Understanding Intercultural Communication: Negotiating Meaning and Identities in English as a Lingua Franca Skype Conversations (1st ed. 2021)

By: Marie-Louise Brunner

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Today, academics, business professionals and private persons alike need to communicate successfully and establish relationships with people from various cultures through digital means. These skills have now become essential in virtual environments. This book provides an in-depth analysis of how interlocutors negotiate meaning and identities in intercultural video-mediated communication as an important step to improving interactions on a global scale. It contributes to understanding the complex negotiation processes and strategies involved in communicating successfully and in establishing rapport in an intercultural and video-mediated context. Speakers in this English as a Lingua Franca setting act as accomplished conversationalists who efficiently employ various strategies to make themselves understood and to preempt interactional difficulties. At the same time, interlocutors (re)negotiate identities on various levels in the process of their interactions with conversation partners. Based on these insights, this book concludes with practical suggestions for educational and professional applications.