Professional Communication in International Settings

In today′s global business environment it is necessary to communicate successfully across cultural boundaries of languages, styles, and values. Professional Communication in International Settings provides a practical way to help individuals deal with a variety of cultural practices by systematically developing their own capacity to learn culturally appropriate behaviors and actions.

The book uses four communicative activities; telephone calls, resumes, presentations, and meetings; to show how the rapid development of new media technologies and new contacts changes each area of professional communication. The volume presents a method for cooperative and comparative exchanges that allow organizational groups to get the information they need directly from their counterparts without lengthy training programs.

Professional Communication in International Settings is a vital resource for both individuals and corporate groups looking to succeed in today′s global market.

List of Figures.

Preface.

1.Analyzing Communication in the International Workplace.

2. The Telephone Call: When Technology Intervenes.

3. The Resumé: A Corporate "Trojan Horse".

4. The Presentation: From Dale Carnegie to Ananova the Avatar.

5. The Meeting: Action or Ratification?.

6. The Reflective View: Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us.

Appendices: Reflective Self–Assessment.

1: The Communication Display Portfolio Exchange Planner.

2: Presenting Across Cultures.

3: Suggestions for Users.

Further Reading.

References.

Index.

Yuling Pan is Managing Director of the Asian Sociocultural Research Projects, as well as Post–Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Linguistics, Georgetown University. She has trained US diplomats at the Foreign Service Institute of the US State Department and has taught in the United States, China, Hong Kong, and Finland. She is the author of Politeness in Chinese Face–to–Face Interaction (2000).

Suzanne Wong Scollon is Research Coordinator of the Asian Sociocultural Research Projects at Georgetown University.

Ron Scollon is Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University. Together, they have written extensively on cross–cultural communication from academic positions in North American universities as well as in Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. They are the authors of numerous books and articles, including Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach (second edition, Blackwell 2001) and Narrative, Literacy, and Face in Interethnic Communication (1997).

"The Scollons have long been leaders in the field of intercultural communication. Now Yuling Pan brings her extensive research and consulting experience to join with them in providing a theoretically sound, methodologically rigorous, and eminently practical approach to business communication in an international environment. Their ′three–cultures′ exchange model avoids the common pitfall of binary cultural comparison, and their case history approach demonstrates the effectiveness of using multiple perspectives to address the complexity of real workplace situations. This rich and insightful book will prove invaluable to individuals working in international contexts and the trainers who prepare them, and to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of intercultural communication." Deborah Tannen, author of I Only Say This Because I Love You

"[Professional communication in international settings] is scholarly and extremely informative, yet it is also enjoyable to read with its illuminating examples...This book is a must for business people or professionsal who strive to achieve a better understanding and more effective communication in cross–cultural interactions." Language in Society

"Rich with culture–specific communication examples, the book contributes to our understanding of intercultural communication." Language Policy