Computer-mediated Communication: From A Cross-cultural Communication Perspective

In the past few centuries, communication between cultures has greatly been enhanced due to the rapid growth of world population and the tremendous advances in modern means of communication, transportation and mass media. Computer and Internet were widely used globally to transmit and receive business and scientific data in the past. However, they are applied more and more in interpersonal communication, i.e. computer-mediated communication. On the Internet, people can communicate with each other freely without having the restriction of time, space, nationality and race. This convenience enables people from all over the world to communicate with each other at any time by the aid of computer and Internet. Therefore, cross-cultural communication becomes easier and more frequent than any other time in the past.The goals of this dissertation are to analyze Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) from prospective of Cross-Cultural Communication (CCC), to set up guidelines for CMC, to reduce miscommunication between people,to expedite communication channel and to bring forth constructive strategies to improve on CCC competence in prospective of CMC. Presently, there are not enough researches on the interaction between CMC and CCC. Also, much of the researches having been done are only in real life environment in CCC instead of working with virtual environment in CMC. Thus, the interaction and correlation between"real life"(CCC) and"virtual"(CMC) is not quite established. With this in mind, this dissertation begins firstly with the progress on researches on Internet, CMC and CCC, as well as summarizing the current status on cross-cultural network communication researches. Secondly, it analyzes the similarities and differences between computer-mediated (CMC) and real-life (CCC) communication. Thirdly, it establishes the importance of the research and fosters the further consciousness in CCC. Finally, the author put forth strategies to improve CMCCC competence. In this dissertation, the focus is on the research from a CCC perspective and strategies in improving CMCCC competence.It is of great importance to analyze CMC from a CCC perspective. The author also stresses the need for further studies on CMC researches. This dissertation puts forth reasonable suggestions of improving CCC competence in virtual environment to enhance the communication in CMC. As long as people's attitude is positive and the right measures are taken, cross-cultural CMC will deepen understanding between countries and promote cooperation in fields like economy, education and technology, etc.This dissertation attempts to explore the uncharted area. Firstly, the study of communication in a virtual world is still very much in a burgeoning domain. Secondly, study on cross-cultural communication itself is an interdisciplinary endeavor. A blend of these two academic domains promises a fertile field for much further researches. This dissertation contributes to the researches in the still rudimentary field of CMC in cross-cultural communication. The author hopes to induce inspiration and thus, encourages readers to conduct further studies.