The field of intercultural communication has recently been introduced to Japan from the United States. The theories and concepts of this field have been developed based on Western social sciences, and they are likely to be culture-bound. This thesis investigates the possibility that modifying Western ideas in the field of intercultural communication would make the study of this subject more effective for Japanese learners.

This study investigated the intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication apprehension of Chinese international students. Participants in the study consisted of Chinese international students over 18 years old studying at two 4-year public universities in the southeastern United States. The study participants completed 2 online survey questionnaires: the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), which measured the degree of intercultural communication competence, and the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA), which measured the degree of intercultural communication apprehension. The findings of the study indicated a significant relationship between Chinese international students' intercultural communication competence and their intercultural apprehension. Findings also noted that gender, age, number of U.S. friends, and level of education were not factors predicting the participants' degree of intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication apprehension. However, frequency of speaking English outside of the classroom was an important factor indicating differences in the degree of the study participants' intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication apprehension. In addition, the study revealed that the length of time in the United States affected participants' intercultural communication competence but not their intercultural communication apprehension.

This thesis is a review of relevant literature on business negotiation between Japanese and American and an analysis of cultural differences in negotiation from an intercultural perspective. The following four key issues are explored and analyzed with intercultural communication concepts: 1. major differences in approaches to the process of business negotiation between the United States and Japan; 2. potential friction between Japanese and Americans in business negotiation that is attributable to Japanese and American cultural differences; 3. the applicability and usefulness of an intercultural perspective in enhancing business negotiation skills; and 4. main factors affecting the use of an intercultural perspective in cross-cultural business negotiation and the degree to which they are manifested in the u.s.-Japan business negotiations.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Trinity International University, 2001. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 285-293).

Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / One of the biggest problems faced by translators has always been the issue of whether a translation should be a free translation or a literal translation. These days, the general tendency is to view a translation as a cultural transfer of information (or intercultural communication) and no longer as merely a linguistic transfer of information. This study took the translation of the applications (columns that deal with life issues) in the Leefstyl-Bybel vir Vroue (LBV), as adapted from the Bible, as subject matter. The reason for this choice of subject matter was that these applications were translated for a target audience (Afrikaans-speaking women) that differs culturally from the source text readers and that the new culture, therefore, constantly had to be taken into account in the translation. It was found that the following theoretical approaches had been successfully applied in the translation of the source text. Firstly, there was the Functionalist approach, where the work of Nord en Vermeer played a significant role. Vermeer’s Skopos Theory focuses, above all, on the aim of a translation and Nord’s instrumental translation on the fact that a translation must communicate successfully with the target text readers in their culture. The LBV is functionalist in the sense that it was translated with a specific aim in mind, namely to empower the Afrikaans-speaking women on a political level and to counter their voicelessness and disempowerment. Secondly, Gutt’s Relevance Theory, and the term “Indirect Translation” in particular, were used. This kind of communication communicates the meaning of the original in such a way that it makes sense to the target language reader in her own context. For example, the metaphors were adapted because the original metaphors would not have been relevant to the Afrikaans-speaking women. New text, that the translator felt was relevant to the target language readers, was also added to the target text. Lastly, Venuti’s Foreignizing and Domestication were used. The LBV was highly domesticated, which meant that the target language values were visible to the target language culture in the translation. This domestication was successful because the translation met the cultural expectations of the target audience. The concept of “Gender and Translation” was also examined. The reason or need for the translation and why the source text had been translated for this target audience specifically, also had to be determined. It was found that women in South Africa had been oppressed for some time. The publisher therefore deemed it necessary to have a Bible for women in Afrikaans. Presenting the Bible to them in a “woman-friendly” way would assist them to believe in their own worth. The source text and the target text were compared and analysed on the macro and micro levels. It was determined whether the above theoretical approaches were successfully applied and whether the target text worked as a communicative instrument in the new target culture. Various reviews were consulted. These reviews and the research in this study indicated that the LBV had been successfully received by the target audience.

The rapid telescoping of the need to communicate cross-culturally in an ever widening range of contexts sets the basic circumstances for this study. Private and public sector interviewing become more important as cultural and cross-cultural factors emerge in coventuring enterprises. Standard interviewing programs and procedures do not usually focus on cross-cultural variables. A model is necessary through which to orchestrate the interview in a generic form and into which substantive illustrations for cross-cultural interviews can be placed. The Cube model designed by Dr. T. Frank Saunders, in his Double Think book, was adapted to this purpose and provides a comprehensive and exhaustive format for this study. The advent of CD ROM, high storage and easy retrieval computer technology, makes the design presented here an effective and efficient system for the collection and collation of demographic and ethnographic data. The Cube model and procedures set forth in this study should facilitate the data collection and development of an interview manual for cross-cultural interviewing.

This thesis examines Czech-German cross-border cooperation within intercultural communication, identifies problems and develops possible solutions. The thesis is divided into a practical and a theoretical part. The theoretical part first describes the Czech-German cross-border cooperation and then intercultural communication, followed by a discussion of the context and the research methods. In the practical part, the author first performs a sequential analysis of data collected via interviews conducted with people working in the Tandem organization. The results of the analysis are interpreted, problems within the cooperation of Tandem are identified, and possible solutions developed. A glossary divided into two parts, recapitulating the definitions of relevant terms from the first two theoretical chapters of this thesis, is listed at the end of this work. A French résumé summarizing all the important points and conclusions is enclosed with the thesis. The aim of this thesis is to answer the following research question: "Linguistic and intercultural challenges of Czech-German non-profit cross-border cooperation: The case of the Tandem organization."

The thesis first summarises the history and main ideas of Sufism. It then examines the reception, mainly favourable, of Shah's representation of Sufism particulary in the West, and, finally, attempts to analyse and explain his methodology. It is not the aim of this thesis to examine the complete works of Idries Shah. Rather, by studying a number of his texts I have endeavoured to emphasise Shah's role as a pontifex between Islam and the West. As well as placing Shah within the complicated realm of Sufi thought, I have examined in some detail the methods by which he has played this role. The aspect of Shah that I have focused upon is that of the populariser and explicator of Sufism. For Shah the subject of Sufism is not one confined to academic study. It is a way of knowing related to everyday life and particularly relevant to the needs of the West at a time when the Western world is experiencing emotional and spiritual bankruptcy. Shah resembles the deconstructionist theorists in that he sees the limits of the language on which the West has relied for so long. But, even though his method is similar to theirs, he differs from them in that for him there is another realm of knowledge beyond language. I have quoted extensively from the stories Shah uses in order to demonstrate the ideas and images he thinks are relevant to an understanding of Sufism for the West, and I have used reviews and comments from audiences in both East and West in order to demonstrate what those audiences think of what Shah is attempting to do. This thesis examines the pedagogical techniques employed in this process. The applicablity of deconstruction theory to Sufi teaching is considered.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.