In the twenty-first-century working professionals need to possess strong Interactional Competence to handle professional communication in intercultural contexts (PCIC). However, the relationship among the three PCIC constituents -- culture, workplace and interaction -- is undertheorized in current research. This leaves PCIC practitioners…

This article examines the construal, cross-cultural relay and comprehension of misunderstandings by filmmakers, translators and audiences respectively of "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001) and "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" (2004). It reports on findings of a case-study on implicatures in these two romantic comedies (Desilla…

This article takes a relational approach to Pacific leadership by presenting three layers of discussion. First, we provide findings from our research team members about the relationships between the Pacific community and school leaders' understandings of leadership. We include accounts of how leaders negotiate in context between forms of…

In this article we discuss how clients who have immigrated to Canada and Canadian counsellors negotiate cross-cultural misunderstandings as opportunities to transcend reified assumptions about cultures. Cultural differences as well as discrepancies in translation need to be worked out for counsellors and clients to arrive at shared understandings…

Although the characters speak English, Anne Bronte's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" explores interactions among representatives of different speech communities. The protagonist, Helen Graham, moves through communities differing enough from hers to create misunderstandings. Her difficulties can be clarified through Hymes' model of the speech…

To a large extent education can be thought of as a communication process among the participants. This article focuses on distance education, which has both the general communication processes that in-person education venues possess, and also communication specific to the technologies that mediate the teaching and learning taking place at a…

Today there is a strong tendency to involve local citizens in community work, and to mobilize social forces in poor urban districts. We will focus on one specific method used to educate and help immigrant parents raise and foster their children. This method is described as part of a wider ambition to integrate and involve immigrants in Swedish…

Intercultural miscommunication occurs when there is a breakdown in communication between speakers of two different cultures and languages due to cultural differences and/or sociolinguistic transfer. Intercultural miscommunication has tremendous impact on ESOL students' academic learning at North American schools. This paper examines the nature of…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) mandates that schools facilitate parent participation in planning the Individual Education Program (IEP). However, culturally and linguistically diverse parents are less likely to feel fully included in the IEP process. In this article we examine three sources of cross-cultural…

There are now significant numbers of children who speak a language other than English when they enter the formal school system in Australia. Many of these children come from a language background that is entirely different from the school language. Many Indigenous children, however, come from creole-speaking backgrounds where their home language…

Higher institutions in the United Kingdom (UK) have responded enthusiastically to two prime ministers' "Initiatives for International Education" to promote Britain as a destination for overseas students and international fees from Chinese students now play an important role in the funding of the UK university sector. Yet it is not clear…

Examines the traditional Japanese model of university teaching and compares it with the traditional model found in American universities. After a comparative analysis of both approaches, he discusses and raises questions about the feasibility of developing a truly universal methodology, given deep cultural differences and expectations. Describes…

The authors examine the effects of service barriers on the health status of older Chinese immigrants in Canada. A survey was completed in seven Canadian cities by a random sample of 2,214 older Chinese immigrants age 55 years or older. Service barriers related to administrative problems, personal attitudes, and circumstantial difficulties were…

Misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication often occur when we interact with people from different cultures. Therefore, it is essential for us to be sensitive to other cultures. This article analyses the prevailing problems in intercultural communication and gives suggestions to higher education institutions in the hope of improving…

Posits policymakers' and researchers' mutual inability to communicate in compatible language and imagery. Explores several rationales for the divergence between two separate cultures (the academic and the political), referring to an "ecology of games." Illuminates gaps with case material from policymaking in Florida, and develops…