25.2364, Review: Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Sharifian & Jamarani (eds.) (2012)

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Subject: 25.2364, Review: Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Sharifian & Jamarani (eds.) (2012)

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Date: Sat, 31 May 2014 09:04:11
From: Gail AlHafidh [ghafidh at yahoo.co.uk]
Subject: Language and Intercultural Communication in the New Era

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/24/24-345.html

EDITOR: Farzad  Sharifian
EDITOR: Maryam  Jamarani
TITLE: Language and Intercultural Communication in the New Era
SERIES TITLE: Routledge Studies in Language and Intercultural Communication
PUBLISHER: Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
YEAR: 2012

REVIEWER: Gail AlHafidh, Higher Colleges of Technology

SUMMARY

“Language and Intercultural Communication in the New Era”, a volume edited by
Farzad Sharifian and Maryam Jamarani, brings together articles written by
renowned experts in the field of linguistics to address key issues related to
intercultural communication in the context of today’s globalized and
increasingly technical society. The book is organised in three sections:
Theoretical Advancements, New Technologies and Intercultural Communication,
and Intercultural Communication in Context. In the opening chapter, Sharifian
and Jamarani provide a brief history of the study of intercultural
communication and an overview of what they consider to be the growing
complexities associated with the study of intercultural communication.

Part 1: Theoretical Advancements 

Part 1 addresses the first of those complexities: theoretical advancements.
Claire Kramsch’s paper, “History and Memory in the Development of
Intercultural Competence”, adds a new dimension to the notion of intercultural
competence. In previous writings, Kramsch has argued that language is
culturally bound but that culture itself is constantly evolving; hence the
dynamic nature of intercultural communication (Kramsch, 1993, Kramsch, 1998).
Here, she explores the connection between individual and collective narratives
and further notes the subjectivity of both and its impact on students trying
to learn a foreign language. If students of another language want to excel in
that language, since language and culture are interdependent, Kramsch argues
that they also need to understand the historical context behind the target
language and culture, as part of their understanding of the discourse. The
issue, however, is that histories are written from a variety of perspectives,
further confusing the learner. Kramsch examines the portrayal of historical
events in two German language textbooks, one from the U.S. and one from
Germany. Her conclusions reveal that textbooks can present topics with
decontextualized prompts and an assumed familiarity with the events described,
disregarding the complexity of multiple perspectives.

In the third chapter, Istvan Kecskes separates linguistic knowledge from
‘encyclopedic knowledge’, or knowledge of the world. Kecskes argues that
interculturality has both fixed and emergent, dynamic components, in contrast
to Nishizaka (1995) and Blum-Kulka (2008), for example, who argue that it is a
situationally emergent phenomenon.  Kecskes’ socio-cognitive framework makes
the commonplace assertion that communication is a two way process with both
parties co-constructing the discourse. However, he extends this idea to
include the notion of interlocutors relying on pre-existing encyclopedic
knowledge (the norm) and of that that emerges in the interaction. This results
in an evolution of intercultures as interactants from different mother tongues
communicate via a common language while representing different cultural norms.
Kecskes could have argued further that even two such interactants would
represent different perspectives of their own ‘cultural norms’ so that any
interaction between two different people would result in an emergent
interculturality, thereby producing a multiplicity of interculturalities. He
concludes his chapter by reiterating the notion of intercultural discourse
being about ‘transformation’ of knowledge and behavior rather than simply a
‘transmission’ of knowledge.

In the final chapter of the first section, Farzad Sharifian discusses the
emerging field of Cultural Linguistics and explores its application in the
study of varieties of English, intercultural communication and metacultural
competence. He reflects on the fact that cultural knowledge, even within a
given cultural group (if such a thing exists) is “heterogeneously distributed”
(p. 63) thereby recognizing that individuals within that group will all
exhibit variations in the understanding of their own culture, and that
understanding is not static as it is co-constructed and reconstructed with
each interaction. This chapter successfully draws together the first three
chapters by recognizing the need for further research into the many different
factors affecting cultural and intercultural competence.

Part 2: New Technologies and Intercultural Communication 

Part 2 starts with an exploration by Fred Dervin of the notion of
‘interculturality’ and by taking a social construction approach, he looks at
the politics of identity construction using sociodigital technologies.  His
findings suggest that interculturality is far less an obvious or tangible
construct than previously asserted and that following on from the findings of
Banks and McGee Banks (2009), there are many other influences on the
construction of identity in addition to culture, such as gender, class,
generation and so on.

