The potential for bicultural communication in a dyadic situation.

Studied cross-cultural communication with Canadian university students who identified themselves as French-speaking or English-speaking. Ss were divided into 36 French-English pairs (18 of which were tested in a French setting and 18 in an English setting) and 36 same-ethnic pairs. The pairs performed an experimental task under 1 of 3 instructional sets in which Ss were forced to communicate, communication was optional, or no communication set was provided. Each condition was followed by an unstructured period where Ss were free to communicate. Following the communication task, Ss completed a questionnaire which assessed their attitudes about communicating with their partner. Results were analyzed in terms of patterns of communication, content of communication, and languages used for communication. Findings suggest that effective cross-cultural communication is possible and that, at least in a dyadic situation, members of 2 ethnic groups are motivated to communicate. (French summary) (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)