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In comparing the semantic structures of Maori and English, differences were found between the two languages in the way in which binary complements partition the universe of discourse. Furthermore, these structural principles which differed for Maori and English turned out to be contingent upon the separate development of the two languages and transferable from one language to the other by the native speakers of each language. As a consequence, it is possible to explain how Maori and Pakeha interpretations of society can differ considerably even when English is the only medium of communication used. Two examples were taken to demonstrate that this hypothesis can lead to alternative interpretations of both traditional and contemporary social situations. Firstly, Maori semantic structures can provide an alternative and parsimonious account of the canoe traditions and secondly, it raises interesting possibilities for a reconsideration of the educational processes which are important to Maori people both within their own social context and within the state education system.

This thesis examines the role of language and culture in international business. Through a theoretical framework, it investigates how these are integrated and argues that an understanding of the complexity of the relationship between language and culture in cross-cultural communication is crucial in international business, as essentially it provides an explanation as to what effective communication means. The premise that language and cultural barriers might be preventing New Zealand businesses from enhanced engagement in Asia was investigated using quantitative data obtained from an online survey of New Zealand exporters supported by qualitative data from case studies. The results revealed that New Zealand companies were expressing much apprehension regarding language and cultural barriers prior to entry into Asia but upon entry, they had found that the experience had not been as difficult as anticipated. English alone was sufficient for the most part, particularly during the early phases. However, if businesses wanted to commit fully on a long term engagement with Asia, then English alone was not enough because without the knowledge of the local language and culture, they could not communicate effectively to build long-term relationships. Faced with a rapidly changing, increasingly competitive multilingual global environment, this study suggests that New Zealand businesses will need to find practical solutions to best enhance their opportunities in Asia.

Master of Arts / Department of Communications Studies / Colene J. Lind / Artists influence society. We also often consider the question of whether we can or should separate the art and the artist. In January 2016 The Birth of a Nation premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to near unanimous praise. Shortly after the release, past allegations of sexual assault against the filmmaker, co-writer, and star Nate Parker’s past came to light. This revelation about his past continues a long and unfortunate history of artists who have completed culturally relevant works but who have been morally suspect human beings. I therefore explore how communities reconcile and support an artist accused of reprehensible acts or how they condemn the artist and reject support for them or their work. I find that commentators who engage in this controversy call forth specific communities. These communities are bound by their identities, and I suggest how they potentially are able to move forward, grow, and possibly come together across lines that include gender, race, ideology, social status, and personal identity and how they communicate and grow as individuals. Through revised discourse, these communities may be able to one day communicate across cultural lines that are currently deep chasms, separated by ideology and identity.

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of identifying the significant variables involved in cross-cultural communication and applying these concepts in communicating the Christian faith to Ashanti tribe members of central Ghana in West Africa.

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This dissertation offers an ethnographic account of "the world's largest annual human migration": the family reunion ritual practiced by hundreds of millions of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant workers, who work in cities and travel back to the countryside during the lunar New Year (the Spring Festival) to reunite with family members. The formation and practice of this ritual is situated in the particular historical moment of China's modernization when rural migrants have gained the freedom to leave the countryside but are met with difficulties in settling in the city and becoming urban citizens. Although migrant workers have contributed directly to China's burgeoning economy, without an institutionalized system that provides them security and full social rights, they experience prolonged liminality between the city and the countryside. The Spring Festival reunion offers migrant workers a once-in-a-year chance to achieve family unity, to reconnect with scattered kith and kin, and to temporarily actualize a sense of normalcy and continuity in the rural community. Drawing on theories of cultural communication, ritual, and family communication, I conceptualize the reunion ritual as a form of "lifeworld re-embedment" on China's pathway to individualization--a social process that engages in cultural resources to cope with the risks of modernity, bridging the disjuncture between the individual and the community. Built on interviews with migrant workers and participant observation of family reunions in a village in Central China, this dissertation examines the ritual forms, meanings, and functions of the reunion. I first examine the ritualization of the Spring Festival reunion at a national level, focusing on the spectacular movement of passengers during the Spring Festival travel season. I argue that the Spring Festival homecoming has transformed from a transportation issue to a pilgrimage-like national ritual, projecting an image of the collective pursuit of family cohesion and community integration. As a response to the unequal access to urban citizenship, returning to one's countryside home has also become an alternative way for migrant workers to claim their identities and to find a sense of belonging. In communicating about the family reunion, migrant workers employ culturally distinctive languages of place attachment and collectively used discourses of displacement to construct the meaning of home, separation, and unification. In addition, I explore family rituals performed during the reunion that help migrant workers reconnect with left-behind family members, fulfill family obligations, and create family unity. This study provides a more nuanced understanding of the paradoxical process of individualization in China, in which disembedded individuals have to depend on culturally bound integration provided by the institutions from which the disembedment occurs. In this process, ritual communication not only articulates the tension between the individual and the communal, but also functions as a powerful compensatory solution to the risks of family dislocation. By analyzing the Spring Festival reunion from a micro-level with a focus on how ritualized communication constructs, maintains, repairs, and changes social reality, this study also adds to the body of literature on cultural communication and family communication.