Wendy Anderson and John Corbett also focus on CMC (computer-mediated
communication) and look at how online interactions can deliver opportunities
for students to develop intercultural competence without physically
experiencing the target culture by visiting it personally. Similarly, Hyisung
Hwang and David Matsumoto look at CMC but with a focus on non-verbal behavior
(NVB) in online intercultural interactions, suggesting that awareness of its
impact is equally important there as it is in verbal communication. However,
they draw several distinctions between CMC and FTC (face to face
communication) in the areas of temporality, anonymity, modality and
spaciality. Referring to current research, they suggest that CMC can be
synchronous or asynchronous as with online chat rooms or email, and anonymous
since it is possible to hide one’s identity in some modes. The modality can be
varied from written to spoken and can include graphics, audio, and visual
enhancements, yet limiting in terms of spatial control. Walther (1994) and
Derks, Fisher and Bos (2008) all conclude from their studies that CMC is far
less impersonal than previously thought, and Matsumoto and Hwang point to the
fact that even text can carry NVB in terms of discourse markers and
punctuation marks to express surprise, for example. Their study on the
interculturality of emoticons in text and chat point to the fact that despite
being universal symbols of emotions, emoticons may fail to express the degree
of that emotion through technical limitation,s and could lead to
misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou draws a distinction between the users of CMC according
to their age and identifies them as ‘digital natives’ if they have grown up
with ICT (Information and Communications Technologies), i.e. if they were born
after 1980. This is significant, she argues, as current research suggest that
there may no longer be such a native/non-native distinction between
participants in CMC but rather a distinction in their use of technology to
communicate. She concurs with Matsumoto and Hwang in their conclusion that the
use of emoticons and their interpretation, but also net-slang and
technological skill can be culture- and language-specific and therefore
digital intercultural competence requires an added set of skills for the
interactants.

Magda Stroińska and Vikki Cecchetto focus specifically on the use of emails
between international students and their instructors and the effects of email
language on perceived levels of politeness, specifically in making requests.
They conclude that since students use so many different forms of CMC
informally (chat, texting, social networks) this informal writing style spills
into what might have been a more formal interaction previously and could be
misconstrued as rudeness or lack of formality. They suggest that it is the
responsibility of the universities to set out netiquette guidelines for all
CMC users to avoid confusion. Even with such guidelines, however, emails are
often misinterpreted between native speakers since the text may be written
quickly and without much thought for the impact of the message discourse.

In their chapter, Anthony J. Liddicoat and Vincenza Tudini consider the power
dynamics between native speakers (NS) and non-native speakers (NNS) in online
chat situations. They suggest that the NS takes on almost a pedagogical role
or ‘didactic voice’ and assumes a certain status as a result, with an
asymmetry of power. If both interactants are able to access each other’s
language this does not appear to happen.

Peter Cowley and Barbara E. Hanna in “Anglophones, Francophones, Telephones:
The case of a disputed Wikipedia entry”, discuss the potential use of
Wikipedia as a source of debate on intercultural representations of ‘fact’ in
the classroom. They cite differences in entries and quoted sources depending
on the language of entry into the Wikipedia site. Wikipedia, they argue, could
be viewed as a rich forum for student discussion on intercultural
interpretation, and allow opportunities for identifying culturally-bound
facts, sources and arguments.

Part 3: Intercultural Communication in Context 

The final section of the book looks at intercultural communication in specific
situational contexts. In the first chapter, Jo Angouri and Marlene Miglbauer
consider the working environment and challenge of operating in a variety of
languages in this increasingly globalised society. IC, or intercultural
training, has become ‘de rigeur’ especially for workers at management level in
international companies, but the authors raise a concern that this training is
often reduced to a set of restrictive set of behaviours or linguistic features
that appear to be generic to the target culture. They argue that there are
other varieties of language that feature in business communication, not just
the lingua franca of the company. In some cases, there are multiple L1s
present in the workforce. There is also ‘corporate talk’ (business terms
familiar to those in the related industries) and ‘company speak’ (acronyms and
terms peculiar to one company). The authors conclude by calling for a more
complex acknowledgement of multilingual contexts in the workplace and urge
that IC be much less one-dimensional and move to embrace all aspects that feed
into the intercultural communication process.

Mikaela L. Marlow and Howard Giles also look at a workplace issue but focus on
one specific context: Chinese immigrant females seeking healthcare in the U.S.
They cite traditional roles of women in China and suggest that decisions such
as those involving healthcare may have previously been decided by fathers or
husbands, and that therefore the experience is not within their schema.
Research conducted by Weitz (1989) and Berger (1979) draws attention to the
fact that situations such as these are culture-bound and that these Chinese
women may not have either the cognitive framework or the cultural knowledge to
deal with the situation. In healthcare scenarios, the ability to communicate
and understand information can be life-saving. The authors suggest that an
accommodation framework modelled on the theory of the same name (Gallois,
Ogay, and Giles 2005) is essential to create equal access in the U.S. for all
patients. Suggested best practices include using social networking to transmit
culturally relevant healthcare information that accommodates linguistic
diversity.

Andy Kirkpatrick, John Patkin and Wu Jingjing turn their attention to
multilingualism both teachers and students, and draw attention to the fact
that there are more NNS of English than NS, although this statement is loaded
with a perceived notion of the meaning of the term ‘NS’. They positively
endorse the benefits that NNS teachers bring to the English classroom in terms
of richness of cultural diversity and cultural proximity. For example, in the
Asian context cited, the teachers are able to discuss through ELF (English as
a lingua franca) topics of common interest rather than a remote culture-bound
topic that may be presented in the English textbook. Thus the profile of
intercultural competence is raised and the important role of multilingual and
multicultural teachers is recognized.
 
