This book represents an ethnographic study of an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in a school in mainland China, serving Chinese students and staffed by teachers from a variety of origins. It offers in-depth descriptions of the way in which students, teachers, and managers interact and communicate with one another in a variety of school activities. Through the communication process, cultural experiences and understandings are negotiated constantly among school participants. The ethnographic study also has a critical intention. Going beyond description, the author discusses the extent to which networks of social relationships in the case are imbued by asymmetries in power, and how this leads to people’s inability, unwillingness, and unawareness to interact with those from different cultural backgrounds. As research findings reveal, where the construction of meaning is less equally available to each participant, prejudice and exclusiveness are more likely to be assumed, impeding individuals’ intercultural learning. The key is to empower those less privileged, giving them legitimacy to come to voice in an institutional context on the one hand, and protecting their reflections on hegemonic discourse meticulously on the other hand. Since the research explores the complexities and subtleties of the communication process that are bound to particular contexts, like most ethnographic studies, it aims at adding a body of experience and humanistic understanding of cultures, rather than testing theories. Although the IB Program being studied can hardly be representative of the overall development of international education in China, the detailed description of contextual issues of the case and the research procedures could facilitate the readers to vicariously experience these events, thus they can make their own decisions about the transferability of the research to their own unique situations.

This book breaks open the 'black box' of the workplace, where successful immigrants work together with their Dutch colleagues. In their intercultural team meetings the work itself consists of communication and the question is how that work is done. The teams consist of Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan, and Surinamese educational experts whose job it is to advise schools and teachers on the form and content of language teaching. Their meetings are structured according to institutional patterns, such as 'interactive planning' and 'reporting', and according to intercultural discourse structures. For instance, Dutch team members identify their immigrant colleagues as 'immigrant specialists' and are themselves identified as 'institutional specialists'. Further, the intercultural pattern 'thematizing and unthematizing racism' provides the team members with communicative methods to deal with the societal contradictions that exist between different cultural groups, in the Netherlands as well as elsewhere. These intercultural discourse structures concur with the institutional patterns so that, for instance, they affect the outcomes of planning discussions. Most studies on intercultural communication focus on misunderstandings and miscommunications. This book demonstrates that also communication without miscommunication can be shown to be intercultural.

A major objective of this book is to identify the key determinants of the “East” and the “West” in the field of intercultural communication. It examines but also counter-attacks essentialist and culturalist analyses of intercultural communication between China and the rest of the world. Offering a cross-country examination and comparison of drought awareness and experience, this book shows two fields of research, which are complementary but rarely found side by side, i.e. the Arts and Intercultural Encounters, serve as illustrations for theoretical and methodological discussions about intercultural communication between China and the West. Scholarly and media discourses will find this work thought-provoking, instructive and informative.

Chinese Discourse Studies presents an innovative and systematic approach to discourse and communication in contemporary China. Incorporating Chinese philosophy and theory, it offers not only a distinct cultural paradigm in the field, but also a culturally sensitive and effective tool for studying Chinese discourses.

Taking a truly global perspective, this textbook presents concepts, theories and applications from the field of intercultural communication in a lively and easy-to-follow style. Covering all the essential topics, from immigration to intercultural conflict to the impact of mass media and technology, this cutting edge new edition features: A student-friendly structure with enhanced signposting to guide students through the book. Expanded coverage of ethics, digital communication and social media. A brand new set of international case studies to tie theory to real-world practices, including the European refugee crisis, Chinese food culture and Barbie dolls and beauty. A suite of student-friendly learning features, including ‘Do it!’ activity boxes, chapter summaries and applications of key theories in ‘Theory Corner’. Links to further reading and SAGE Video to help understanding. A host of online resources to reinforce students′ learning, including multiple choice quizzes, discussion questions and exercises. Introducing Intercultural Communication is the ideal guide to becoming a critical consumer of information and an effective global citizen. It should be required reading for students in media and communications, business and management, linguistics and beyond.

Queer Intercultural Communication helps to expand the field of queer studies to consider cultural difference and how it affects everyday communication across the globe. Authoritative essays present cases of LGTBQ people in and across race, ethnicity, gender, culture, nation, and bodies.

Conflict management and harmony building are two key issues of intercultural communication research and merit particular attention in the globally interconnected world. In the expanded second edition, the book explores the effective ways to manage intercultural conflict and develop intercultural harmony, and takes an interdisciplinary approach to address the two issues. The book begins with the theoretical perspectives on conflict management and harmony building. It examines intercultural communication ethics, diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution, conflict face negotiation, and intercultural competence. It presents both Western and non-Western perspectives. The book then addresses in its second section conflict management and harmony building in specific contexts. These include communication in intergenerational relationships, multinational corporations, and virtual spaces, and covers a range of national cultures including the USA, Japan, Germany, and China. Drawing on the current research findings, this book covers the major theoretical perspectives and provides for a wide range of discussions on intercultural conflict management. It is a crucial reference for teachers, students, researchers, and practitioners alike.

Zhang’s book focuses on the analysis of the sociohistorical context, linguistic patterns of discursive construction, and media representations of the “Chinese Dream” in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the United States. Analyzing data from the Chinese leader’s speeches and articles from China Daily, the South China Morning Post, and the New York Times, the author provides insights into the understanding of contemporary Chinese society through a critical discourse analysis of the “Chinese Dream” and its mediatized construction. Focusing on the discursive construction, the book examines the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s narratives on the “Chinese Dream” from multidimensional perspectives, such as thematic representations, discursive strategies, and narrative frames, which emphasize the overall structure of the “Chinese Dream” as a political discourse. Methodologically, Zhang combines a discourse-historical approach, corpus linguistics, and framing analysis into a complementary framework, which draws merits from the three approaches. This innovative research volume will be of interest to academics, researchers, and students in the fields of discourse analysis, political research, Chinese politics, and East Asian studies.

This book analyses the creation and dissemination of discourse in China while examining how its media and the people interact and communicate with the rest of the world. It explores the interplay between language, meanings, social practices, culture and politics in the processes of discourse generation. The book critically studies intercultural communication and Chinese discourse models at the national, institutional and individual levels and the different modes of interaction between China and the world. With the help of several case studies the book analyses reports from the People’s Daily, interpersonal meaning in promotional videos and advertisements in China, rhetoric in the editorials of China Daily and the representation by international media like The Associated Press and The New York Times to explore differences between Chinese and the Western media reporting the same event. It also looks at the complex models through which the Chinese people—both as individuals and as a collective—communicate with and gain an understanding of the rest of the world. Rich in empirical case studies, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of Chinese Studies, communication studies, media and cultural studies, international relations and political communication.