Compares United States and Japanese cultures in terms of incidence and management of face-threatening predicaments perpetuated by others. Finds United States citizens more likely than Japanese citizens to employ humor, accounts, and aggression and Japanese more likely to employ apology and remediation. (NH)

A descriptive field study was conducted in Seoul, Korea, to assess Korean interpersonal communication. The data for the study were collected through observations of interpersonal communication patterns among students in university classes, between faculty and students as well as among various faculty members, among business people, and between the…

A theory of interpersonal communication called "the coordinated management of meaning" (CMM) involves three propositions. (1) The fundamental unit of communication is the "speech act," something that the speaker does to the listener by making that particular message at that time. (2) The structure of communication is episodic, consisting of a…

A pilot study examined problems encountered by foreign instructors teaching in American colleges. Fourteen Chinese-born instructors teaching in Speech Communication answered a questionnaire containing 12 open-ended questions. Recurring themes were coded from the answers, and then organized into three categories: cultural differences; linguistic…

This volume of an annual collection presents 13 essays relating to instruction in the basic communication course. Six of the essays are on the theme of cultural diversity in the basic course. The essays are: "The Differential Impact of a Basic Public Speaking Course on Perceived Communication Competencies in Class, Work, and Social…

Defines Uncertainty Reduction Theory. Examines the influence of cultural variability on communication. Argues that cultural variability in individualism-collectivism influences uncertainty reduction in ingroup and outgroup relationships, while cultural variability in masculinity-femininity influences uncertainty reduction in same- and opposite-sex…

A study explored ways of improving satisfying and dissatisfying conversations in order to have more effective interethnic communication. Specifically, research questions based in accommodation theory addressed what blacks feel could be done to improve both successful and unsuccessful conversations with whites. Twenty-four undergraduates at a…

A study examined the means of and correlations between perceptions of willingness to communicate, communication competence, communication apprehension, and introversion of college students in the United States and Micronesia. Subjects were 159 undergraduate students enrolled in 19 classes at the Community College of Micronesia on the island of…

To test the cross-cultural validity of uncertainty reduction theory, a study was conducted using students from South Korea and the United States who were chosen to represent high- and low-context cultures respectively. Uncertainty reduction theory is based upon the assumption that the primary concern of strangers upon meeting is one of uncertainty…

The current style-specific theories of human communication include the public speaking style, the relationship style, and the message communication style. It now appears that intercultural communication may emerge as the fourth style-specific theory as a result of scholars' concern over the ethnocentric bias found in the study of communication.…

Identifies intercultural conversational competencies for Mexican Americans, Black Americans, and White Americans, which were compared and contrasted with previously identified intracultural competencies. Indicates that rules for conversing with members of one's own group are different from rules for intercultural conversations--with the general…

A study explored the universality of widely accepted descriptors of the ideal speaking voice in cross-gender and cross-cultural perspective. To construct and contrast the ideal voice types, university students from Mexico and Arizona described the ideal voice type under consideration and completed a semantic differential indicating the collective…

The eighth in a series of publications dealing with aspects of intercultural communication, this volume focuses on approaches to intercultural communication research. The 16 chapters of the volume are arranged into three sections: diverse approaches to research, quantitative approaches, and qualitative approaches. Specific chapters discuss the…

A study was conducted to explore aspects of intercultural communication present when Iranians attempted to communicate publicly in the United States. Thirty-six American students with little previous knowledge of Iran were interviewed following their attendance at a public lecture/demonstration sponsored by Iranian students in Texas. The…

The Communicator Style Measure (CSM) was administered to 731 students in Japanese universities and 520 American students at the University of Hawaii to discover if members of certain ethnic or national groups possessed a style of speaking that distinguished them from members of other groups. The CSM contains 51 randomly ordered items that inquire…