The relationship between cultural and rhetorical conventions: Engaging in international communication

Understanding the relationship between culture and language has become a requisite for successful business enterprises in the developing global economy. Cultural conventions inform language, often creating differences in the content, organizational pattern, presentation of argument, style, and format of business documents. Differences in conventions can lead to readers’ misinterpretation or failure to understand a message. International business communication is evolving along with the global economy in four distinct patterns: as a hybridized language, as a business interlanguage, as a multiconventional language, and as an international language. The present workforce and those about to enter it need to become sensitized to the effects of multicultural conventions on their business communication.