The current study examined differences in intracultural and intercultural relationships. In this study, data were collected from 139 individuals currently in intracultural romantic relationships (same ethnicity and country of origin) and 120 individuals currently in intercultural romantic relationships (different ethnicity or country of origin) through MTurk. Participants completed measures for personality (20-item Mini-IPIP), individualism and collectivism (Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale), ethnic identity (Multi-group Ethnic Identity Measure), implicit relationship theory (Relationship Theory Questionnaire), relationship satisfaction (DAS: Dyadic Adjustment Scale and RAS: Relationship Assessment Scale), relationship commitment (Commitment Level Items of the Investment Model Scale), one question to address whether the individuals' partners are seen as one's soul mate, and demographics. Participants were compensated $0.85 for completing the survey. MANOVA analyses indicated that individuals in intracultural and intercultural relationships differ significantly in terms of RAS, DAS, and Commitment Level Item scores, with those in intercultural relationships scoring significantly lower on all three measures. Regression analyses indicated that the significant predictors for RAS, DAS, and Commitment Level items differ for individuals in intracultural and intercultural relationships. These findings suggest the type of relationship (intracultural versus intercultural) is an important factor to consider. Research on intracultural relationships may not translate to individuals in intercultural relationships.

The globalization of the English language has rendered both positive and negative impacts to countries around the world. With the ever-increasing pervasiveness of the English language, many non-native-English-speaking (NNES hereafter) people and countries have shown growing interests in teaching and learning English. Some governments of these NNES countries have decided to implement “English” as a mandatory school subject into their compulsory curriculum in order to “connect with the world” and/or to increase their nation’s international image. However, in these NNES countries, English often does not hold official capacity and is taught as a foreign language (EFL). Although English (language) education can bring positive changes to a nation, it is not free of problems. Essentially, English education influences many NNES countries and their citizens in sociocultural, economic, and educational arenas. Some scholars, such as Tsuda (2008), assert that the “problems” and impacts are inseparable from “English language hegemony.” My country of origin, Taiwan, is one of the EFL and NNES countries that implements English education in our nation’s compulsory education. In recent decades, communicative-based English educational approaches have received great support from the Taiwanese Ministry of Education. In an EFL setting, such as that in Taiwan, the said educational approaches have complicated English education even further. In particular, the communicative-based approaches focus on teaching and practicing English oral proficiency, which average Taiwanese citizens do not need in their daily lives. Many Taiwanese people experience identity struggles and self-esteem issues because of their less-than-desirable English oral proficiency. In addition to Taiwanese, native-English-speaking (NES) teachers who are recruited to teach English in Taiwan are an integral part of the Taiwanese English education. As a Taiwanese citizen and an intercultural communication scholar, I recognize the intricate complexity of Taiwanese English education and am compelled to examine it in this dissertation as it has not received much attention in the discipline of Communication Studies. In this dissertation, I employ Identity Management Theory (IMT) (Cupach & Imahori, 1993; Imahori & Cupach, 2005) as the primary theoretical framework to examine Taiwanese English education. Particularly, I utilize IMT to study the identity construction and management (such as identity freezing), facework strategies, and intercultural relationship development among NES teachers, Taiwanese English teachers, and Taiwanese students. To carry out this research, I employ critical complete-member ethnography (CCME) (Toyosaki, 2011) as the central research methodology, because I see myself as a complete-member researcher with my research participants. I share complete-memberships with them in nuanced, complex, and contextual manners. Methodologically, CCME entails ethnography of communication, autoethnography, and critical ethnography; all are informative of my data collection methods, including ethnographic participant observation, ethnographic interview, and autoethnographic journaling inside and outside of English classes at different Taiwanese universities. These three methods helped me gather rich data for this research. To analyze and discuss the data, I employed thematic analysis (Owen, 1984) and critical examinations of consensual and conflictual theorization (Fiske, 1991; Toyosaki, 2011). Both methods render complex findings. In particular, the analysis and discussion reveal and explain (a) how the research participants manage cultural identities through marking scope, salience, and intensity with different English educational participants, (b) how they apply facework strategies to cope with identity freezing experiences, and (c) how they establish and maintain intercultural relationships with other English educational participants as they transition across different relational phases of their relationships. I deliver the findings thematically in an analytical and narrative-like manner, as I layer and weave together the field notes, the interview responses, and my autoethnographic journaling. Ultimately, I argue that English hegemony has glocalized in Taiwanese English education and is manifested through research participants’ identity management politics and their intercultural relationships. Essentially, my research shows that identity management politics is inseparable from the power differentials and inequalities imbued in Taiwanese English education. Voluntarily and/or involuntarily, the research participants and I have normalized English hegemony, embodied its presence in our knowledge production and consumption, and given English/Western ideologies consent to dominate our communicative choices, our (sub)consciousness, and our intercultural relationships. Aside from perpetuating English hegemony, I have also observed resistance against the said hegemonic impacts inside and outside of the English classrooms. In a power-laden intercultural communication context, such as Taiwanese English education, critical analyses and examinations play essential roles in revealing the identity management politics and power differentials embedded in the (mythically) “innocent” English classrooms. I further recognize how this research serves as an example to other EFL and NNES countries. In due course, I conclude that my research makes contributions to the scholarships of intercultural communication and to English education in Taiwan and beyond.

Crisis management is a technique that has existed within organizations worldwide and is dictated by the response of leaders’ actions. In a classroom, the teacher can be referred to as an ‘educational leader’. With an emphasized work setting of the classroom, different leadership responses can be examined in a comparative analysis. The focus of this thesis is to explore the effect of intercultural experience when higher education leaders are dealing with crisis management within their classrooms. This exploratory study adopts a qualitative analysis with the help of deductive approach and critical realism philosophy. The primary source of this study is the interviews with professors from a Swedish University, both from local and international programs. By using intercultural crises challenges, crisis scenarios in a higher educational setting were created. These themes are ethnocentrism, scandal/misinterpretation, and culture shock. These scenarios were used in the interview process to understand how different program leaders manage the crises. Additionally, the findings of this study show that intercultural experience of higher educational leaders plays a role in how they are managing a crisis within a classroom setting.

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English abstract The master's thesis deals with different representations of non-European cultures and their inhabitants in musical dramas (operas and related genres) of the eighteenth century. Firstly it gives some typical characteristics of these musical artworks in historical context (focusing on Italian and French examples especially) than it concentrates on the topic of so-called exoticism in general. The final part of the thesis which is based on three case studies formulates some typical approaches to the problem of representation of non- european cultures by analyzing musical settings, stage representations and especially librettoes of three important operatic works by Vivaldi (Motezuma), Graun (Montezuma) and Rameau (Les Indes Galantes). The topic of exoticism in Handel 's selected operas is mentioned in a short survey. Keywords: 18th century, music history, opera history, Italian opera, French opera, exoticism, inrercultural relationships, comparative studies