’ allah, ‘God’s willing’  12. The silent Finn revisited  Part IV: Teaching and Learning Cultural Variations of Language Use  13. Small cultures 14. Developmental patterns in second language pragmatics  15. Signaling and preventing misunderstanding in English as lingua franca communication Part V: Interculturality  16. Intercultural or not? Beyond celebration of cultural differences in miscommunication analysis  17. The interactive constitution of interculturality: How to be a Japanese with words  18. Constructing membership in the in-group: Affiliation and resistance among Urban Tanzanians  Part VI: Intercultural Communication In A Professional Context  19. Intercultural communication at work in Australia: Complaints and apologies in turns 20. Suggestions to buy: Television commercials from the U.S., Japan, China and Korea  21. Interruptive strategies in British and Italian Management meetings  22. Displaying closeness and respectful distance in Montevidean and Quiteño service encounters   Conclusion: Studying Language and Intercultural Communication: Methodological considerations