In a globalized world where communities are in constant contact with each other in an unprecedented manner, it is important to know how meanings vary across cultures. A lack of this knowledge can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and even animosity. Thus, communicative competence also calls for intercultural awareness.
Communicators need to be aware of special meanings attached to certain phrases (idioms) that don't have a straightforward compositional meaning in some contexts. Also awareness of "false friends" is important, since there is a tendency to cognitively process similar words in different languages as having the same meaning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend
Often loan words undergo some shift in meaning. For example the German word "Limonade" doesn't always refer to lemonade but is often used in a generic sense. So orangeade would be "Orangenlimonade". And to ensure you get the drink made from lemons (or "Zitronen" in German) you might have to ask specifically for "Zitronenlimonade" instead of just "Limonade".
Great question! You may find interesting and useful the answers provided by the research participants in this recent paper:
Article "International migration, cross-cultural interaction, and th...
Communicators need to be aware of special meanings attached to certain phrases (idioms) that don't have a straightforward compositional meaning in some contexts. Also awareness of "false friends" is important, since there is a tendency to cognitively process similar words in different languages as having the same meaning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friend
Often loan words undergo some shift in meaning. For example the German word "Limonade" doesn't always refer to lemonade but is often used in a generic sense. So orangeade would be "Orangenlimonade". And to ensure you get the drink made from lemons (or "Zitronen" in German) you might have to ask specifically for "Zitronenlimonade" instead of just "Limonade".
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