Intercultural Research Articles

From experience to empathy: An empathetic VR-based learning approach to improving EFL learners’ empathy and writing performance

English as a foreign language (EFL) writing is vital in interpersonal and cross-cultural communication. Writing refers to a complicated, dispersed, dialogic, and mediated process of discovery and creation, generally considered to be one of the most challenging skills for EFL learners. Nowadays, some students struggle to create words that resonate with readers since they lack real-life experience and empathy cultivation. Virtual reality (VR) not only provides realistic experiences but is also known as the “ultimate empathy machine.” Therefore, this study proposed an empathetic VR-based learning (E-VRL) approach to provide learners with access to authentic experiences and further promote learner empathy. To assess the validity of this approach, 63 junior high school students were recruited to participate in a quasi-experiment, and were randomly divided into an experimental group (EG) which used the E-VRL approach and a control group (CG) which used the VR-based learning (VRL) approach. The results showed that the E-VRL approach improved students’ cognitive empathy and dialogic empathy more than the VRL approach. Additionally, it was found that students in the EG outperformed those in the CG in terms of the use of ideas and content, word choice, and voice in their writing. This study proves the efficacy of the presented E-VRL approach, and provides valuable insights for future research on the design of VR-based EFL writing activities and VR environments.

"What do I say?" Reflections on the International Communication Strategy of Chinese Culture on Social Media Platforms

In the Internet era, the social media platform has been an important channel for international people to get information based on the digital technology with rapid development. The information on social media with rapid transmission is short and brief and the presentation is fragmented and simple, providing the public with a platform to conduct exchanges on equal footing, which has given the content a new interpretation. Thus as Chinese culture goes international, social media platforms have also been an important part of China's digital culture industry. Then what kind of image we should build to promote the transmission of Chinese culture to the world and how to present the content of the external communication platform to achieve the emotional resonance of cultural communication between different countries are extremely essential. On the basis of "acculturation theory", the thesis intends to explore and analyze the significant differences in the international dissemination of Chinese culture strategy, determine "what I want to say" under the premise of knowing “who is the information aimed at” and how to make the most of social media platforms to promote acculturation and cross-cultural communication, and propose corresponding an optimal path.

The Students Ignorance In Practicing English Speaking

Mastery of English has become an increasingly important requirement in this era of globalization. As an international language, English plays a crucial role in various aspects of life, ranging from education, career, to cross-cultural communication. In Indonesia, although English has been taught since elementary school level, there are still many students who experience difficulties in English speaking practice. This phenomenon raises concerns among educators and education stakeholders. Many university students have studied English for years but are still reluctant or unconfident to use it in everyday conversation. This reluctance is often referred to as "ignorance" or indifference to the importance of English speaking practice. Various factors can contribute to this problem, including ineffective teaching methods, lack of exposure to the use of English in real contexts, and psychological factors such as language anxiety and fear of making mistakes. Given the importance of English speaking skills in today's globalized world, it is important to delve deeper into the phenomenon of students' indifference in practicing spoken English.

The Emotional Face of Language: Sentiment Analysis of English and Korean Subtitles on Barbie

Barbie: A Touch of Magic, Eposide 5th, an English and Korean subtitled Barbie cartoon, is used in this study to investigate the relationship between language culture and emotions. Finding out how language and culture impact emotional expression and what this means for language acquisition, emotional intelligence development, and cross-cultural communication are the key objectives. An in-depth analysis was done on the emotional intonations that change between the Korean and English subtitles, as well as any possible implications for language learning. The study emphasizes the intricate connection between language and society as well as the significance of including affective components in language instruction materials. The results imply that when learning a language and acquiring cross-cultural communication skills, the degree to which an emotion is communicated matters. The study offers helpful data that can be utilized in the domains of communication techniques, translation, and language instruction. It also emphasizes how important cultural sensitivity is for developing good communication and empathy skills. The purpose of this study is to advance knowledge of the relationship between language and culture and establish the framework for further investigation into this field.

