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Journal ArticleDOI

Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach

01 Jun 1996-TESOL Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell)-Vol. 30, Iss: 2, pp 366-368
TL;DR: This article used the "grammar of context" as a preliminary ethnographic audit to evaluate interdiscourse communication in English as a global language and found that it is ambiguous by nature and our inferences tend to be f ixed, not tentative.
Abstract: Intro -- Intercultural Communication -- Contents -- Figures -- Series Editor's Preface -- Preface to the First Edition -- Preface to the Second Edition -- Preface to the Third Edition -- 1: What Is a Discourse Approach? -- The Problem with Culture -- Culture is a verb -- Discourse -- Discourse systems -- What Is Communication? -- Language is ambiguous by nature -- We must draw inferences about meaning -- Our inferences tend to be f ixed, not tentative -- Our inferences are drawn very quickly -- Interdiscourse communication and English as a global language -- What This Book Is Not -- Researching Interdiscourse Communication -- Four processes of ethnography -- Four types of data in ethnographic research -- Choosing a site of investigation -- Discussion Questions -- References for Further Study -- 2: How, When, and Where to Do Things with Language -- Sentence Meaning and Speaker's Meaning -- Speech Acts, Speech Events, and Speech Situations -- Grammar of Context -- Seven main components for a grammar of context -- Scene -- Key -- Participants -- Message form -- Sequence -- Co-occurrence patterns, marked and unmarked -- Manifestation -- Variation in context grammar -- "Culture" and Context -- High context and low context situations -- Researching Interdiscourse Communication -- Using the "grammar of context" as a preliminary ethnographic audit -- Discussion Questions -- References for Further Study -- 3: Interpersonal Politeness and Power -- Communicative Style or Register -- Face -- The "self" as a communicative identity -- The Paradox of Face: Involvement and Independence -- Politeness strategies of involvement and independence -- Linguistic strategies of involvement: some examples -- Linguistic strategies of independence: some examples -- Face Systems -- Three Face Systems: Deference, Solidarity, and Hierarchy -- Deference face system (−P, +D).
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, Ting-Toomey et al. provide an update on face-negotiation theory, and introduce a facework competence model for intercultural conflict training.

761 citations

Book
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: The authors analyse the way that certain practices which are considered to be polite or impolite are, within particular communities of practice, stereotypically gendered, and then move on to a discussion of the theoretical work on gender and politeness which seems to replicate stereotypical views of women's politeness, rather than describing women's actual linguistic performance or interpretative frameworks.
Abstract: Introduction Given the model of gender described in the last chapter, and given the model of linguistic politeness as described in chapters 2 and 3, it is difficult, if not impossible, simply to approach the relation between gender and politeness as a question of an investigation of the production, by individual men or women of a number of linguistic features which are assumed to be unequivocally polite or impolite. What I should like to do instead is to consider the complexity of the relationship between gender and politeness, so that the common-sense nature of gender and politeness and their relation to each other is troubled. Here, I aim to analyse the way that certain practices which are considered to be polite or impolite are, within particular communities of practice, stereotypically gendered. As I discussed in chapter 4, these stereotypes do not actually exist as such, but are hypothesised by particular speakers and hearers within communities of practices, on the basis of their representation by others, and are then negotiated with. It is this connection between gendering of practices and assessments of politeness and impoliteness which is of interest. These stereotypes of behaviour which are considered to be appropriate within particular contexts feed back into individual participants' assessments of what is appropriate in terms of their own behaviour. First, in this chapter, I analyse stereotypes of gender and politeness, and then move on to a discussion of the theoretical work on gender and politeness which I argue seems to replicate stereotypical views of women's politeness, rather than describing women's or men's actual linguistic performance or interpretative frameworks.

706 citations

Book
06 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce the notion of impoliteness and define a metadiscourse for understanding it: face and social norms, intentionality and emotions, and co-texts and contexts.
Abstract: Introducing impoliteness 1. Understanding impoliteness I: face and social norms 2. Understanding impoliteness II: intentionality and emotions 3. Impoliteness metadiscourse 4. Conventionalised formulaic impoliteness and its intensification 5. Non-conventionalised impoliteness: implicational impoliteness 6. Impoliteness events: co-texts and contexts 7. Impoliteness events: functions 8. Conclusions.

662 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present arguments concerning individuals' need to negotiate multiple identities in terms of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and religion in the interdependent and interconnected network of global society.
Abstract: As we encounter ever greater cultural and co-cultural diversity, the careful study of intercultural communication competence becomes increasingly important. Only through competent intercultural communication can persons from different cultures communicate effectively and appropriately in the upcoming global society. Following a recounting of themes of research on intercultural communication, this chapter presents arguments concerning individuals’ need to negotiate multiple identities in terms of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, and religion in the interdependent and interconnected network of global society. This requires a functional and theoretical transformation of the study of intercultural communication competence.

561 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Dov Te'eni1
TL;DR: An integrated model of how people communicate is developed that provides a balance between relationship and action, between cognition and affect, and between message and medium, and reflects a more realistic picture of communication behavior in organizations.
Abstract: There are several theories available to describe how managers choose a medium for communication. However, current technology can affect not only how we communicate but also what we communicate. As a result, the issue for designers of communication support systems has become broader: how should technology be designed to make communication more effective by changing the medium and the attributes of the message itself? The answer to this question requires a shift from current preoccupations with the medium of communication to a view that assesses the balance between medium and message form. There is also a need to look more closely at the process of communication in order to identify more precisely any potential areas of computer support. This paper provides the spadework for a new model of organizational communication, and uses it to review existing research, as well as to suggest directions for future research and development. Beginning with the crucial aspects of action, relationship, and choice, an integrated model of how people communicate is developed. This model incorporates three basic factors: (1) inputs to the communication process (task, sender-receiver distance, and values and norms of communication with a particular emphasis on inter-cultural communication); (2) a cognitive-affective process of communication; and (3) the communication impact on action and relationship. The glue that bonds these factors together is a set of communication strategies aimed at reducing the complexity of communication. The model provides a balance between relationship and action, between cognition and affect, and between message and medium. Such a balance has been lacking in previous work, and we believe it reflects a more realistic picture of communication behavior in organizations. A set of propositions generated from the model sets an agenda for studying the communication process as well as its inputs and outputs. Furthermore, this knowledge of the mechanisms that guide behavior is used to demonstrate the potential for developing design principles for future communication support systems.

508 citations