ABSTRACT
This chapter discussed two major areas to consider when intercultural misunderstanding occurs in verbal communication. These areas serve as resources in trainer's efforts to discover how it is that people with good intentions may still misunderstand what they feel as they stated so clearly. The first of these was contextual assumptions, with particular concern for the frame or type of talk trainers see themselves participating in. Trainers almost always involved in some culturally recognizable type of activity that frames what is expected and sensible. This form of framing helps them to make sense of specific actions that tend to be assumed or taken for granted in a particular culture, evokes and assumes informal social rules, and both relies on and implies certain social identities. The second area was the verbal structure and content of trainer's communication. Finally, language as the basis of verbal communication was discussed as an important influence on their thoughts and actions.