Cross-Culture Communication Management: Difference And Building at PT Las Coal Mandiri

This study discusses a conceptual study of cross-cultural communication practices at PT Laz Coal Mandiri. This study was designed to explore how the Company deals with existing problems related to communication and information transfer between the Company's staff in the presence of differences in individual cultural backgrounds and other individuals. In this study, researchers compiled using qualitative research methods using the Library's review method through books, scientific articles, journals, and other publications. The results obtained in this study show that cultural differences have a significant influence on communication between groups at PT Laz Coal Mandiri. Negotiating between multicultural groups at PT Laz Coal Mandiri is often complicated and requires a thorough understanding of each party's cultural norms. In addition, it also explores how collaboration can be built between teams from different cultures at PT Laz Coal Mandiri. It was concluded that intercultural communication management at PT Laz Coal Mandiri is essential to establishing effective collaboration between multicultural teams.

Overcoming cross-language communication barriers with speech recognition technology

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of speech recognition technology in addressing communication and language barriers between individuals from different geographical locations. Through a case study, this paper collects data from a variety of sources to demonstrate the effectiveness of speech recognition technology in enhancing cross-cultural communication. The findings show that speech recognition technology can greatly improve communication, reduce misunderstandings, and ultimately promote understanding and cooperation between individuals from different regions. This technology can help people overcome language barriers and achieve more fluent communication. In addition, speech recognition technology can improve people's productivity as it can quickly convert spoken language into written text.Speech recognition technology also has a wide range of applications in cross-cultural communication. It can be used in various fields such as business, tourism, education and healthcare. By using speech recognition technology, differences between cultures can be better understood and respected, leading to more harmonious social relationships.

Medicinal plants used by minority ethnic groups in China: Taxonomic diversity and conservation needs

Ethnopharmacological relevanceIndigenous communities have long relied on medicinal plants (MPs) for primary healthcare. The ethnomedicinal knowledge are different among ethnic groups since the local flora and people's health beliefs generally vary among biocultural backgrounds. China with its diverse biocultural environment is rich in culturally important plant species including MPs. They are also essential in the context of conservation of plant resources and the related traditional medical knowledge, requiring an integrated perspective on these MPs. Aim of the studyFocusing on the MPs used by the minority ethnic groups, this study assesses the diversity of MPs in China used in local indigenous traditions, as well as their conservation needs. Materials and methodsThe MPs used by the 18 selected minority ethnic groups were extracted from an ethnic MP dictionary. After standardizing, the names then were compiled as an inventory. Next, following statistics were computed: the number of species in each order and family, species used by each ethnic group, species documented in the national herbal resource dataset, species adopted in drug standards, and species at different levels of conservation lists. The overall similarity of the MPs used by the ethnic groups included was achieved using a cluster and principal component analysis. ResultsIn total 5886 vascular plant species are reported as medicines in the 18 ethnic groups, which belong to 1657 genera and 243 families. It is found that 3195 species are used exclusively by one ethnic group, indicating their cultural salience and potential restrictedness in ecological terms. Moreover, 1159 species are included in national/regional drug standards, indicating their importance in the national medical flora. However, only 3541 species of them are documented in the national herbal resource dataset, and 761 species are at different levels of threatened status, highlighting the conservation needs of Chinese MPs and the related traditional medical knowledge. ConclusionsUsing a quantitative approach, for the first time the present study reveals the high level of taxonomic diversity of MPs used by minority ethnic groups of China. However, of these species, 40% are still not inventoried in the national herbal resource dataset, and more than half are used exclusively by one ethnic group, and around 13% are included in the conservation lists of different levels. These together urge the conservation of MP resources and related traditional medical knowledge. Additionally, we recommend fostering the cross-cultural communication the regional ethnomedicinal knowledge, for the purpose of maximizing the benefits of regional plants to human.

