Mediation through an intercultural communication lens
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.32579Keywords:
intercultural communication, interculturality, cultural negotiation, family mediation, university mediation, intercultural mediation trainingAbstract
The article examines intercultural communication theory for the purpose of considering to what extent this theory may be useful to mediation practitioners and researchers. Early theory associated with Edward T. Hall and Geert Hofstede, which posits cultural differences associated with national groups, has been very influential in intercultural training, including training for mediators. A second area of theorisation is prescriptive. This includes two very different but related approaches: theorisation about intercultural competence, and social justice approaches. The uses and drawbacks of Hofstedian and prescriptive approaches for mediators are considered. Two further intercultural communication theories are explored. ‘Small culture’, as theorized by Adrian Holliday, is about the developing norms and practices in a possibly ephemeral group. Intercultural discursive practice, of which a major exponent is Zhu Hua, comprises two key areas: examining how participants in an interaction ascribe cultural categories to one another, and how they negotiate cultural matters. It is proposed that ‘small culture’ and intercultural discursive approaches could be productive for culture-focused mediation researchers as well as useful for trainers and practitioners.
References
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Schegloff, E. (2007) Categories in action: person-reference and membership categorization. Discourse Studies 9(4): 433–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445607079162
Schön, D. ([1983]1995) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Aldershot: Arena.
Sorrells, K. (2013) Opening the conversation: studying intercultural communication. In Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice 1–24. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Stokoe, E. (2011) Simulated interaction and communication skills training: the ‘conversation-analytic role-play method.’ In C. Antaki (ed.) Applied Conversation Analysis: Intervention and Change in Institutional Talk 119–39. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stokoe, E. (2015) Identifying and responding to possible -isms in institutional encounters: alignment, impartiality, and the implications for communication training. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 34(4): 427–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X15586572
Ting-Toomey, S. (2010) Intercultural mediation: Asian and Western conflict lens. In D. Busch, C-H. Mayer and C. Boness (eds) International and Regional Perspectives on Cross-cultural Mediation 79–98. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Woolford, A. and Ratner, R. (2009) Mediation frames/justice games. In D. Sandole, S. Byrne, I. Sandole-Staroste and J. Senehi (eds) Handbook of Conflict Analysis and Resolution 315–27. Abingdon: Routledge.
Zhu, H. (2015) Negotiation as the way of engagement in intercultural and lingua franca communication: frames of reference and interculturality. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 4(1): 63–90.
Avruch, K. (1998) Culture and Conflict Resolution. Washington, DC: US Institute of Peace.
Baker, W. (2015) Culture and Identity through English as a Lingua Franca. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501502149
Barrett, M., Byram, M., Lazar, I., Mompoint-Gaillard, P. and Philippou, S. (2013) Developing Intercultural Competence through Education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Brandt, A. (2008) On ‘interculturality’: a review of research applying ethnomethodology to the study of intercultural interactions. ARECLS 5: 205–29.
Brewer, P. and Veniak, S. (2012) On the misuse of national culture dimensions. International Marketing Review 29(6): 673–83. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651331211277991
Brigg, M. and Bleiker, R. (eds) (2011) Mediating Across Difference: Oceanic and Asian Approaches to Conflict Resolution. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Brownlie, S. (forthcoming) Using cultural categories for opposition and brokering in conflict mediation. Language and Intercultural Communication.
Busch, D. (2010) How does culture affect conflict mediation? Disentangling concepts from theory and practice. In D. Busch, C-H. Mayer and C. Boness (eds) International and Regional Perspectives on Cross-cultural Mediation 15–50. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Busch, D., Mayer, C.-H. and Boness, C. (eds) (2010) International and Regional Perspectives on Cross-cultural Mediation. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
CMP Resolutions (2015) ILM Endorsed: Qualified Workplace Mediator. Support Pack for Learners. Bassingbourn: CMP Resolutions.
Day, D. (1998) Being ascribed and resisting membership of an ethnic group. In C. Antaki and S. Widdicombe (eds) Identities in Talk 151–70. London: Sage.
Deardorff, D. (2009) The Sage Handbook of Intercultural Competence. London: Sage.
Fisher-Yoshida, B. (2005) Reframing conflict: intercultural conflict as potential transformation. Journal of Intercultural Communication 8: 1–16.
