Intercultural or not? beyond celebration of cultural differences in miscommunication analysis

Abstract

The currently prevailing emphasis of cultural difference in intercultural miscommunication analysis is said to promote the acceptance of cultural differences between interlocutors as the overarching reason for intercultural miscommunication when, in fact, other significant influences are present. A summary review is provided of the two main schools of intercultural communication analysis: the cultural-anthropological perspective, & the sociolinguistic & pragmatic view. The tendency toward "thematization of cultural differences" in both of these analytic methods is identified, & the resulting essentialist view of culture criticized. A discourse-analytic approach is supported, which accounts for discursive behaviors observed in the interlocutors in light of both cultural attributes & societal /institutional relationships. Four examples consisting of job interviews between native-English-speaking administrators & non-native-speaking applicants are presented as supporting evidence. It is stated that intercultural analysis should concern itself not only with cultural differences, but also with the variable regard for & perceptions of those differences within social contexts. 62 References. P. A. Bain