From high-level business negotiations to casual conversations among friends, every interpersonal interaction is shaped by cultural norms and expectations. Seldom is this more clearly brought to light than in encounters between people from different cultural backgrounds, when dissimilar communication practices may lead to frustration and misunderstanding. This thought-provoking text presents a new framework for understanding the impact of culture on communication and for helping students build intercultural communication competence. With illustrative examples from around the globe, the book shows that verbal and nonverbal communication involves much more than transmitting a particular message--it also reflects each participant's self-image, group identifications and values, and privacy and relational needs. Readers learn to move effectively and appropriately through a wide range of transcultural situations by combining culture-specific knowledge with mindful listening and communication skills. Throughout, helpful tables and charts and easy-to-follow guidelines for putting concepts into practice enhance the book's utility for students.

Communication Across Cultures remains an excellent resource for students of linguistics and related disciplines, including anthropology, sociology and education. It is also a valuable resource for professionals concerned with language and intercultural communication in this global era.

"Description: This highly regarded text--now revised and expanded with 50% new material--helps students and professionals mindfully build their knowledge and competencies for effective intercultural communication on any setting. The authors' comprehensive, updated theoretical framework (integrative identity negotiation theory) reveals how both verbal and nonverbal communication are affected by multilayered facets of identity. Written in a candid, conversational style, the book is rich with engaging examples illustrating cultural conflicts and misunderstandings that arise in workplace, educational, interpersonal, and community contexts. Readers learn how to transform polarized conversations into successful intercultural engagements by combining culture-specific knowledge with mindful listening and communication skills. Key Words: intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication, human communication, communication skills, cultural competence, ethnic relations, ethnic studies, multicultural counseling, international business relations, cultural diversity, cross-cultural psychology, ethnography, mindful communication, mindfulness, intergroup communication, integrative identity negotiation theory, acculturation, adjustment, immigration, immigrants, listening skills, textbooks, texts, college classes, college courses, college students, undergraduates, graduates, foreign students, refugees, social psychology, sociolingustics, international competence"--

This work explains how to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds, namely: how to understand the influence of cultures and subcultures on others' behaviour and attitudes, and how to communicate across the barriers created by these differences. The author relates the emerging discipline of intercultural communication to the practical needs of people at work. The book contains eight key intercultural communication theories presented from a European perspective. With a strong focus on work applications, it provides many real life examples illustrating practice. An instructor's manual is also available.

While the literature on either contrastive linguistics or discourse analysis has grown immensely in the last twenty years, very little of it has ventured into fusing the two perspectives. Bearing in mind that doing discourse analysis without a contrastive base is as incomplete as doing contrastive analysis without a discourse base, the specific aim of this book is to argue that translation can add depth and breadth to both contrastive linguistics as well as to discourse analysis. Authentic data from both spoken and written English is used throughout to add clarity to theoretical insights gained from the study of discourse processing. Each aspect of the model proposed for the analysis of texts is related separately to a problem of language processing and in domains as varied as translation, interpreting, language teaching etc. The global objectives pursued in this volume are the training of future linguists and the sensitization of users of language in general to the realities of discourse.

Communicating Across Cultures is an innovative short course for learners of business English who want to function effectively in an international environment by developing their intercultural skills in English. Drawing on inspirational advice from leading figures in the world of cross-cultural communication, Communicating Across Cultures covers all types of oral and written communication, from meetings to negotiations, telephone calls to emails, and deals with situations ranging from working in international teams to managing conflict. Students are invited to analyse their own intercultural competence and helped to develop a personal action plan for further use beyond the classroom. The Student's Book comes with an audio CD that contains authentic interviews with people from the world of business and extracts from meetings that exemplify the communication strategies presented.

Today, more Americans than ever are going abroad to visit, work, or study. Increasingly, the ability to communicate and work in cross-cultural situations is seen as an important determinant of success in business, government, education, and the social services. Being successful depends less on what you know of a particular culture than it does on what you know about managing new cultural situations. This book provides a comprehensive and practical guide to communicating, learning, and adapting within any new cultural environment. It begins by examining what culture is and why it is important. It then goes on to outline the process of cross-cultural adjustment, and presents some highly effective tools and strategies for avoiding culture shock, while encouraging learning. Advice on learning a language, preparing for the transition, settling in, working and living overseas, and planning re-entry into U.S. culture is given. One of the book's most useful features is the presentation of a detailed plan for actually making the transition from one culture to another. It also provides a detailed chapter on re-entering the home environment, again to aid in minimizing shock and anxiety. The skills learned from this book are essential to success and can be put to use in any new culture, anywhere in the world.