Dealing with communication problems in the instructional interactions between international teaching assistants and American college students

Abstract

This study proposes that communication problems may be procedurally managed in intercultural interaction. Drawing upon a number of office-hour interactions between international teaching assistants and American college students, this paper examines the linguistic and cultural sources of communication problems. The close analyses of these interactions revealed that problematic understanding could be managed in the communicative procedures of correction and prevention. The findings here suggest that procedural knowledge is particularly important for achieving mutual understanding in education contexts.