Cultural Fluency as a Guide to Effective Intercultural Communication: The Case of Japan and the U.S.
Abstract
Intercultural communication serves a vital role in that it can forestall miscommunication and misunderstanding. Because of increased intercultural contact and interdependence, people in the world are forced to "rethink" intercultural communication in order to acquire effective intercultural communication competence. The present paper provides a critical discussion of the conceptualization of intercultural communication and the commonly acknowledged challenge of intercultural communication. With a focus on Japan and the U.S. (since both countries have remarkably different forms of communication in terms of nonverbal communication particularly), the paper defines culture and explores the following: (1) origin of intercultural communication research; (2) cultural fluency and willingness to communicate; and (3) words versus haragei (a Japanese concept), touching upon intercultural (business) communication.
Full text article
References
Arasaratnam, L. A. (2005). Intercultural communication competence: Identifying key components from multicultural perspectives. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(2), 137-163.
Bargiela-Chlappini, F., and Nickerson, C. (2003). Intercultural business communication: A rich field of studies. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 24(1), 3-15.
Brightman, J. D. (2005). Asian culture brief: Japan. NTAC-AAPI Information Brief Series, 2(6). Retrieved August 10, 2006, from http://www.ntac.hawaii.edu
Brislin, R. W. (1994). Working cooperatively with people from different cultures. In R. W. Brislin & T. Yoshida (Eds.). Improving intercultural interactions (pp. 17-33).
Chen, L., et al. (1996). Our communication with North Americans: A study of intercultural experience of Japanese visiting students. ERIC Database #ED406700
CILT, the National Center for Language. (2005). Intercultural skills: A guide to working with other cultures. Retrieved August 12, 2006, from http://www.cilt.org.uk
"Curiosity." (2006, August 24). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Curiosity&oldid=71500492
"Empathy." (2006, August 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Empathy&oldid=71480818
Fujihara,T., et al. (1999). Justification of interpersonal aggression in Japanese, American, and Spanish students. Aggressive Behavior, 25, 185-195.
Gao, F. (2006). Language is culture: On intercultural communication. Journal of Language and Linguistics, 5(1), 1475-8989.
Greenholtz, J. (2003). Socratic Teachers and confucian learners: Examining the benefits and pitfalls of a year abroad. Language and Intercultural Communication, 3(2), 122-130.
Gudykunst, W. B., et al. (1996). The influence of cultural Individualism-collectivism, self construals, and individual values on communication styles across cultures. Human Communication Research, 22(4), 510-543.
Gudykunst, W. B., and Mody, B. (2002). Handbook of international and intercultural communication (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hall, E. T. (1959). The silent language. New York: Doubleday.
Hart, W. B. (1966). A brief history of intercultural communication: A paradigmatic approach. Paper presented at the Speech Communication Association, San Diego, CA.
Hoyt, N. (n. d.). Nonverbal communication in Japan. Retrieved August 29, 2006, from http://homepages.wmich.edu/~n5hoyt/japan.htm
Kubota, R. (1998). Ideologies of English in Japan. World Englishes, 17(3), 295-306.
LeBaron, M. (2003 July). Cross-cultural communication. Beyond Intractability. Eds. G. Burgess & H. Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Retrieved August 1, 2006, from http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cross-cultural_ communication
Matsumoto, D., Leroux, J., and Yo, S. H. (2005). Emotion and intercultural communication. Retrieved August 20, 2006, from http://syass.kwansei.ac.jp/kiyou/99/99_ch02.pdf
Matters, M., Lodge, F., Hall, C., and Clevedon, V. R. (2004). TEFL and communication styles in Japanese culture. Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 17(1), 1-14.
Miyahara, A. (n.d.). Toward theorizing Japanese interpersonal communication competence from a non-western perspectives. Retrieved August 15, 2006, from http://acjournal.org/boldings/vol3/Iss3/spec1/Miyahara.html
Peace Corps. (2002). Building bridges: A Peace Corps classroom guide to cross-cultural understanding. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved August 10, 2006, from
http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/
"Project planning and expectations dealing with the Japanese." (n.d.). Retrieved August 31, 2006, from http://users.netonecom.net/~aweber/htm/project.htm
Roberts, C. (1998). Awareness in intercultural communication. Language Awareness, 7(2-3), 109-127.
Rogers, E. M., Hart, W. B., & Miike, Y. (2002). Edward T. Hall and the history of intercultural communication: The United States and Japan. Keio Communication Review, 24, 3-26.
Sakai, S., & D’Angelo, M. F. (2005). A vision for world English in the expanding circle. World Englishes, 24(3), 323-327.
Sato, S., & Oba, T. (n.d.). Trilingualism called key to international business success. Retrieved August 12, 2006, from http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/0001/09-1.htm
Shah, S. (2004). The researcher/interviewer in intercultural context: A social intruder! British Educational Research Journal, 30(4), 549-575.
Smith, A. (1966). Communication and culture: Readings in the codes of human interaction. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Soutar, G. N., Grainger, R., & Hedges, P. (1999). Australian and Japanese value stereotypes: A two country study. Journal of International Business Studies, 30(1), retrieved from August 15, 2006, from http://web108.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1&_ua =%5F1&_ug= sid+162A5783% 2D95 FD%2D4468%2D87
Walker, N. N. (2005). Investigating the cognition behind the intercultural interactions of four Japanese teachers of English as a foreign language. Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies (Article 4 in 2005). Retrieved August 15, 2006, from
http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/2005/Walker.html
WIN Advisory Group, Inc. (n.d.). High-context cultures vs. low-context cultures. Retrieved September 3, 2006, from http://www.winadvisorygroup.com/High-contextLow-context.html
Yashima, T. (2002). Willingness to communicate n a second language: The Japanese EFL context. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 54-66.
Yashima, T., Zenuk-Nishide, L., & Shimizu, K. (2004). The influence of attitudes and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication. Language Learning, 54(1), 119-152.
Yoshida, S. (2002). Globalization and issues of intercultural communication. Vital Speeches of the Day, 68(22). Retrieved August 12, 2006, from http://web111.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1&_ug=sid+5603F5F0%
Ziegahn, L. (2001). Considering culture in the selection of teaching approaches for adults. ERIC Digest. ED459325
Authors
Copyright (c) 2007 Yukiko Inoue
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This journal provides immediate and free open access to all its content and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, as long as proper attribution is given. This policy is consistent with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access.