Health professionals’ perceptions of communication difficulties in cross-cultural contexts

1990 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 93-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Pauwels

This paper is a first report on an interdisciplinary project dealing with cross-cultural communication in health and medicine undertakebn by the Centre for Community Languages in the Professions. In this paper health professionals’ perceptions of communication difficulties are examined, especially their understanding of the role of language in cross-cultural communication. The project revealed that health professionals who had regular contact with people from diverse cultural backgrounds were aware of the influence culture can exert on the attitudes and the behaviour of NESB people in relation to health care. In general they had some difficulty in establishing the role of language in cultural misunderstandings if both parties (interactants) communicated through the same language.

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 1006
Author(s):  
Lijuan Li

Students studying and living in local universities find themselves failing in conducting fluent communication with people with different cultural backgrounds, due to the rare access to direct interactions with foreigners in person. Hence, to change that situation and help them construct cross-cultural minds is severely necessary. Abundant of achievements on cross-cultural communication have been reached, and a lot of rewards in the research have been granted to those studies analyzed, discussed and interpreted from the perspective of social-psychology, which can not propose an appropriate and efficient approach to constructing cross-cultural minds for students in the local universities. The studies from the perspective of cognitive process and more specifically the schema theory, however, can claim due attention to understand and construct the procedure of intercultural communication where multi-cultures are represented, processed and accommodated. This work is intended to address the issues of how students can efficiently obtain knowledge, how multicultural knowledge can be effectively acquired by students, and how beliefs can be shared and multicultural minds constructed finally.


Author(s):  
Yamuna Kachru

The central role of English in cross-cultural communication worldwide has made it a unique site for understanding diversity in systems of discourse pragmatics. In contact situations, these differences can help to refine theoretical models, such as the question of how universal speech acts or properties of facework and politeness are. They can also have significant real-world implications in the form of cross-cultural (mis-) communication in globalized contexts. This chapter reviews a selection of examples of speech acts and politeness in World Englishes contexts that use theoretical models to account for variation, but in some instances also challenge elements of such models. The discussion also includes a consideration of variation in surface form as well as variation in discourse other than conversational speech, such as written genres.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1595
Author(s):  
Sha Zhu

Humor plays an important role in daily life and also quite useful in interpersonal communication. Nowadays, the cross-cultural communication between the English-speaking countries and China becomes more and more frequent while some humor is difficult to appreciate with diverse cultural backgrounds. Therefore, this paper aims at analyzing the Chinese and English humor from their similarities, like the use of ambiguity and figure of speech, as well as differences, especially in functions, topics and ways of expression. Related causes are further discussed the differences. Hopefully, the findings will help to reduce the obstacles in understanding humor in different culture and promote transcultural communication in a delightful manner.


Babel ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria C. Choy

Abstract Mass communication has become a daily feature of our technological civilisation. This is as true of cross-cultural or intercultural encounters as it is of intra-cultural communication, and mass media have facilitated effective international information flow. Bilingual editing becomes an important medium of mass communication. The effectiveness of such communication rests upon the grammatical, lexical, sociolinguistic, socio-cultural, discourse and strategic competence of participants (editors, writers, translators and readers). It rests upon their ability to use creatively and to respond sensitively to language. In this dynamic process of communication, a bilingual editor not only plays the role of translator but also acts as a mediator; as Hatim and Mason (1990:223) suggest, s/he "has not only a bilingual ability but also a bi-cultural vision". In view of the diversity of usage of bilingual editing in the media, this research delves into the bilingual editing of magazines in Hong Kong. The study focuses on translation only from English and Chinese, or vice versa. Inasmuch as there is very little academic attention to bilingual editing and its nature, processes and techniques, or to the role of translation in bilingual editing, it is believed that this research will help facilitate cross-cultural communication between Westerners and Chinese. Résumé Dans notre civilisation, marquée par le seau de la technologie, la communication de masse relève du quotidien. Cette remarque est valable tant en ce qui concerne les rencontres interculturelles que la communication intraculturelle. De plus, la communication de masse favorise l'échange efficace des informations à l'échelon international. Les publications bilingues sont devenues un important support de la communication de masse. L'efficacité de cette communication repose sur le discours grammatical, lexical, socio-linguistique, socio-culturel et sur la compétence stratégique de ceux qui y participent (rédacteurs, écrivains, traducteurs et lecteurs). Elle repose sur leur faculté d'utiliser le langage avec créativité et d'y réagir avec sensibilité. Dans ce processus de communication dynamique, le rédacteur bilingue joue non seulement le rôle de traducteur mais aussi de médiateur, comme le suggèrent Hatim et Mason (1990:223): il ou elle "dispose non seulement d'une capacité de bilinguisme mais aussi d'une vision biculturelle". Au vu de la diversité d'emploi de la rédaction bilingue dans les médias, cette recherche fouille dans l'univers de l'édition de magazines bilingues à Hong Kong. L'étude se concentre uniquement sur la traduction de l'anglais et du chinois et vice-versa. Dans la mesure où dans les milieux académiques, on attache très peu d'importance à l'édition bilingue, à sa nature, à ses processus et techniques, ou au rôle de la traduction dans le monde de l'édition bilingue, l'auteur estime que cette recherche facilitera la communication interculturelle entre les Occidentaux et les Chinois.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Aneta Parkes

