Intercultural Interaction at a Multicultural University: Students' Definitions and Sensemakings of Intercultural Interaction

Abstract

This essay examines how racially or ethnically different students define, make sense of, and evaluate intercultural interaction at the multicultural university. Eighty qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with university students of varied backgrounds. These interview sessions access students' definitions, sensemakings, and experiences of on-campus intercultural interaction as it has played out in their lives. The findings demonstrate that interviewees equate intercultural interaction with being present in demographically diverse settings. Moreover, this study reveals that definitions and sensemakings of intercultural interaction vary among interviewees primarily based on their racial or ethnic background. Latino/a, Black/African American, White/European American, and Asian American interviewees define and make sense of intercultural interactions in culturally specific ways and in relation to their historical experiences.     

Using social networking sites for language learning to develop intercultural competence in language education programs

This article examines the ways a social networking site for language learning (SNSLL) enhances or hinders intercultural communicative competence (ICC). The study identifies the components of intercultural competence that emerge from students’ interactions and reflections about the SNSLL Livemocha. The research was conducted with second-year students of an English class in a Colombian university. Data were collected through screen recordings, students’ logs, surveys, and a focus group. Findings indicate that, of the five dimensions of ICC, the components of Attitudes, Knowledge, Skills of Interpreting and Relating, and Skills of Discovery and Interaction featured strongly on students’ exchanges and reflections. SNSLLs hold potential to enhance intercultural skills; however, pedagogical adjustment and refocusing of some of their activities are required to expand opportunities for intercultural engagement.     

Mediated Intercultural Dialectics: Identity Perceptions and Performances in Virtual Worlds

As identity has a profound influence on intercultural communication, we explicate a dialectical perspective to identify multiple relationships between new media and identity perception and performance complexities within the context of multidimensional virtual worlds. These mediated intercultural dialectics include the personal-contextual, static-dynamic and privilege-disadvantage dimensions of avatar representations and interactions.     

Stages and Transitions of Relational Identity Formation in Intercultural Friendship: Implications for Identity Management Theory

Abstract

In light of identity management theory (IMT), this research seeks to uncover the stages and transitions that explain the process of relational identity formation within intercultural friendships. Three stages (i.e., initial encounter, interaction, and involvement) and two transition phases emerged within the intercultural friendships of this research. This study concludes that while IMT contributes to our understanding of the process of intercultural relationship formation, it overlooks how intercultural relationships transition from one stage to another and the influences of networks and a third cultural context.     

(Re)conceptualizing Intercultural Communication in a Networked Society

We offer four theses about how intercultural communication is altered in a digitally networked era. Digital media shape intercultural communication by (1) producing new public fora capable of (2) hosting rich, multimodal “spaces” of contact on (3) a scale of many-to-many communication that (4) challenges traditional modes of representation.     

An Intercultural Partnership for Social Justice in the Rio Grande Valley TX Colonias

This article details how an intercultural partnership between a grassroots nonprofit organization and a critical cultural communication scholar was forged and maintained via complementary epistemic stances of engagement. The NPO members’ stance was grounded in la consciencia broadly defined and border logics linked to the use of emotive narratives and strategic Spanish, while for myself an ethic of speaking with was comprised of self-reflexivity, self-examination of positionalities, dialogic relationship building, and an enactment of care in representing community members. Ultimately, tuning into the importance of decoloniality via an ethic of speaking with and the necessary strategy of delinking allowed for two intercultural partners to work together toward social justice in the borderlands.     

Appraisal models of intercultural communication apprehension among sojourners

We used R. S. Lazarus’ (Emotion and Adaptation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991) appraisal theory of emotions to propose a theoretical model of anxiety, upon which we built two empirical models centering on intercultural communication apprehension (ICA), distinguished by timing. We tested the models in three samples: Chinese in the US (N?=?268), US Americans who studied abroad (N?=?419), and US Americans in the US (N?=?515). The models achieved good fit. The results showed that during an anticipated or actual intercultural interaction, people had multiple, potentially conflicting goals. The goal-related appraisals of the situation resulted in emotional reactions, such as ICA, as well as coping strategies. ICA and coping further influenced people’s immediacy behaviors and the intention to interact. Our empirical models supported the utility of the theoretical framework for all three samples, and provided advice for practitioners to improve sojourners’ time abroad.     

