ABSTRACT
Across the globe, migration, travel, business and international education are facilitating face-toface intercultural contact. Advances in technology (e.g. the internet, social networking sites) are also making it easier to link people virtually in different parts of the world. As we become increasingly interconnected, the demand for individuals who can communicate effectively and appropriately with people who have a different cultural/linguistic background becomes ever more pressing. In the last few decades, the challenges and promise of intercultural interaction have been
capturing the attention of scholars from many disciplines (e.g. anthropology, applied linguistics, communication studies, education, language, psychology, sociology). Not surprisingly, the field of intercultural communication has become more and more diverse, multidisciplinary and international. In past years, there was limited interaction between researchers and educators from different
disciplines who had a particular interest in intercultural communication. Disciplinary networks rarely intersected and, consequently, many scholars were unaware of developments in intercultural communication research and practice outside their own area of specialization. For example, applied linguists were unfamiliar with the intercultural communication research of communication scholars and did not pay sufficient attention to the (inter)cultural dimension in second language (L2) communication/education. Conversely, speech communication specialists and cross-cultural psychologists often ignored the language dimension in intercultural communication and were not familiar with publications by applied linguists that focused on the (inter) cultural dimension. While lack of awareness of work in different disciplines remains an issue, the situation is changing. With the advent of accelerating globalization and increasing intercultural contact, both in
person and online, whether at home or abroad, it is imperative that scholars reach outside their own disciplinary sphere to better understand the nature and impact of intercultural communication. Of course, this may bring tension as a result of differing definitions and conceptions of the field (e.g. understandings of culture, cultural difference) and different methodological traditions. Nonetheless, this interaction is vital if we are to gain deeper insight into the cultural,
social, linguistic, cognitive, psychological and communicative dimensions of intercultural interaction, especially when it involves a second language. To propel ourselves and others towards intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and global, intercultural citizenship, we need to develop more awareness of the elements and processes involved. The Handbook raises readers’ awareness of the contested nature of culture, largely rejecting
reductive and hegemonic interpretations. Throughout, the authors reflect on the complex connection between language, culture, identity, agency, power and context, citing examples of intercultural contact and competence in diverse settings. The chapters draw from a wide range of disciplines and practices (e.g. anthropology, bilingualism and multilingualism, business education, cognition, cultural theory, discourse analysis, ecology of language, education, ethnography of communication, language and gender, language and social psychology, literacy, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, rhetoric, sociolinguistics, translation, to name a few). The contributions explicate and demonstrate the breadth of this area of study and offer insight into the depth of knowledge required of an interculturalist in today’s complex, globalizing world where languages and cultures frequently intermingle. This volume outlines the central themes and challenges for current research in the field of
intercultural communication, paying particular attention to the language dimension. Many of the authors discuss the impact of the rise and expanding influence of English as a lingua franca on present and future intercultural communication/education. The status of English as a global, pluricentric language, and the principal medium for international and intranational communication, are developments that we cannot ignore. The Handbook provides compelling evidence of growing maturity in the field of intercultural
communication. As this volume is included in the Routledge Handbooks in Applied Linguistics series, it also sends a clear signal of the importance of intercultural communication research and practice in the wider field of applied linguistics.
