Understanding Intercultural Communication: Negotiating Meaning and Identities in English as a Lingua Franca Skype Conversations

Today, academics, business professionals and private persons alike need to communicate successfully and establish relationships with people from various cultures through digital means. These skills have now become essential in virtual environments. This book provides an in-depth analysis of how interlocutors negotiate meaning and identities in intercultural video-mediated communication as an important step to improving interactions on a global scale. It contributes to understanding the complex negotiation processes and strategies involved in communicating successfully and in establishing rapport in an intercultural and video-mediated context. Speakers in this English as a Lingua Franca setting act as accomplished conversationalists who efficiently employ various strategies to make themselves understood and to preempt interactional difficulties. At the same time, interlocutors (re)negotiate identities on various levels in the process of their interactions with conversation partners. Based on these insights, this book concludes with practical suggestions for educational and professional applications.

About the authorMarie-Louise Brunner is on the board of directors of InDi - Institute for International and Digital Communication at the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, Trier University of Applied Sciences. As a researcher and project manager, she engages in interdisciplinary research, education and consulting at the interface of linguistics, communication studies and marketing.