| This study examines the process of Japanese women's intercultural communication in groups for international wives from a culture building perspective. Extending the view of culture as a dynamic process constituted through communicative practices, the culture building model sees the participants in intercultural communication as engaging in an attempt to create shared meanings. Participant observation was conducted at four different types of groups organized for international wives in a university community. The interactions in these groups were analyzed, supplemented by the interviews with 10 Japanese women.;In the groups, meaning negotiation was accomplished through two features of the talk: the participation framework that emphasized the importance of all participants' contributions, and the contents that focused on similarities and differences among the participants. These two features were manifested through two types of talk: "culture talk," where the topic was concerned with cultures and cultural differences, and "self talk," where the topic was centered around the participants' personal experiences. Participants seemed especially inclined to identify and talk about what they had in common as international wives. This is interpreted as constituting their effort to create shared meanings without negating the existence of differences. Cultural similarities and shared personal experiences provide a basis for the creation of shared meanings. Culture building was also seen in the speech event "the introduction." The patterned ways in which the women introduced themselves indicate their participation in the construction of shared "personhood"--or what it means to be a person. Again, the uniqueness of the individual is negotiated with the similarities in identities and personal experience in order to create shared meanings.;Culture building does not occur in all intercultural communication situations. The Japanese women's accounts show that what they enjoyed, appreciated, and found special about the groups was the culture building talk, and that it was culture building intercultural communication that they wished to experience more. However, for the Japanese women, culture building and intercultural communication were intertwined with the problematics of speaking English, making the experience ambivalent and multifaceted. |