Gallois, C., Ogay, T. and Giles, H. (2005) Communication accommodation theory: a look back and a look forward. In W. B. Gudykunst (ed.) Theorizing about Intercultural Communication 121–48. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Greatbatch, D. and Dingwall, R. (1999) Professional Neutralism in Family Mediation. In S. Sarangi and C. Roberts (eds) Talk, Work and Institutional Order: Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings 271-292. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110208375.3.271
Hall, E. T. (1959) The Silent Language. New York: Doubleday.
Hall, E. T. (1976) Beyond Culture. New York: Anchor Books/Doubleday.
Halualani, R. and Nakayama, T. (2010) Critical intercultural communication studies at a crossroads. In T. Nakayama and R. Halualani (eds) The Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication 1–16. Malden MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hammer, M. (2005) The intercultural conflict style inventory: a conceptual framework and measure of conflict resolution approaches. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 29: 675–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.08.010
Higgins, C. (2007) Constructing membership in the in-group: affiliation and resistance among urban Tanzanians. Pragmatics 17(1): 49–70. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.17.1.05hig
Hofstede, G. (2003) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. London: Profile Books.
Holliday, A. (1999) Small cultures. Applied Linguistics 20(2): 237–64. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/20.2.237
IMI (2011) Criteria for approving programs to qualify mediators for IMI intercultural certification. Retrieved on 28 March 2017 from https://imimediation.org/intercultural-certification-criteria.
Kecskes, I. (2014) Intercultural Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kimmel, P. (2000) Culture and conflict. In M. Deutsch and P. Coleman (eds) Handbook of Conflict Resolution 453–74. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
LeBaron, M. and Pillay, V. (eds) (2006) Conflict Across Cultures: A Unique Experience of Bridging Cultures. Boston , MA: Intercultural Press.
Mayer, C.-H. and Boness, C. (2005) Intercultural Mediation and Conflict Resolution. Stuttgart: Ibidem.
McSweeney, B. (2002) Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: a triumph of faith – a failure of analysis. Human Relations 55(1): 89–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726702551004
Mori, J. (2003) The construction of interculturality: a study of initial encounters between Japanese and American students. Research on Language and Social Interaction 36(2): 143–84. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327973RLSI3602_3
Morris, P. (2015) Screening for domestic violence in family mediation: an investigation into how mediators manage disclosures of domestic abuse and associated emotions. PhD thesis, Brunel University.
Nishizaka, A. (1995) The interactive constitution of interculturality: how to be a Japanese with words. Human Studies 18: 301–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01323214
Rogers, E., Hart, W. and Miike, Y. (2002) Edward T. Hall and the history of intercultural communication: the United States and Japan. Keio Communication Review 24: 3–26.
Schegloff, E. (2007) Categories in action: person-reference and membership categorization. Discourse Studies 9(4): 433–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445607079162
Schön, D. ([1983]1995) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Aldershot: Arena.
Sorrells, K. (2013) Opening the conversation: studying intercultural communication. In Intercultural Communication: Globalization and Social Justice 1–24. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Stokoe, E. (2011) Simulated interaction and communication skills training: the ‘conversation-analytic role-play method.’ In C. Antaki (ed.) Applied Conversation Analysis: Intervention and Change in Institutional Talk 119–39. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stokoe, E. (2015) Identifying and responding to possible -isms in institutional encounters: alignment, impartiality, and the implications for communication training. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 34(4): 427–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X15586572
Ting-Toomey, S. (2010) Intercultural mediation: Asian and Western conflict lens. In D. Busch, C-H. Mayer and C. Boness (eds) International and Regional Perspectives on Cross-cultural Mediation 79–98. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Woolford, A. and Ratner, R. (2009) Mediation frames/justice games. In D. Sandole, S. Byrne, I. Sandole-Staroste and J. Senehi (eds) Handbook of Conflict Analysis and Resolution 315–27. Abingdon: Routledge.
Zhu, H. (2015) Negotiation as the way of engagement in intercultural and lingua franca communication: frames of reference and interculturality. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 4(1): 63–90.
Published
2017-06-16
Issue
Section
Research Articles
How to Cite
Brownlie, S. (2017). Mediation through an intercultural communication lens. Mediation Theory and Practice, 2(1), 34-53. https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.32579
