Language & Cross-cultural Communication - Essay Example

As defined by Schütz (1972), this essay proceeds from an understanding of intercultural communication as embedded in all forms of cultural discourse, and advances a hybrid structural and sociolinguistic analytic framework, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodology in analyzing intercultural communication within social networking sites, with particular emphasis on Facebook, Chinese, and French versions. The quantitative analysis contained herein requires comment. Over a course of a week participants were monitored and the newsfeed and wall-postings from a sample Facebook account were recorded.

A series of five participants were also interviewed regarding their forms of communication on Facebook. Further elements of intercultural communication were analyzed on an individual basis and qualitative analyses were conducted and compared with contemporary research on the issues of language, identity and social capital. While such an approach allows for a level of sample bias, it does allow for a micro-level sociolinguistic analysis where past studies have opted for macro discussions. The nature of Facebook also allows a uniquely convenient means for sociological analyses that in non-electronic subcultures requires extensive means and human organization.

Further research was conducted in the realm of morphology to determine the extent to which linguistic shifts have occurred as a result of the recent emergence of Facebook as a major means of social communication. With the fast technological development of web 2.0, social networking sites have gained worldwide popularity at a fast speed. Most SNSs allow individuals to present themselves through profiles, articulate their social networks by participating in group activities, and establish or maintain connections with strangers based on common interests, shared views, or interactive activities (Scale,