Matthew Scott and Grant Sherson. Intercultural Communication as a Dominant Paradigm

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Communications, Victoria University of Wellington, April 1999AbstractWhat is the importance, finally, of the field of intercultural communication for communication theory more generally and for the world? Where intercultural communication falls down, or has so far, is in its attempts to be a science. Disagreement continues over the meaning and import of basic terms; partial theories abound, while rare attempts at a fully-featured paradigm seem obliged to choose between good theory or realistic practice. In the soft world of communication, intercultural communication may just be the softest science of all. However, if it is weak as a science, it has real merits as a movement. Perhaps the best thing about it is the way it has acculturated our thinking on communication. Communication studies took no real account of culture until the advent of Hall; now there is a wealth of research interest. This is of theoretical benefit, since whatever else may be salient in communication, and however vexed the notion of culture may be, it remains true that culture influences communication, and a full theory of communication must take account of it. More importantly, that research has led to increasingly sophisticated investigations into cultures far removed from our own. In doing this it goes some way toward rectifying the imbalance in research attention, which has been heavily focussed on the developed West. The result is greater awareness, and potentially greater understanding. And if understanding is the key to good intercultural relationships, as most figures in the field maintain, then this can only be a good thing.