Intercultural communication in Asynchronous Discourse: The Malaysian experience

In today´s internet age, online communication appears fundamental in global business dealings and transactions. By using Matsumoto et al. [12] concept of online intercultural adjustment, this study examines online intercultural communication in a Malaysian context. The working definition of intercultural communication, in this study, is based on the works of Kramsch [11] and Asuncion-Lande [2] which include communication between genders and social groups as intercultural communication. As identity is not stable in online interaction, this study regards that even when online participants are not conscious of the people they are interacting with, it is still intercultural. In conducting the present study, qualitative data is collected from an online news portal. By quantifying the qualitative data, this study found that Malaysians were positively accommodative in online intercultural context. They build relationships and they were mostly cooperative in dealing with people they meet online. This implies that in online business dealings, Malaysians are capable of adapting to the social or cultural differences of business partners. As this study limits itself with the analysis of qualitative data from online news forums, further research is needed to determine the transferability of the study in online business dealings and transactions among Malaysians.