Racism and other prejudices have hindered efforts to diversify and further many fields, including education, psychology, politics, law, and healthcare (Race for Opportunity, 2010). Although there are many ways to combat these prejudices, intercultural communication continues to be a vital component in assisting individuals and groups with valuing…

This paper examines the prominence of written English on shop signs in Japan. Based on data from a larger empirical study into multilingual signs in Tokyo, the most common ways of using English and the roman alphabet on Japanese shops signs are identified. It is argued that the ambivalent nature of English loan words plays a key role in the ever…

Cross-cultural validity of teacher immediacy scales is a constant concern in instructional communication research. The present study examines the validity of two existing teacher immediacy scales: the Revised Nonverbal Immediacy Measure (RNIM) and the Chinese Teacher Immediacy Scale (CTIS) in U.S., Chinese, German, and Japanese cultures. Results…

Analyzes ambiguity as a factor in Japanese language and culture as they affect technical communication. Presents and interprets results of a survey of Japanese and U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists concerning the kinds of communication products they produce and use and their ideas of what should be taught in technical communication courses.…

Develops a typology of strategies people use to cope with public speaking anxiety. Assesses the influences of anxiety level on strategy use. Finds 65 basic tactics in 6 strategy types (Relaxation, Preparation, Positive Thinking, Audience Depreciation, Concentration, and Resignation). Finds high anxious persons more likely to report Relaxation and…

Concludes that Japanese managers tend to rely more often on altruism-based strategies to gain compliance, while American managers tend to rely more often on reward- or punishment-based strategies. (MS)

Investigates Total Quality Control (TQC) as a companywide, pivotal, and unifying philosophy for quality production and human interaction in Japanese organizations. Stresses the central role of communication processes. Challenges business communication scholars to incorporate TQC as a macro framework in dissections of the quality movement within…

Provides a cross-cultural test of J. Bavelas's situational theory of equivocation. Questions students from the United States and Japan about hypothetical scenarios, altered to create either an avoidance-avoidance situation or a nonconflict situation. Finds strong support for the theory--students produced messages exhibiting substantial…

Investigates face and facework during conflicts among undergraduate students across four national cultures: China, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Presents major findings concerning self-construals; power distance; individualistic, small-power distance cultures; large-power distance cultures; and relational closeness and status. Discusses…

Based in a stream of community-based health promotion activities rather than a fixed framework of hypothesis testing, the study described in this paper tried to solve the problem of the one-sided communication between Japanese health care providers and receivers by visualizing health-related feelings and concepts for both parties involved in the…

Indicates that culture affected all three dimensions of the model of self-consciousness studied, with significant differences emerging between the (1) U.S. and Japanese samples on public self-consciousness and (2) U.S. and Korea on social anxiety. Reveals significantly higher levels of self-monitoring in the U.S. sample than in both the Japanese…

Different concepts of profit may lead to communication problems in business negotiations. A study of Japanese and American business students' concepts of profit revealed Japanese unidimensional and American multidimensional conceptualizing of profit. (PD)

In the present decade, many management and organizational communication scholars have explored a guiding metaphor--organizational culture. Japanese industry has developed a corporate model that may have provided the concepts involved in organizational culture: ideology, beliefs, rituals, myths, and symbols. Organizational culture is inextricably…

Most, if not all research on communication apprehension (CA) in Japan has been theory driven. While a theory driven approach may be useful to help understand certain aspects of CA in Japan, a ground-up approach offers the opportunity to understand in depth, the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of those who suffer from CA. This paper reports the…

Surveys studies on bibliometrics and related subjects in Japan, classifying them into studies on bibliometrics and applications of bibliometrics. Examines applications of fuzzy set theory to document retrieval using bibliometric techniques. Emphasizes the models and methods used in common between bibliometrics and other fields of science. (SR)