The print text under analysis is called Thailand ‘Interested’ in Refugee swap deal with Australia and is dedicated to the problem of immigration and relations between countries concerning the swap arrangement (Anonymous n. p.).
It also discloses the problem of asylum-seekers within a broad context. Due to the fact that the text touches upon national and cultural problems, it can be fruitfully analyzed from the intercultural perspective. Hence, it is possible to analyze the setting, the participants, genres and languages to enlarge on cultural elements, including beliefs and values.
The issue is connected with Australian attitude to the problem of immigration, which directly relates to intercultural communication because government and national relations largely identify the concept of culture.
The main participants presented in the text are Thailand asylum seekers, Australian government and Malaysia government that are involved in solving the existing problems.
The genre of the text refers to journalistic genre, which means that the main purpose of the text should be to attract the readers and make them read the article until the end.
In particular, the author makes a primary focus on the burning problems that will be interesting for the Australian nation, specifically when it comes to national identity, home ownerships. All these customs are implicitly incorporated into the print media.
The language should also be taken into consideration because it also differs a bit from that presented in other newspapers. In particular, the headings are quite calm and up to the point; they do not deviate from the main idea to attract the audience.
The text itself is quite understandable with no emphasis on certain facts. More importantly, the author of the article interprets the facts, but leaves his ideas aside to provide accurate information.
Theoretical Reflections on Intercultural Communication and Pragmatics
When it comes to the analysis of relations between language, culture, and communication, much concern arises in terms of intercultural pragmatics. From cultural-anthropological viewpoint, cultural problems are of higher importance than linguistic problems.
At the same time, language itself plays the leading role in presenting cultural differences. From cross-cultural point of view, culture is usually seen as a static concept being isolated from language and, therefore, the principle of cultural difference becomes the major explanation for cross-cultural misconceptions.
There are many other conceptual frameworks expanding on the interaction between language and culture. One way or another, communication between cultures is impossible without the introduction of semiotics and linguistics being the primary tools of relations between different nations.
With regard to this, if the language is one of the major instruments for rendering cultural information, texts, readings, media have a potent impact on the formation of inter-cultural relations. In addition, the structure of information matters as well because it can receive different appraisal in two different cultures.
Significant attention should be paid to advertizing media that is often culturally colored to attract a particular target audience. However, people from different cultures can interpret this advertisement negatively because of traditional and ethnical preconditions.
In whole, despite the existence of culture as an isolated concept that is expressed through beliefs, prejudices, stereotypes, values, and attitudes, they all can be revealed only through language.
Intercultural pragmatics is, therefore, closely intertwined with cultural communication between national and ethnic groups. Cultural cognition is also carried out with the help of similar means.
Works Cited
Anonymous. Thailand ‘interested’ in refugee swap deal with Australia. The Australian. May 2011. Web.