In the current conditions of globalization and the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF), the notions of pragmatic competence and appropriateness as well as pragmatic failure become of paramount importance to the language learners and instructors. The current article discusses these questions through an approximate replication of Jaworski's…

To have necessary and ready skills for careers in the 21st century, students should be given awareness of the importance of English, not only in formal but also non-formal and informal education. However, students still lack English abilities, and their English communication skills are still in need of development. Thus, this study aims to analyse…

The paper offers insight into pragmatic aspects of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and potential implications for intercultural communication by presenting the results of research into rapport carried among Czech, English and German university students. The three cultural groups were compared in terms of their cultural independence in rapport…

Researchers exploring the use of language use in radiotelephony communication have tended to focus on the limitations of the non-native English user and the threats which their limited control of English may pose for aviation safety (e.g. Atsushi, 2003, 2004). Hence the recent International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) policy places the onus…

American college students (N=46) were asked to assign grades to a series of words and phrases used in describing college work. The variables of sex, GPA and cognitive/semantic consistency were correlated with 30 descriptor words. The results revealed that the first canonical root was significant. Using regression to explore individual patterns, it…

A study examined the English-language-based study skills problems of 44 Indonesian and 57 Malaysian students studying at Indiana University, Bloomington. The Indonesian and Malaysian student groups represented non-Commonwealth and Commonwealth students sharing the same native language roots but differing in terms of previous exposure to the…

Cross cultural research concerns nearly every teacher because of the proliferation of multicultural public schools and the fact that cultural differences cannot be ignored in the classroom. Communication in this situation requires a recognition of the cultural differences and in many cases the enhancement of these differences. To facilitate…

A case study examined the similarities and differences in the background characteristics, the nature and causes of the English language-based problems, and the coping strategies of two foreign students at Indiana University, Bloomington. Subjects were selected because they represented two different nationalities (Malaysian and Indonesian),…

A study examined the sentiment and impact of different types, channels, and forms of aggression against the Arab-American community during the Gulf Crisis. Data were selected from entries in the 1990 Anti-Arab Discrimination and Hate Crimes Log of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC) National Office. Results show that there were 129 acts of…

A study explored communication patterns between Chinese international teaching assistants (ITAs) and faculty in a university mathematics department. Nine experienced faculty, selected because they had expressed opinions about ITAs' needs, and seven ITAs participated. The ITAs had all met the mathematics department's language proficiency test…

International students face a variety of challenges related to language difficulties, immigration issues, and culture shock. Asian students are less likely to seek help for their emotional and interpersonal problems than their American counterparts, due to culturally different help-seeking preferences. A study examined levels of anxiety among…

In order to test whether ghetto children would respond to a set of instructional materials that incorporate the language, the customs, and the general background of the disadvantaged student, a six week long course of study for seventh-grade general mathematics is developed. This course of study is then used in an experiment that employs…

Two distinct but related studies are reported, both investigating linguistically- and culturally-based communication problems between service providers and service seekers in Australia. The first examined language problems occurring in naturalistic situations involving a public servant and a client within three public agencies, the departments of…

A study was undertaken to identify and describe some of the obstacles, especially sociolinguistic, that stand between Hispanic communities in rural Nelson County, Virginia and appropriate health care, so the barriers can be minimized through provision of culturally sensitive outreach services and health-literacy programming. The target population…