Zamonaviy lingvistika

Cross-cultural studies in the social sciences

The term "cross-cultural" emerged in the social sciences in the 1930s, largely as a result of the Cross-Cultural Survey undertaken by George Peter Murdock, a Yale anthropologist. Initially referring to comparative studies based on statistical compilations of cultural data, the term gradually acquired a secondary sense of cultural interactivity. The comparative sense is implied in phrases such as "a cross-cultural perspective," "cross-cultural differences," "a cross-cultural study of..." and so forth, while the interactive sense may be found in works like Attitudes and Adjustment in Cross-Cultural Contact: Recent Studies of Foreign Students, a 1956 issue of The Journal of Social Issues.
Usage of "cross-cultural" was for many decades restricted mainly to the social sciences. Among the more prominent examples are the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP), established in 1972 "to further the study of the role of cultural factors in shaping human behavior," and its associated Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, which aims to provide an interdisciplinary discussion of the effects of cultural differences.
In management and organizational studies disciplines, cross-cultural capital (CCC) is the aggregate set of knowledge, skills, abilities and psychological dispositions that gives individuals competitive advantage in interacting, working, and managing in culturally diverse environments. It is considered a facet of human capital.
Cross-cultural capital is conceived as a broad construct and it is composed of both dispositional (or, more trait-like) and experience-based elements (more statelike), including personality dispositions (e.g., openness to experience), values and beliefs (e.g.,pro-diversity beliefs), cognitive style (cognitive flexibility) and acquired specific skills (e.g., mastery of several languages) as well as of relevant experiences (e.g., traveling, living and working in different countries; growing up in a multicultural environment). Some scholars include cultural intelligence (CQ) as one of the state-like components of cross-cultural capital. This corresponds to Ang and Van Dyne's nomological network of cultural intelligence model, where cultural intelligence is conceptualized as a more of state-like construct that mediates distal factors, which are typified as trait-like (e.g., personality traits) and intermediate constructs such as communication apprehension and anxiety, which, in turn, are postulated to affect a host of individual and interpersonal outcomes that can be broadly classified into performance and cultural adaptation.
Corporations have grown into new countries, regions, and continents around the world, which has caused people of various cultures to move and learn to adapt to their environment. This has led to cross-cultural communication becoming more important in the work environment. Over the past few decades, many Western corporations have expanded into Sub-Saharan Africa. James Baba Abugre conducted a study on western expatriates who have moved to work in Ghana. Abugre interviewed both the expatriates and Ghanaians, and found that cultural competence is essential to working with others of different cultures in order to avoid conflict between the Western and Eastern cultural norms. It is important that workers understand both verbal and non-verbal communication styles. Expatriates who move to work in a culture that is not their own should be prepared, be properly trained, and have access to educational resources to help them succeed and to appreciate the culture they have moved into, in order to navigate it effectively. Abugre's main finding is that cultural competency is important to cross-cultural communication. Paula Caligiuri has proposed training of international workers in cultural agility techniques as a way to improve such communication.
Yaila Zotzmann, Dimitri van der Linden, and Knut Wyra looked at Asia, Europe, and North America. Together they had a focus on employees in each continent with a focus on error orientation. The authors define this as "one's attitude toward dealing with, communicating about, and learning from errors". They studied employees from China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the United States of America, and Vietnam. Country differences, cultural values, and personality factors were also accounted for. The study was quantitave and looked at a single organization that had offices in eight countries. Results showed error orientation varied based on the culture they were in. Americans tend to be more open to errors and learn from them as well as speaking about their mistakes, whereas Japanese subjects had the lowest tolerance for errors. The Japanese showed concern about how it may impact those around them and the organization. The study also referred to Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory. The findings show a potential relationship between error orientation and an employee's culture. Other important factors are the country they live in or personality dimensions.
Cross-cultural communications and boundaries are present in all sectors. In Europe, cross-cultural communication in primary care is important, for example in dealing with migrants in the present European migrant crisis. Maria van den Muijsenbergh conducted a study on primary care in Europe as well as a new program, RESTORE. The program stands for: "REsearch into implementation STrategies to support patients of different ORigins and language background in a variety of European primary care settings". The countries participating are Ireland, England, Scotland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Greece. Muijsenbergh found in her study that there was a range of issues in primary care for migrants in Europe. There are both language and culture barriers between medical professionals and patients, which has an impact on their communication. The study also found that migrants were more likely to use emergency services, which was consistent in countries with a steady influx of migrants or few migrants, and during times of economic prosperity or recession. Muijsenbergh found that migrants have worse health than native Europeans, with her findings suggesting that this is a result of the language and cultural barriers. She recommends medical professionals use different training and educational resources in order to become cross-cultural communicators.
The application of cross-cultural communication theory to foreign language education is increasingly appreciated around the world. Cross-cultural communication classes can now be found within foreign language departments of some universities, while other schools are placing cross-cultural communication programs in their departments of education.
With the increasing pressures and opportunities of globalization, the incorporation of international networking alliances has become an "essential mechanism for the internationalization of higher education". Many universities from around the world have taken great strides to increase intercultural understanding through processes of organizational change and innovations. In general, university processes revolve around four major dimensions which include: organizational change, curriculum innovation, staff development, and student mobilityEllingboe emphasizes these four major dimensions with his own specifications for the internationalization process. His specifications include:

1. 
   college leadership;
   
2. 
   faculty members' international involvement in activities with colleagues, research sites, and institutions worldwide;
   
3. 
   the availability, affordability, accessibility, and transferability of study abroad programs for students;
   
4. 
   the presence and integration of international students, scholars, and visiting faculty into campus life;
   
5. 
   international co-curricular units (residence halls, conference planning centers, student unions, career centers, cultural immersion and language houses, student activities, and student organizations).
   

Above all, universities need to make sure that they are open and responsive to changes in the outside environment. In order for internationalization to be fully effective, the university (including all staff, students, curriculum, and activities) needs to be current with cultural changes, and willing to adapt to these changes. As stated by Ellingboe, internationalization "is an ongoing, future-oriented, multidimensional, interdisciplinary, leadership-driven vision that involves many stakeholders working to change the internal dynamics of an institution to respond and adapt appropriately to an increasingly diverse, globally focused, ever-changing external environment". New distance learning technologies, such as interactive teleconferencing, enable students located thousands of miles apart to communicate and interact in a virtual classroom.
Research has indicated that certain themes and images such as children, animals, life cycles, relationships, and sports can transcend cultural differences, and may be used in international settings such as traditional and online university classrooms to create common ground among diverse cultures (Van Hook, 2011).
Many Master of Science in Management programs have an internationalization specialization which may place a focus on cross-cultural communication. For example, the Ivey Business School has a course titled Cross Cultural Management.
Jadranka Zlomislić, Ljerka Rados Gverijeri, and Elvira Bugaric study inter-cultural competency of students. As globalization progresses the world has become more interconnected, leading to job and study opportunities abroad in different countries and cultures, where the students are surrounded by a language that is not their mother tongue. Findings suggest that the internet is helpful but, not the answer; students should enroll in language and inter-cultural courses in order to fight stereotypes and develop inter-cultural competence and make them into better cross-cultural communicators.
Cross-cultural communication gives opportunities to share ideas, experiences, and different perspectives and perception by interacting with local people.