Page 114 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

92 David Matsumoto, Seung Hee Yoo and Jeffrey A. LeRoux

5. Conclusion

ER is probably one of the most important psychological skills in our lives vis-
à-vis intercultural adjustment. With ER, the increasing cultural diversity of the
world is an exciting research laboratory, where we can constantly test our hypo-
theses, explore new hypotheses, throw out theories that do not work, and create
theories that do. Without ER, people reinforce and crystallize their pre-existing
ethnocentric and stereotypic ways of dealing with the world. With ER, people
voyage through life; without it, they vindicate their lives.
While we have focused in our work and in this chapter on the role of ER in
interpersonal contexts, there is no reason to believe that the model we propose is
not applicable also to intergroup contexts. In the world today there are many
contexts in which people may begin an encounter with prejudice and an assump-
tion that the other person will be ‘difficult’ to communicate or deal with. Al-
though we have done no research on this directly, we would predict that emotion
regulation is also important on the intergroup level, where prejudice and history
may lead to pre-existing destructive emotions that are not conducive to success-
ful intergroup relationships. Future research will need to delve into the possibil-
ity of using our model to explore these issues.
Our views on the role of emotion, critical thinking, and openness in effective
intercultural communication fill a void in our understanding of the development
of ICC and fostering positive intercultural adjustment outcomes, and provide
the field with important new ways of conceptualizing intercultural training.
Indeed, our work on ER suggests that one of the primary goals of intercultural
communication competence and training programs should be in the improve-
ment of ER skills in trainees. Tools such as the ICAPS can be used to assess in-
dividuals on their ER levels, providing important diagnostic information about
strengths and weaknesses, as well as for documenting the efficacy of training.
The emotional impact of typical training devices such as role plays, simulations,
and the like can be analysed for their emotional impact and the ways they foster
the development (or not) of ER. Tools such as Description, Interpretation, and
Evaluation (DIE) can be complemented by incorporating emotions and their
evaluation (what we call the Description, Feeling, Interpretation, and Evalu-
ation – DFIE – model). No matter how complex or advanced our cognitive
understanding of culture and communication is, this understanding does no
good if we cannot regulate emotions that inevitably occur in intercultural com-
munication episodes.