Entrepreneurial Initiatives of Women Self-Help Groups to Facilitate Sustainable Tourism: A Case Study with reference to Kudumbashree- Kerala

Abstract: Sustainable Ecotourism and cultural tourism have been emerged as an integral part of the tourism industry, that enhances economic development, and cross-cultural understanding between people and countries, and protection of environment. Kudumbashree, an all-women Community based Organization in Kerala has introduced several programs to integrate cultural heritage of the State with Tourism sector, which in turn provides livelihood to thousands of women and to empower the local communities. This paper is an enquiry into the role of Kudumbashree in the promotion of Eco- tourism and cultural tourism in Kerala State, and its implications.

AI-Driven Social Media E-commerce Advertising: A Cross-Cultural Communication Study from the Perspective of Yiwu's Trade and Commerce

In the contemporary era of globalization, cross-border e-commerce advertising has emerged as a pivotal conduit for interconnecting diverse cultures and marketplaces. This research delves into the nexus of Yiwu, China, a globally recognized hub for small commodity distribution, to examine the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within the realm of social media e-commerce advertising. It places a particular emphasis on the strategies and efficacy of cross-cultural communication within this context. Employing an online survey methodology, this study has garnered consumer feedback encompassing both local vendors and international purchasers. The survey instrument was designed to assess various dimensions, including recognition of AI advertisements, perceptions of quality, the experience of personalization, and the adaptability to cross-cultural contexts. Subsequent analysis reveals that while AI-driven advertising excels in bolstering user engagement and propensity to purchase, it faces ongoing challenges in navigating cultural disparities. The findings of this research proffer strategic insights for enterprises in Yiwu and the broader cross-border e-commerce sector, advocating for the enhancement of cultural adaptability in AI-driven advertising initiatives and advocating a deeper understanding of consumer behaviors across different cultural landscapes.

Cross-lingual Cross-temporal Summarization: Dataset, Models, Evaluation

Abstract While summarization has been extensively researched in natural language processing (NLP), cross-lingual cross-temporal summarization (CLCTS) is a largely unexplored area that has the potential to improve cross-cultural accessibility and understanding. This article comprehensively addresses the CLCTS task, including dataset creation, modeling, and evaluation. We (1) build the first CLCTS corpus with 328 instances for hDe-En (extended version with 455 instances) and 289 for hEn-De (extended version with 501 instances), leveraging historical fiction texts and Wikipedia summaries in English and German; (2) examine the effectiveness of popular transformer end-to-end models with different intermediate fine-tuning tasks; (3) explore the potential of GPT-3.5 as a summarizer; and (4) report evaluations from humans, GPT-4, and several recent automatic evaluation metrics. Our results indicate that intermediate task fine-tuned end-to-end models generate bad to moderate quality summaries while GPT-3.5, as a zero-shot summarizer, provides moderate to good quality outputs. GPT-3.5 also seems very adept at normalizing historical text. To assess data contamination in GPT-3.5, we design an adversarial attack scheme in which we find that GPT-3.5 performs slightly worse for unseen source documents compared to seen documents. Moreover, it sometimes hallucinates when the source sentences are inverted against its prior knowledge with a summarization accuracy of 0.67 for plot omission, 0.71 for entity swap, and 0.53 for plot negation. Overall, our regression results of model performances suggest that longer, older, and more complex source texts (all of which are more characteristic for historical language variants) are harder to summarize for all models, indicating the difficulty of the CLCTS task. Regarding evaluation, we observe that both GPT-4 and BERTScore correlate moderately with human evaluations, implicating great potential for future improvement.

