Intercultural Pragmatics and Its Implications for Semantic Meaning

Abstract

In the context of globalization and increasing social mobility, intercultural interaction has become an increasingly intensive phenomenon within educational and social domains. However, differences in pragmatic norms and cultural backgrounds often generate tensions in meaning, even when utterances are semantically understood. This study aims to develop an in-depth understanding of how intercultural pragmatics influences the interpretation of semantic meaning through the lived experiences of individuals engaged in cross-cultural communication. Employing a qualitative approach with an interpretative phenomenological design, this study explores the meanings, emotions, and social processes accompanying communicative practices in intercultural contexts. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, limited participant observation, and document analysis, involving 12–15 participants from diverse cultural backgrounds within a multicultural educational setting. Data analysis was conducted using inductive thematic analysis to identify emergent patterns of meaning derived from participants’ narratives. The findings reveal three main themes: tensions between literal meaning and social meaning, meaning negotiation as an emotional and relational process, and the fragility of common ground in intercultural interaction. These findings demonstrate that language meaning is not solely cognitive in nature but is deeply intertwined with identity, emotion, and social relationships. Theoretically, this study contributes to intercultural pragmatics and the semantics–pragmatics interface by foregrounding subjective experience. Practically, the findings offer implications for the development of multicultural education, pragmatic literacy, and culturally sensitive communication policies, while also opening avenues for further exploration of affective dimensions in cross-cultural meaning-making