This book explores the intercultural problems related to the widespread use of English in written and oral communication by native and non-native speakers in institutional and business settings. Each chapter looks at a different set of issues emerging from the confrontation of cultures across national, institutional and organizational discourse communities, taking an intercultural or cross-cultural approach. The focus is on workplace settings, both in institutional and business contexts (e.g. politics, public services, media, international corporate communication, advertising, business negotiations, etc.). The theme is all the more interesting today not only in consideration of the sheer magnitude of this phenomenon and its capillary spread, but above all on account of the pervasive penetration of English into professional and workplace contexts as a communication language also for local/internal communication. The complexity of intercultural communication as an object of research is reflected in the variety of the topics explored, the range of settings investigated, and the diversity of methodological approaches taken. Contents:

Giuliana Garzone: Introduction - Paola Catenaccio: Constructing Identities in the Fashion Industry: Building Brand and Customer Image through Press Releases - Delia Chiaro: A Question of Taste: Translating the Flavour of Italy - Marinel Gerritsen/Catherine Nickerson/Corine van den Brandt/Rogier Crijns/Nuriá Dominguez/Frank van Meurs/Ulrike Nederstigt: English in Print Advertising in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands: Frequency of Occurrence, Comprehensibility and the Effect on Corporate Image - Cornelia Ilie: British, 'Consensus' vs. Swedish 'Samförstånd' in Parliamentary Debates - Daniela Wawra: On Course for the Next Stage of Success: the Annual Reports of U.S. and Japanese Companies - Kumiko Murata: The Discourses of Pro- and Anti-Whaling in the British and Japanese News Editorials: A Comparative Cultural Perspective - Maria Cristina Paganoni: Recontextualizing Language: Indian Activists and the Recasting of English - Stefanie Zilles Pohle: Offers in Irish English and German Business Negotiations: A Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Analysis - Grahame T. Bilbow: Saking and not Speaking Across Cultures - Ora-Ong Chakorn: Written Business Invitations: A Cross-Cultural Rhetorical Analysis - Gina Poncini: Communicating within and across Professional Worlds in an Intercultural Setting - Carmen Valero Garcés/Bruce Downing: Modes of Communication between Suppliers of Services and Non-native English-speaking Users: Doctor-Patient Interaction - Cynthia Kellett Bidoli: The Linguistics Conference Setting: A Comparative Analysis of Intercultural Disparities during English to Italian Sign Language Interpretation - Catherine Nickerson: English as a Lingua Franca in Business Contexts: Strategy or Hegemony?