Customer Reviews

Intercultural Communication (Language in Society)

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This book provides excellent insights into the complexity of intercultural communication. In comparison to the simplistic treatment given by other authors, this book provides the understanding needed for daily events: how to understand why miscommunications occur in so many different situations, whether with speakers of languages other than english, members of different business units, or members of a different gender. It is very well written, developing arguments logically and providing excellent, identifiable examples. If you only have the time or money for one book on this topic, make your purchase this book (and I don't get any royalities).

The book discusses everything under the sun except what the title of the book promises. There is an entire chapters on the history of individualism, collectivism, and Utilitarianism. There is an entire chapter reviewing the latest EFL curriculi. There is still another entire chapter on gender differences in thinking. If you're interested in that last topic, get "You Just Don't Understand" by Deborah Tannen, because that's where the authors get most of their information.

Here is the sum total of the valued information which I got from the book:

--the term "lumping fallacy"

--the terms "Gemeinschaft" and "Gesellschaft"

--the words "taciturn" and "voluble"

--Asians prefer being addressed by their adopted English names than by their Asian names.

--Asians tend to state the premises first and the conclusion last, whereas Westerners tend to state the conclusion first and the premises last.

--In Asian society, it is considered improper for a student to introduce a new topic in class.

For a North American who lives in South Korea and who has a serious need to communicate better with the people, this is disappointing.