ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with settings featuring interpersonal communication, face to face, with usually two participants, each from a different culture or subculture. The field of intercultural communication can therefore provide a paradigm for thinking about the ethics of communication between people from diverse backgrounds. The chapter considers the idea of culture and what makes a factor cultural. It suggests that the notion of culture can point to the markers of diversity in many communication settings. An important step in training people for intercultural communication is to make them aware of culturally determined differences in how people communicate in the new culture. Becoming aware of the different expectations and norms about interpersonal communication in cultures other than one's own should help prepare one for intercultural experiences. Dialogical ethics is foundational to the study of communication ethics. In addition, note that virtually every major theory of communication ethics applies directly to communicating with people with disabilities.
