Communication In The Virtual World: A Cross-cultural Perspective

The thesis is a tentative discussion concerning the relationship between cross-cultural communication in the real world and communication in the virtual world.In recent years, the fast developing Internet has facilitated people's cross-cultural communication. It has endowed human communication with a brand new communicative medium. Based on the theories of cross-cultural communication and linguistic data collected from the Internet, the thesis is to have a close examination on communication behaviors in the virtual world in order to pinpoint some peculiar features of virtual cross-cultural communication and to explore their true implications in cross-cultural communication in general.The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter One introduces the research objective and the structure of the paper, Chapter Two presents a new dimension for communication through background information, literature review and comparison with conventional communication; Chapter Three analyzes changes of communication factors in virtual world, respectively focusing on two aspects: perception and behavior; Chapter Four deals with verbal and non-verbal communication in virtual world; Chapter Five attempts to discover problems and challenges for future discussion, which involve cultural, linguistic and legal concerns. The discussion is tentative for two reasons. First, the study of communication in virtual world is a burgeoning domain. Next, study on cross-cultural communication itself is an interdisciplinary endeavor. The joint of these two academic domains promise a fertile field for further research. This thesis is but one attempt in the researches in this field. The writer hopes to bring readers meaningful inspiration and appeal to further study.