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Successful intercultural communication in terms of two related concepts: "Practical certainty" and "going on"
Abstract
The object of this research was to discover whether the related concepts of "practical certainty" (Dewey) and "going on" (Wittgenstein) might shed light on the nature of successful intercultural communication and how it is accomplished. The inquiry is significant because much of the research in the field to date is product- not process-oriented and involves models difficult to translate into practical life. The methodology involved the assumption that utility is a more suitable research goal than truth. Student-teacher interactions were taped in two kinds of class conferences at the University of New Hampshire, (1) foreign students being taught by an American, and (2) American students being taught by a Chinese woman. Participants were also interviewed. The concepts "practical certainty" and "going on" were found to shed new light on how successful intercultural communication is actually "done."
Subject Area
Communication|Bilingual education|Multicultural education
Recommended Citation
Richardson, Marissa Anne, "Successful intercultural communication in terms of two related concepts: "Practical certainty" and "going on"" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9329662.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9329662