The final chapter moves to Europe and a discussion of the experience of
‘tandem learners’ (NS and learners of each others’ language) and their
different interpretations of a word. Jane Woodin concludes that the difference
in perceived meaning of a word between a NS and a NNS should be exploited by
teachers, as the distinction between NS and NNS becomes evermore cloudy.
Students need to be aware that dictionary definitions are culture and
context-bound and that there may be varieties of interpretation possible.

EVALUATION

This volume ties together key topic areas concerning the relationship between
culture and language in our increasingly globalised world, with particular
reference to pedagogy and the workplace context, and the impact of CMC on
those. Sharifian and Jamarani succeed in presenting a snapshot of current
research, and in doing so, reflect the complexity surrounding the issue of
intercultural communication, both its scholarly tradition and modern
interpretations. Their stated goal in the introductory chapter is to provide a
“forum for exploring some of the challenges and possibilities” (p. 17) for the
study of intercultural communication. The editors have drawn on acknowledged
experts in the field of linguistics and the analyses and research studies
reflect that. While the volume is clearly of interest to academics and
students of linguistics or language pedagogy, it is written with accessible
clarity that would also allow non- experts in the field to draw a deeper
understanding of the main issues.

In terms of layout and structure, the book is arranged thematically and this
is largely successful with section 1 focusing on the definition of culture and
the notion of what intercultural competence entails. Section two looks at the
relationship between technology and interculturality. This section flows
slightly less well if it is being read chronologically. However, Cowley and
Hanna’s chapter on Wikipedia seems out of place and might have been better
suited to the more general discussion of intercultural communication in
section 1. In section 3, there is a collection of unlinked chapters that serve
their purpose as isolated contextual and situational discussions of the
phenomena of interculturality.

Kramsch’s closing comment that “intercultural education needs both memory and
history” (p. 37) is a lofty goal, but one that is in conflict with what
publishers of textbooks are likely to aspire to achieve. Publishers need to
sell textbooks that have a generic appeal, to maximize sales, unfortunately.
The acknowledgement of the significance of the historical context of language
and culture is clearly important but how far teachers and learners can embrace
this extra dimension between teaching and learning linguistic competence and
that of intercultural competence remains problematic and is not addressed in
detail in this chapter.

Kirkpatrick, Patkin and Jingjing’s article captures the essence of the reality
of the emerging demands on teachers to be both multilingual and multicultural.
This phenomenon needs greater attention and investigation. Similarly,
Kramsch’s article on the limited perspectives currently presented in textbooks
highlights an important area for further research. It would also have been
useful to have an additional chapter following the current status of ELF to
link to Kramsch’s paper relating those discussions to the world of academia
for both students and teachers, and the globalized business world in the
context of the ‘New Era’. A closing chapter by the editors tying together and
summarizing what they perceive to be the emerging needs for further research
or clarification would have been useful.

In summary, this edited volume successfully highlights some of the current
debates central to intercultural communication by providing the reader with a
range of quality articles to stimulate and promote discussion.

REFERENCES 

Banks, J., McGee Banks, C. (2009) “Multicultural education: Issues and
Perspectives”. 9th ed. New York: Wiley.

Berger, C. (1979). “Beyond initial interaction: Uncertainty, understanding,
and the development of interpersonal relationships”. In Language and Social
Psychology, edited by Giles, H. and St. Clair, R. Oxford: Blackwell.

Blum-Kulka, S., Blondheim, M., House, J., Kasper, G., and Wagner, J.  (2008)
“Intercultural Pragmatics, Language and Society”. In Unity and Diversity of
Languages, edited by Sterkenberg, P. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Derks, D., Fischer, A., and Bos, AER. (2008). “The role of emoticons in
computer-mediated communication: A review”.  Computer in Human Behaviour Vol.
24, 766-785.

Gallois, C., Ogay, T., Giles, H. (2005). “Communication Accommodation Theory:
A look back and a look ahead”. Theorizing About Intercultural Communication,
edited by Gudykunst, W. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Kramsch, C. (1998). “Language and Culture”. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kramsch, C. (1993). “Context and Culture in Language Teaching”. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Nishizaka, A. (1995).  “The interactive constitution of interculturality: How
to be a Japanese with words?” Human Studies 18:301-326.

Walther, B. (1994). “Anticipated on-going interaction versus channel effects
on relational communication in computer-mediated interaction”. Human
Communication Research 20 (4): 73-501.

Weitz, R. (1989). “Uncertainty and the Lives of people with AIDS. Journal of
Health and Social Behavior 30:270-28.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Gail Al Hafidh received her doctoral degree (EdD) from the U.K's Open
University and is currently working as English faculty in the Liberal Studies
program at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
She holds a Masters in TEFL and Applied Linguistics and has previously worked
in the British state school system (secondary level) as a modern languages
teacher, in the business world as a management trainer and in further
education. Her interests include intercultural communication, ELF, assessment
of speaking skills, and ESL/EFL/ELF Teacher Training.








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