英语论文网

Communication on the internet: a Cross-cultural Perspective

摘要：近年来，互联网的迅猛发展和普及使得人类的跨文化交际更为方便快捷。本文依据现有的跨文化交际和传播理论，拟对网络环境中的交际行为进行分析，旨在探讨网络中跨文化交际的特点，网络文化，及其挑战。跨文化交际则是一个跨学科领域，两者的交集势必成为一个有待探索的新领域。
关键词：网络传播，跨文化交际

ABSTRACT: In recent years, the fast developing internet has facilitated people’s cross-cultural communication. Based on the theories of cross-cultural communication, the theories of communication, the paper is to have a close examination on communication behaviors in the virtual world in order to pinpoint some key features of communication on the internet, to explore its Netiquette in cross-cultural communication, and to point out its problems and challenges. The study of communication on the internet is a burgeoning domain. Study on cross-cultural communication itself is an interdisciplinary endeavor. The joint of these promises a fertile field for further research.
Key words: communication on the internet; cross-cultural communication

通信是当今的流行语，通常是指两个概念：信息传播属于科学领域的科学和技术；另一个是信息交换和分配的人类行为，观点和情感，这是在人性的范围。然而，在本文中，后者是讨论的主题。

Communication is one of the buzzwords nowadays, and usually it may refer to two concepts: the science and technology of information transmission which belongs to scientific domain; the other one is the human behavior of exchange and distribution of information, viewpoints and emotions, which is in the humanistic scope. In this paper, however, the latter is the subject for the discussion.
Internet presents people with information in extremely huge quantity unparalleled by any traditional media. Moreover, it is the fastest runner in the world. However, information consultation for individuals is but a part of the miracle. When users are used to getting news and search for information on Internet, they are exposed to much more cross-cultural interaction than ever before. This has emerged as a new dimension for cross-cultural communication.

Compared to other social studies, both cross-cultural communication and communication on the internet are new scopes for researchers. As for the interdisciplinary field of cross-cultural communication in virtual world, it is still in its infancy with few theories.

1. Literature review
W. B. Hart (1998) frames a number of relevant questions regarding the possibilities for and challenges to intercultural communication on the internet-questions which a variety of researchers from a range of disciplines have attempted to address. A significant proportion of these papers report research studies that explore online intercultural communications between and within selected populations.
Research methodologies reported here include qualitative approaches such as case studies (e.g. Belz, 2003; Thorne, 2003), ethnographies (Warschauer, 1999), and surveys and interviews (Gunawardena et al., 2001, 2002; Onibere et al., 2001). Others have employed quantitative approaches to investigate specific cultural differences in attitudes to technology and use of technologies (Van Belle&Stander, 2002; Buragga, 2002), communication patterns and frequency (Choi&Danowski, 2002; Macfadyen et al., 2003), communication style (fakir et al., 2002; Hewling, 2003) or content (Sussman&Tyson, 2000).
Many of the studies investigate (and some of the theoretical papers discuss) intercultural communic