Intercultural Professional Communication: Approaches and Issues

Abstract

Through the internalization of trade and information, as well as globalization, intercultural communication has increasingly gained importance, particularly in professional communication, since those engaged in professional communication rely on transdisciplinary frameworks. Also, different cultural backgrounds often serve as mediators to the communication among professionals. Gottis notes that the interpretation and realization of particular texts depend not only on sociocultural factors, since interpretive schemata play no small part as well. Utilizing a “lingua franca,” however, does not lighten the issue, as intercultural communication entails the need for locators to make their texts adaptable to purpose and contextual features. This chapter illustrates how professional communication plays an integral role in various disciplines, and presents certain related issues such as culture and communication studies.