This paper examines the transition in the ethnicity consciousness of foreign-born, non-native youth when they perform expressive activities as ethnic minorities in the host society, while overcoming assimilation pressures from the host society. This research uses the life story analysis method. The analysis shows that the commitment of the youth in performing expressive activities, such as playing roles as rap musicians and community radio disc jockeys, enabled them to participate in communities of practice engaged in the expressive activities. Through such participation, they gained knowledge about their own ethnic group and their history in Japan, as well as finding role models. From these processes, they were able to change negative perceptions into positive attitudes and deepened their understanding of their ethnicities

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This study examines how communication gaps occurred between the Indonesian and Japanese governments, based on the case of receiving Indonesian nurses through the Japanese-Indonesian Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). This study focuses on the process of how meanings are created and shared (or not shared) between the Japanese and Indonesian governments, and how communication among Ministries within the government influence the processes. Fieldwork was conducted from 2008 to 2010, including interviews with Japanese and Indonesian government representatives. Organizational communication gaps were found to be caused by five factors: (1) unclear purpose of the EPA scheme; (2) power relationships between governments; (3) lack of communication within the government; (4) differences in cultural meanings attached to terms; and (5) social and historical contexts in which the organizations were placed. Based on the case analysis, theoretical implications are discussed.

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This research examined the behaviors that Japanese students expect from international students. Three kinds of questionnaires were conducted with Japanese university students related to (1) their expectations for international students' acceptance of Japanese culture, (2) their expectations in terms of international students' use of cross-cultural social skills, and (3) their recognition of international students' behaviors that follow or do not follow Japanese cultural norms. In a classroom situation, the Japanese students expected the behaviors necessary for accomplishing group assignments. In a peer group situation, they expected international students to be spontaneous in their communication. Finally, in a situation of extracurricular activities under peer pressure, Japanese students positively recognized the attitudes of international students in attempting to behave on the basis of Japanese culture.

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This essay evaluates the current status of critical intercultural communication research from the perspective of pragmatism. According to Martin and Nakayama (1999, 2010), the field is currently dominated by the dialectic tension between interpretive, positivist, and critical approaches. This essay focuses on the critical approach. The modes of criticism in intercultural communication research can be divided into two broad categories: criticism of power and criticism of dichotomy. What are the strengths and weaknesses of these two modes of criticism? How can interpretive, positivist, and critical approaches complement each other? In the spirit of pragmatism, this essay explores how intercultural communication scholars should use critical modes of interpretation.

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The purpose of this paper is to shed light on issues involved in interpreter-aided medical communication. A total of 19 medical interpreters were interviewed in depth. The languages the interpreters dealt with included Chinese, English, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese. The recorded interviews were fully transcribed as data and were analyzed and categorized using the coding procedure described by Strauss and Corbin (1990). Of several important themes that emerged in the interviews, this paper considers problems that were frequently mentioned by the medical interpreters as barriers to communication that cannot be overcome by their linguistic knowledge and skill alone. These fall mostly into two categories: (a) problems directly related to linguistic competence and (b) problems arising from communication style. Common language-related problems include (1) terminology (unfamiliar medical terms and idiomatic expressions), and (2) difficulties arising from the use of English as a third language. Communication style problems include, on the doctors' side, (1) insensitive remarks and behaviors, and (2) inadequate explanations. On the patients' side, problems in this category include (1) a reluctance to seek clarification, and (2) inconsistent descriptions of their medical complaints.

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