The article presents the subject of international public relations, which can be defined as a process of communication in which its participants originate from different countries and cultural backgrounds. The differences in cross-cultural communication resulting from the variety of cultures are shown on the grounds of classification of cultures presented by R. Gesteland. Recognition of the basic cultural differences, which determine the process of communication, is a key factor to act efficiently as a Public Relations’ specialist in a multicultural environment.


10.12737/363 ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 4-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Силантьева ◽  
Margarita Silanteva

The article addresses the main principles and methods of linguistic and cultural approach to reconstructing communicative stereotypes. The author shows the role of philosophical comparative studies in building a conceptual model of communicative stereotype, which makes it possible to define the content of cultural analysis in cross-cultural communication. The article proves the necessity to test their relevance in reference to historical facts in international relations. Studying the concept of ‘a border of constructive dialogues’, the author develops the idea further, introducing the term ‘a zone of transfer to irreversible destructiveness’.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Yahui Cui

Chinesische Grammatik is a book about Chinese grammar compiled by Hans Georg von der Gabelentz, in the 19th century. It is also a textbook for teaching Chinese as a second language. Among them, “weft” is a comprehensive system, which contains his pragmatic thought beyond the times. The study of appellations not only shows Hans Georg von der Gabelentz’s pragmatic thought, but also reflects his idea that the cultivation of learners’ language ability should be the overall goal in Chinese teaching and the role of culture in cross-cultural communication. And the advanced educational concept of learning to use.


2019 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 00003
Author(s):  
Elena Aleksandrova ◽  
Elena Kokanova

The article presents the overview of the ways in which cross-cultural communication was carried out during the lend-lease supplies via the Arctic convoys. It reflects on the importance of non-professional translation and cross-cultural mediation in such spheres as medicine, hospitality, transport, customs, etc. The skills of a professional translator are viewed in contrast to those necessary for successful linguistic mediation. The authors emphasise the role of international seamen's clubs in the establishment of contacts between the represantatives of different nationalites. Much of the information provided in the article has never been published before as it was obtained in the state archives of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, some of which have been open for research in recent years. A number of documents concerning details of cross-cultural mediation during the period of the Arctic convoys were lost or destroyed during the Great Patriotic War, so some information can be obtained only from the participants of the events of that period who are not numerous nowadays.


Author(s):  
Mary Catherine Boehmer

As technology increasingly becomes a part of our day-to-day lives in the United States and throughout the globe, there is a greater push for students to develop the digital and media literacy skills necessary for the twenty-first century. In the United States, students learning these skills often come from a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The diversity of the U.S. is one of its greatest strengths, but with this diversity come cultural differences in access to technology and how it is used across different cultural contexts. This chapter analyzes the constructs of digital and media literacy, the ways in which culture can be defined and how that can affect the intersectional identities performed in the social and participatory world of Web 2.0. It also examines access to technology and how technology is used for communication and accessing information in Russia, Germany, and Azerbaijan, and how approaching digital and media literacy through the lens of cross-cultural communication can help teachers to better meet the needs of learners from diverse backgrounds.


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