Intercultural Communication in the Classroom.

This document reviews the existing literature on intercultural communication (ICC) and ties it to teacher-student classroom interactions, exploring ways that teachers can respond to cultural incongruities and reduce the cultural clashes they experience between themselves and students from different cultural backgrounds. Section 1, "Introduction," reviews the issue. Section 2, "Conceptual Foundations of Intercultural Communication," discusses concepts of culture and communication that are necessary to understanding the process of ICC. It explains that communication is an imperfect process, one made even more complex when the element of cultural differences is involved. This section concludes by describing Gudykunst and Kim's (1997) model of intercultural communication. Section 3,"Cultural Influences on the Communication Process: Dimensions of Cultural Variability," explores how culture influences communication, pointing out how cultural variability can impact communication and thereby affect teacher-student interactions. Section 4, "Factors That Influence Effective Cultural Communication," describes how motivation, knowledge, and skills can increase effective intercultural communication. (Contains 65 references.) (SM)