Apology is intended to 'set things right' through "remedial work" (Goffman 1971). This involves, in some cultures, a face threatening act on the part of the Speaker who undertakes an apology to maintain or re-establish social equilibrium or harmony (Edmondson 1981 and Leech 1983) between speaker and hearer. Several studies across languages (Cohen and Olshtain 1981, Olshtain 1983, Trosborg 1987, Holmes 1989) investigated the different social and contextual factors that influence native speakers to select one or a group of "semantic formula(s)" (Fraser 1981) in the act of apologizing. Nevertheless the literature is still in its infancy (Fraser 1981 and Holmes 1989) in respect to the gender differences between speaker (apologizer) and hearer (recipient), and in the comparison of Spanish and English. Therefore this study aims to investigate which strategies, semantic formulas and excuses are most commonly used by female and male speakers of Chilean Spanish and Australian English. To determine similarities and dissimilarities between their apologies, a role play was carried out in their mother tongue. Twenty two Chileans (twelve females and ten males) who had lived for not more than three years in Australia and twenty Australians (ten males and ten females) who, like the Chileans, varied in age from 17 to 30 and who were students of secondary or tertiary institutions helped as informants in this study. The speech event was designed to elicit an apology and was held constant for both groups. Results show that Chileans in comparison with Australians make less use of explicit expression of apology. Nevertheless they appear to give more explanations than Australians in the act of apologizing. Dissimilarities in both languages were also found in the use of speaker and hearer oriented apologies and in the the use of some strategies and intensifiers, in which the addressee gender played an important role in both languages.

Over the last decade the use of mobile phones has increased dramatically everywhere by people from different cultural backgrounds. However, while such technological adoption move on at an ever increasing pace all over the world, the key problem for designers and developers of mobile phones is how to develop mobile phone services that effectively support the dynamic and flexible communication needs of such diverse groups of users. To counter this problem, this thesis focused on establishing how people from different cultural backgrounds use mobile phones to achieve their communicative, social and informational goals. Questionnaires and interviews were undertaken and analysed to achieve this. The findings from the analysis led to the development of two prototypes missed call services; the icon-based missed call service (IBMCS) and the personalised icon-based missed call service. Several key findings emerged from this research. For example, mobile phone users in the Sudan and the UK differed in the way they used their mobile phones especially in the public places. British participants were more comfortable using their mobile phones in public sphere. British and Sudanese stated that they would like to use an IBMCS to support their communication needs. However, Sudanese users were more keen than the British participants on personalising the developed missed call service to aid the management of their communication needs and to better coordinate their activities. The evaluation of the personalised IBMCS highlighted an important redesign implication, such as allowing the receiver to manipulate the receipt of missed calls in public settings.

This study examines commonalities and differences in leadership choices preferred by female leaders in Kazakhstan, Sweden and the United States of America. The results of the study show that all respondents (1) value the same leadership traits; (2) recognize the importance of mentorship; (3) share the same opinion about what is the most common mistake that can derail a leader's career and (4) face the same challenges at the workplace. The study revealed differences in following categories: (1) family-work balance issue; (2) conflicts at the workplace; (3) leadership development practices; (4) choosing among equally - qualified candidates. Since the entire Central Asian region is largely overlooked in cultural analysis of managerial styles, I also suggest an original cultural metaphor for Kazakhstan and an original dimensional analysis of Kazakh culture. I also argue that leadership choices develop and transform over the time adjusting to the changes of the social reality.