This article concerns knowledge negotiations as an aspect of interactional power in three-way interaction between Arabic-speaking women, Swedish-speaking midwives and interpreters in Swedish antenatal care. The notion of epistemic stance is used to investigate how all three participants negotiate knowledge, and how this affects the ongoing…

This theoretical paper adopts the point of view of the audience of subtitled films and outlines a theory of subtitles as communicative agents within the participation structures of film reception. Based on examples from three Swiss fiction films -- "Heidi" (2015), "Heimatland" (2015) and "Der Goalie bin ig" (2014) --…

This paper explores linguistic and cultural complexity within immigration legal advice communication. Drawing from a linguistic ethnographic study, ethnographic and interactional data from two linked advice meetings about UK refugee family reunion processes are subject to deductive analysis using Risager's model of the language-culture nexus,…

This article derives from a three-year ethnographic project carried out in Norway focusing on language practices of Brazilian families raising their children multilingually. Analyses of interview data with two Brazilian parents demonstrate the relevance of examining intersectionally the participants' orientation to categorisations such as social…

"Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" (Chua, 2011) and "Bringing up bébé: One American mother discovers the wisdom of French parenting" (Druckerman, 2012) are two recent global bestsellers belonging to a relatively new discursive genre: the intercultural parenting book. The purpose of this article is to present the first findings…

Research on the routines of doctor-patient consultations has been conducted in language and culture concordant dyads and in dyads where either doctor or patient uses a foreign language; yet there is an absence of scholarly engagement with consultations where both participants are using a foreign language. In seeking to address this gap, this…

This article traces how a language and soft skills training approach to Canadian immigrant integration emerged with Canada's shift towards a post-industrial tertiary economy. In this economy, soft skills index characteristics of ideal workers that fit the needs of Canada's post-Fordist labour regime. It examines how skills' training is not viewed…

Brown and Levinson's ([1978] Politeness: Some universals in language use, Cambridge University Press, 1987) politeness theory has been criticized as being ethnocentric by displaying a Western preoccupation with autonomy and individualism. Many non-western societies, it is argued, are better understood by appealing to cultural discernment or group…

This paper explores the role of the court interpreter in cross-cultural and cross-linguistic communication in the courtroom. Drawing on the analysis of the discourse of witness examinations interpreted by Korean interpreters in Australian court proceedings, this paper argues that in the absence of cultural and/or linguistic explanations by the…

Although it may seem contradictory, when Spaniards "greet" each other in passing they often employ formulas associated with farewells such as "adios" ("bye") or "hasta luego" ("see you later"). This common practice contrasts with other languages like American English in which speakers use greeting…

This article investigates the various types of support that addressees provide to a speaker who is telling a story. It compares addressee support behaviour in two societies, Japan and Australia, exploring how disparities between the two might relate to differences in the social regimentation of polite and friendly conversation in these cultures.…