Happy summer, fellow ICIS members!
Firstly, thanks to all the ICIS members who completed the
online survey to guide our intersection’s priorities for the coming
year. In general, we heard that you are interested in participating in
webinars related to intercultural communication and you would like
access to “easily digestible” content related to key topics in
intercultural communication. In the coming months, we will be deciding
more specific details about our action items for the year.
In this issue, we welcome contributors who explore topics in
intercultural communication from theoretical, practical, and personal
perspectives.
To begin, Dr. Jianfen Wang from Berea College shares a
conceptual article that examines how the theory of Complex Adaptive
Systems (CAS) can be used to make sense of how interlocutors understand
other cultural perspectives. She concludes her piece by connecting CAS
to the context of the teaching of English as an international
language.
Next, Hanh Dinh of the University at Albany, SUNY shares her
research into the use of deixis in intercultural, intra-cultural, and
intra-intercultural groups, noting some interesting differences in how a
speaker’s assumptions about the listener can influence their use of
deixis.
On the heels of these conceptual and research-based articles,
Saurabh Anand from Minnesota State University shares a personal
narrative that implores teachers of English to expose their students to
the diversity of World Englishes. In doing so, he argues, English
teachers can help broaden students’ understanding of what it means to be
a competent English speaker.
Finally, ICIS co-editor, Andrea Lypka, and Yesenia Ensminger
review the newly published book, Navigating the Intercultural
Classroom (TESOL Press, 2018) by Tuula Lindholm.
We hope that you are enjoying your summer and finding time to
refresh yourself before the academic year begins again.
Here’s to another great year!
Sharon
Tjaden-Glass is an instructor for the Intensive English
Program at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Her
current areas of research are in educational technology and the
intersection of listening and intercultural communication. |