The Innovation of Cross-cultural Communication Path of Elegies of the South in the New Media Era

The Innovation of Cross-cultural Communication Path of Elegies of the South in the New Media Era

Assessing Translation of Humor in The English Subtitles of Goodbye Mr. Loser

Humor is primarily influenced by both the source and target language cultures, which poses significant challenges for translators. Given the continuous emergence of comedy movies, humor plays a crucial role in cultural expression. However, research on the assessment of translation quality of humor in movie subtitles in China remains limited. This study aims to categorize the translation techniques using Pedersen’s typology (2005, 2011) and assess the translation quality of the humorous content in the English subtitles of the Chinese comedy movie Goodbye, Mr. Loser (2015). Goodbye, Mr. Loser is one of the most successful comedy movies in China in recent years, selling 1.441 billion yuan at the box office and winning an award at the China New Era International Film Festival, while also gaining a lot of attention overseas. This study analyzes the accuracy of the English subtitles based on Newmark’s (1988) framework. In his model, Newmark (1988) assesses the accuracy by looking at the accurate reflection of the semantic, contextual, register and style of the ST in TT. Additionally, it adopts a questionnaire for non-Chinese speakers following Nababan, Nuraeni and Sumardiono’s (2012) approach to assess the acceptability and readability of the English subtitles. The significance of this study lies in its potential to enhance the quality of Chinese audiovisual products, reduce language barriers, foster effective cross-culture communication, and provide a valuable reference for the humor translation in Chinese comedy movies in the future.

Threads of Tradition and Global Expression: Persian Rugs Unraveled through Paintings and Globalization

Abstract: Unravelling Persian Rugs: Art, Tradition and Globalization This study investigates the dynamic relationship between Persian rugs, art, and globalization, following their transformation from functional objects to powerful symbols of identity. The study examines representations in paintings from various historical periods, highlighting the nuanced interplay between these textiles and global influences. Persian rugs have served as conduits for cross-cultural communication throughout history, from luxury in the Renaissance to modernistic interpretations in the twentieth. Through case studies, the paper delves into narratives that connect tradition and transformation, contributing to a better understanding of art, culture, and our shared human journey.

TRANSLATION FEATURES OF ENGLISH SCIENCE FICTION OF THE 20th CENTURY

This article explores the translation features of English science fiction literature from the 20th century. The genre of science fiction has gained immense popularity and significance over the years, with numerous works being translated into different languages to reach a global audience. The translation of science fiction presents unique challenges due to the complex scientific concepts, futuristic technologies, and imaginative worlds depicted in the original texts. This study examines the strategies and techniques used by translators to convey the essence and nuances of English science fiction works while maintaining the integrity of the original text. By analyzing specific examples and case studies, this article sheds light on the creative approaches employed by translators to bridge the cultural and linguistic gaps in science fiction literature, ultimately enhancing cross-cultural communication.

Research on the Strategy of Integrating Chinese Traditional Culture into College English Teaching

With the deepening of globalization and the increasing frequency of cross-cultural communication, the importance of English as an international language is obvious. College English teaching plays a decisive role in China s higher education system, which is not only the key course to promote the development of students applied English ability, but also an important means to cultivate their international vision and cross-cultural communication ability. But at present, college English teaching often pays too much attention to the cultivation of language skills, but neglects the cultural inheritance and integration. This situation, to some extent, restricts students understanding and perception of the deep cultural connotation of English lauguage itself. The purpose of this study is to explore the effective combination of Chinese traditional culture and college English teaching, so as to promote the improvement of teaching quality and cultivate high-quality talents with solid English skills and a deep understanding of Chinese and Western culture.

Research on Telling Chinese Stories in English in High School English Teaching

Against the background of globalization, cultural exchanges between different countries and regions have become increasingly frequent, and cultural diversity has become a major feature of today s society. Under such circumstances, education needs to pay more attention to cross-cultural communication and introduce multicultural elements in order to better meet the needs of globalization. The traditional training model can no longer meet the needs of the complex and changing society, and cross-cultural communication and multicultural learning experiences have become an important factor in shaping the future of education. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the current research state, its significance and strategies of telling Chinese stories in English in high school English teaching. By analyzing the current situation of high school English teaching, this paper proposes the importance of integrating Chinese stories into high school English teaching, and elaborates on how to effectively implement this teaching method in teaching practice.

