ON ‘INTERCULTURALITY’: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH APPLYING ETHNOMETHODOLOGY TO THE STUDY OF INTERCULTURAL INTERACTIONS

This paper discusses previous research which has applied an ethnomethodological approach to the study of intercultural communication . Particular attention is paid to the work of Nishizaka (1995) and Mori (2003). In examining the themes and focuses of such research, it will become apparent that interculturality tends to be operationalised in one of two ways, as either (1) the making relevant the foreignness of one or more of the interactants, or (2) the associating of one or more interactants with knowledge of specific national cultural items, such as food. It will be argued that both of these operationalisations are potentially problematic. In closing, possible similarities and differences between the work discussed and my own PhD research will be considered.