Thawing the North: Mostly Martha as a German-Italian Eatopia

Abstract

The establishment of the European Union, reunification of Germany, and Germany's extension of dual citizenship to immigrant minorities provided challenges to the country's understanding of itself as a nation. In negotiating these changes, debates on citizenship frequently centered on definitions of German culture. Using the concept of Leitkultur (guiding culture), conservatives argued that Germany should reject multiculturalism and stem immigration. This essay analyzes discourses on cultural policy in Germany through a contextual and textual analysis of the film Mostly Martha. In its alignment with aesthetic conventions of the art house food film, Mostly Martha participates in the debate on cultural citizenship and embodies changes in the German film industry that have moved German cinema toward increased commercialism. The film's main character, Martha, is transformed through an intercultural relationship and a trip to Italy. We argue that the film's citation of this well-known tradition of traveling south to redeem oneself and its treatment of ethnic “Otherness” engages in the Leitkultur debate and participates in the transition from national German to transnational cinema. Through the utopian treatment of Italian food, the film fetishizes cultural difference and reaffirms fixed constructs of nation and gender, thereby avoiding an explicitly politicized engagement with intercultural citizenship and identity.     

Queer Intercultural Relationality: An Autoethnography of Asian–Black (Dis)Connections in White Gay America

For this critical intercultural inquiry, I as an Asian/Japanese transnational cisgendered gay man write my autoethnography of queer (or non-heteronormative) Asian–Black (dis)connections. Specifically, I challenge, interrogate, and problematize my queer intercultural production of desire and attraction as I engage in my critical autoethnographic interrogation of dialogues with five Asian/Japanese transnational gay men who have previously engaged in queer Asian–Black relationality. In so doing, I intend to create a potential point of departure to decenter the discursive and material effects of White gay normativity in the knowledge production of Asian queer male desire and attraction.     

Virtual Cosmopolitanism: Constructing Third Cultures and Transmitting Social and Cultural Capital Through Social Media

Increasingly, individuals interested in intercultural communication can turn to computer-mediated communication (CMC), particularly social media, to discursively construct hybridized cultures. This essay examines how CMC can facilitate virtual cosmopolitanism and virtual third cultures by reviewing current literature on virtual third culture spaces and ethnographic data exploring virtual cosmopolitanism.     

Navigating with the Stars: Critical Qualitative Methodological Constellations for Critical Intercultural Communication Research

This collaborative essay seeks to chart new methodological pathways for intercultural scholars with a specific focus on Critical Race Theory and Decolonizing and Indigenous Research Methodologies; Activist/Engaged Methodologies; and Performative Methodologies. Each section begins from our own researcher subjectivity, then outlines the constellation within the development of Critical Intercultural Communication (CIC); identifies the constellation's methodological commitments, thematics, and concerns; highlights key exemplars; and raises key questions. At the end of the essay, we explore through a dialogic performance the larger implications that these methodological constellations hold for CIC as a field.     

Partnering for Anti-Poverty Praxis in Circles® USA: Applications of Critical Dialogic Reflexivity

The value of critical dialogic reflexivity is demonstrated through analysis of interview conversations between academic and practitioner partners in Circles® USA, a national nonprofit organization working to ameliorate poverty. The partnerships include the academic/practitioner author with six others: Circles founder and CEO, a lead trainer and codeveloper of training curriculum, and four individuals working to move out of poverty. The analysis features examples of critical dialogic reflexivity related to negotiating macro-, meso- and microcontextual structures, cultural identifications, status locations, privilege, and ideologies that impact their relationships and work to end poverty. Caveats and implications for critical community engagement, intercultural alliances and engaged scholarship are discussed.     

Our Role as Intercultural Scholars,Practitioners, Activists,and Teachers in Addressing These Key Intercultural Urgencies,Issues, and Challenges

As the finale, the participating scholars connect their discussion of key intercultural urgencies, issues, and challenges to our role as intercultural scholars and the pathways for engagement. We all inhabit different and multiple roles for addressing and confronting such urgencies—as researchers, practitioners, activists, teachers, and community members with macro and micro modes of agency, influence, and impact. Discussants grapple with how to envision these roles in contemporary society and actuate meaningful change for multiple constituencies and communities around us.     

