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Article published In:
International Journal of Language and Culture
Vol. 9:1 (2022) ► pp.27–47

The reschematization of face in Chinese overseas students’ intercultural experience

| Shanghai University of International Business and Economics

There has been little longitudinal research on the relationship between how sojourners define their personal face and how this influences their use of the host language in intercultural settings. This study employs the Cultural Linguistic Perspective developed by Sharifian (2011, 2017), using repeated episodic interviews to explore the process of reschematization of face among three Chinese overseas students in Australia. The students’ schemas of face gradually moved away from the Chinese ideals of sociality and indirectness towards Australian norms of individual autonomy and directness in both English use and social relationships. This study points to the need to examine the contribution of personal, situational, and cultural factors to this process.

Keywords: reschematization of face, Cultural Linguistics, repeated episodic interviews, intercultural communication, Chinese overseas students
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Cultural Linguistics
  • 3.Western and Chinese concepts of face
  • 4.This study
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1The cultural schemas of face in relation to English use
    • 5.2Face reschematization in social interactions
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 22 July 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.20020.hou
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