Research on the Reform Strategy of College English Teaching Based Xinon Curriculum Ideology and Politics

With the development of globalization, English, as a commonly used language in international communication, has become increasingly important. College English teaching, an integral part of China's higher education system, aims to cultivate students' English application ability and cross-cultural communication skills. However, the traditional college English teaching mode often focuses excessively on the cultivation of language skills while neglecting the ideological and political education of students. In the current context, it is crucial to incorporate ideological and political education into the classroom and foster students' correct world outlook, life outlook, and values. This paper aims to explore the reform strategies of college English teaching under the guidance of curriculum-based Ideological and Political Education, hoping to contribute to the reform of college English teaching, promote the organic integration of English teaching and ideological and political education, and assist in cultivating outstanding talents with an international perspective and sound ideological and political accomplishment.

Integrating Traditional Chinese Culture into Vocational English Education: Strategies and Approaches

With economic globalization, English has become a crucial discipline in China s educational system, serving as a vital tool for cross-cultural communication. This paper explores the urgent need to integrate the rich heritage of traditional Chinese culture into vocational English teaching to enhance students cultural understanding and national confidence. It suggests that vocational colleges should take the lead in this initiative, finding effective methods to achieve such integration, thereby preparing students to become effective communicators and ambassadors of Chinese culture on the global stage.

Pedagogical sentiment analysis based on the BERT-CNN-BiGRU-attention model in the context of intercultural communication barriers.

Amid the wave of globalization, the phenomenon of cultural amalgamation has surged in frequency, bringing to the fore the heightened prominence of challenges inherent in cross-cultural communication. To address these challenges, contemporary research has shifted its focus to human-computer dialogue. Especially in the educational paradigm of human-computer dialogue, analysing emotion recognition in user dialogues is particularly important. Accurately identify and understand users' emotional tendencies and the efficiency and experience of human-computer interaction and play. This study aims to improve the capability of language emotion recognition in human-computer dialogue. It proposes a hybrid model (BCBA) based on bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT), convolutional neural networks (CNN), bidirectional gated recurrent units (BiGRU), and the attention mechanism. This model leverages the BERT model to extract semantic and syntactic features from the text. Simultaneously, it integrates CNN and BiGRU networks to delve deeper into textual features, enhancing the model's proficiency in nuanced sentiment recognition. Furthermore, by introducing the attention mechanism, the model can assign different weights to words based on their emotional tendencies. This enables it to prioritize words with discernible emotional inclinations for more precise sentiment analysis. The BCBA model has achieved remarkable results in emotion recognition and classification tasks through experimental validation on two datasets. The model has significantly improved both accuracy and F1 scores, with an average accuracy of 0.84 and an average F1 score of 0.8. The confusion matrix analysis reveals a minimal classification error rate for this model. Additionally, as the number of iterations increases, the model's recall rate stabilizes at approximately 0.7. This accomplishment demonstrates the model's robust capabilities in semantic understanding and sentiment analysis and showcases its advantages in handling emotional characteristics in language expressions within a cross-cultural context. The BCBA model proposed in this study provides effective technical support for emotion recognition in human-computer dialogue, which is of great significance for building more intelligent and user-friendly human-computer interaction systems. In the future, we will continue to optimize the model's structure, improve its capability in handling complex emotions and cross-lingual emotion recognition, and explore applying the model to more practical scenarios to further promote the development and application of human-computer dialogue technology.

Comparative Study of the Cultural Connotations of Animals in China and the West from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication: Taking Chinese Zodiacs as an Example

As we know, language is a cultural carrier. Different social backgrounds and national cultures have a great effect on the cultural connotations of idiom. Along with the development and progress of human society, animal words gradually have got their established connotations in all languages. However, the connotations of animal words in one language do not necessarily coincide with those in another because of geographical environment, convention, history, and religion in different cultures. Therefore, this paper intends to take the Chinese Zodiac as a research object from a cross-cultural perspective to explore the differences in animal culture between China and the West. By comparing factors such as social customs, religious beliefs, and natural environment, explore several methods of translating animal idiom so as to promote smooth cross-cultural communication and provide references for related research.