The Impact Of Computer-mediated Communication Upon The Intercultural Communication

Computer and the Internet have in the past been commonly used to send and receive vast amounts of business and scientific data around the globe. Increasing in popularity, however, is their use in person-to-person communication, called computer-mediated communication. Over the computer networks, people exchange written documents instantaneously, easily, at low cost, and over long distances without the restriction of physical location, nationality, skin color or race etc., which allows users from around the world to connect with each other at any moment by means of CMC, that is, intercultural communication occurs more easily and frequently than before.This thesis begins with a brief review of the intercultural communication and a summary of the current research on the online intercultural communication, illustrating the necessity of conducting researches in this regard from the intercultural perspective. Then, the brief information about the Internet, including its history, main applications and two related terms, and the elaborate introduction to CMC, involving main forms of CMC, new communication means in CMC, key features and netiquette in the following two parts serve as basic but indispensable knowledge for the whole thesis.The availability of CMC has forever altered the world people live in. Not since the industrial revolution, have people witnessed the profound change in the way they work, they shop, they communicate and conduct business. The fourth and the fifth part which are the highlights of the thesis examine how CMC immensely impacts intercultural communication, with both the opportunity and the challenge touched upon. The opportunity is unfolded from three aspects: (1) The emergence of intercultural computer-mediated communication. (2) The utmost development of intercultural communication on account of the key features of CMC. (3) A new research area in the intercultural communication studies. The challenge is clarified from three points as well: (1) Cultural imperialism in CMC. The domination of English and its culture that exceed a lot than others in CMC affects the balance andequality of languages and cultures in intercultural communication. (2) Cultural differences. Because the deep-seated basic belief, value and behavioral patterns of a nation are more or less different from, or even absolutely contradictive to those of others, when people from distinct cultures conduct CMC, miscommunication and cultural misunderstanding cannot be avoided, seriously impeding successful intercultural communication. (3) Cyberethical problems. Due to the features like anonymity and no central power in CMC, ethical problems such as flaming, spamming, hacking, virus etc. abound on the Internet, making intercultural communication unhealthy and insecure.In an age of information globalization, more and more people communicate and work together via CMC, but some obstacles such as the above-mentioned ones lie in the way. In view of this, accessible suggestions to conquer the challenge are put forward in the sixth part to improve the intercultural communication competence for better cooperation. So long as positive attitudes and measures are taken, the intercultural CMC will deepen understanding between countries and promote more cooperation in the field like economy, education and technology etc. for mutual advances.