Intercultural Miscommunication in a Postgraduate Mobility Programme in Indonesia: A CCT-Guided Qualitative Study
Abstract
Due to the increasing role of Asian countries in global collaboration, intercultural communication research in Asia is gaining popularity. However, little is known about the intercultural interactions in intra-Asia. This study explored intercultural miscommunication in a short-term mobility programme in Indonesia through a qualitative approach. The interviewees were six postgraduates from a Malaysian university who came from China, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan who were interviewed following the mobility programme, in English and Mandarin for Mandarin speakers. From an individual level, the researcher adopted the conversational constraint theory (CCT) to demonstrate the mechanism of intercultural miscommunication in Asia and analyse communicative strategies in intercultural conflicts. The data were coded and analysed using thematic analysis through ATLAS.ti. It is found that language, cultural, and communicative differences, and stereotypes are the barriers leading to intercultural miscommunication in intra-Asia communication. In intercultural miscommunication situations, students tend to adopt communicative strategies that prioritise clarity over face maintenance. Pre-departure training has been suggested to significantly influence the outcomes of mobility programmes. It concludes that communication in Asian countries shares many similarities, yet the differences might better not be overlooked. Overall, this study advances a nuanced understanding of intercultural miscommunication in an intra-Asian mobility setting and underscores the analytical value of CCT for examining communication tensions in such contexts.
Keywords: Asia; conversational constraint; intercultural miscommunication; mobility program; strategy
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