Commemorative places,political spaces: Virginia Indians,the Jamestown Quadricentennial,and the quest for sovereignty

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the cross-cultural communication strategies deployed by a coalition of indigenous tribes in Virginia to leverage the Quadricentennial commemoration of the founding at Jamestown in support of their sovereignty campaign. The tensions between Jamestown’s mythos as the “birthplace of democracy” and the natives’ historical and contemporary lived experiences, combined with the national and international attention focused on the events, constructed the 400th anniversary “celebrations” as a compelling location for social action. The coalition employed intercultural communicative practices—particularly cross-cultural dialogue and negotiation—as means of mobilizing these tensions to renegotiate their relationship with the federal government, illustrating the intersection of intercultural communication, memory, and identity.     

Culture,Communication, and Peacebuilding: A Reflexive Multi-Dimensional Contextual Framework

Abstract

This article argues that intercultural communication scholars should play a central role in advancing the study and practice of peacebuilding. A reflexive, multi-dimensional and contextualized framework for viewing peacebuilding is proposed, with a focus on personal, relational, and structural dimensions. Three topical areas—community engagement, intercultural dialogue, and alliance building—are used to illustrate the framework and point to possibilities for additional research and development. Seven strategies for applying this framework in the complex arena of intractable conflicts are proposed and described.     

Diet-specific social support,dietary acculturation,and self-efficacy among Chinese living in the United States

This study conceptualizes diet-specific social support from family members and friends as a part of the functional content of social relationships and examines differences in its levels and predictiveness among immigrants with varying degrees of dietary acculturation. Using an online sample of 505 Chinese immigrants living in the United States, the results show a decline in the amount of support received by acculturated immigrants in both computer-mediated and face-to-face contexts. However, acculturated immigrants need less social support to produce the same level of self-efficacy than do immigrants who retain their Chinese identity. The findings suggest that the decline in the amount of received support may signal a cultural shift in the ways social support operates to achieve its health-protective function. Implications for diet-specific social support, dietary acculturation, and immigrant health are discussed.     

Connecting Community Voices: Using a Latino/a Critical Race Theory Lens on Environmental Justice Advocacy

Abstract

This study examines the contested space of environmental inequity and demonstrates how engaged intercultural communication research can be used to put forth seldom heard cultural environmental meaning systems. In an attempt to bridge ecojustice–environmentalist divides, we use Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) to understand and promote practices of Hispanic communities enacting environmental justice and cultural activism. We also exemplify the value of an explicit focus on the role of race in environmental issues for communication scholarship.     

Ethnic performance,language proficiency,and ethnic media use among Indian American immigrants

This study focuses on how and why Indian American immigrants engage with movies from their home country in a transnational global context. Existing literature has focused on lack of host language proficiency as the primary reason for ethnic media consumption. We suggest that for Indian Americans, the motivation for consuming Indian films is driven by ethnic performance rather than language proficiency. A survey was conducted with Indian Americans to explore the relationships among Indian movie consumption, acculturation indices, language proficiency, and ethnic performance. Results show that ethnic performance is a stronger predictor of Indian movie consumption than language proficiency and acculturation indices.     

Perceived threat and prejudice towards immigrants in Finland: A study among early,middle, and late Finnish adolescents

Using integrated threat theory, this study examined how perceived threat, or fear of immigrants, manifests among early, middle, and late Finnish adolescents, and the relationship between perceived threat and prejudice among early, middle, and late adolescents. The sample consisted of 795 Finnish adolescents between 11 and 19 years of age. Realistic and symbolic threats were the most perceived threats and were more prevalent among late adolescents. There was a positive relationship between prejudice and realistic threat, and between prejudice and symbolic threat, but a negative relationship between prejudice and negative stereotyping, and this relationship remained relatively stable from early to late adolescence. Implications on the fight against prejudice towards immigrants among early, middle, and late adolescents are also discussed.     

Attending to the “face of the other” in intercultural communication: Thinking and talking about difference,identity, and ethics

This essay contributes to the discussions in intercultural communication scholarship on key intercultural urgencies, issues, and challenges in today's world through the ethical framework of Emmanuel Levinas and his discussion of “absolute otherness” that informs and expands the dialogue on interculturality, cultural humility, and ethics. Levinas's discussion of “absolute otherness” aims to preserve difference—the otherness of the other—by asserting the ethical relation prior to the ontological relation and carries significant communicative implications in terms of the relation of the self and the other as well as making sense of difference and identity, and offers a new way of talking about these issues in the field of communication studies, specifically in intercultural communication. An illustration of attending to the other beyond reduction to the same is offered through a pedagogical application of the Levinasian framework in the intercultural communication class.