Training to interact interculturally on perceptions and identities: Implementing multimodal analysis in a cultural approach to discourse

Abstract

The impact of communication on society via computers (computer-mediated communication, or CMC) is still evolving, and our understanding of its social, psychological, political and economic implications is far from complete. Online communication systems structure interaction in accordance with new forms of relating that affect the different social organisations that have emerged through the use of these systems. The situation is even more complex if we consider how the different actors that participate in a negotiation process – often with different motivations and diverging interests – will react to this new environment. The aim of this article is to carry out an analysis of intragroupal processes in a scenario of virtual diplomacy in order to better understand the influence of regulations on groups. To this end, we observe an intercultural group to understand how – even in such a specific case as that of CMC – people construct the world with language instead of merely describing it as it is.

Keywords

• Multimodal
• language
• circuits
• positionality
• complexity
• intercultural communication