| Abstract | Japanese universities have begun to move beyond treating English as a language subject and instead employ it
as a means of academic and intercultural communication such as English as a lingua franca (ELF). This shift
has led to the expansion of online collaborative programs involving Japanese students and their international
peers, particularly within Asia. While such initiatives are designed to promote intercultural understanding,
they frequently expose persistent difficulties in communication among non-native speakers of English. In
these interactions, misunderstandings, interactional breakdowns, and ineffective repair attempts often disrupt
the flow of communication and reduce the pedagogical value of the exchange. The resarch question is as
follows: What types of miscommunication occur during online intercultural interactions between Japanese
students and students from other Asian countries in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) contexts? This study
investigates how miscommunication emerges and is managed in synchronous online intercultural interactions
involving Japanese university students and students from other Asian countries. Drawing on the
miscommunication model proposed by Gass and Varonis (1991), the study examines interactional gaps not as
isolated linguistic errors but as a dynamic process shaped by linguistic, pragmatic, and cultural factors. Using
a mixed-methods approach, the analysis is based on video-recorded online exchanges conducted as part of
structured intercultural dialogue tasks. Episodes containing noticeable communication difficulties were
selected with reference to Deardorff’s Manual for Developing Intercultural Competence (2020). Within these
episodes, participants’ utterances were qualitatively coded using Jung et al.’s (2004) framework for evaluating
spoken interaction among non-native speakers, allowing for systematic examination of how
misunderstandings arise and how participants attempt to resolve them. Preliminary analysis suggests that
miscommunication frequently stems from differences in cultural assumptions, limited awareness of pragmatic
norms, and a tendency to rely on literal interpretations of utterances. While some repair strategies contribute to
restoring mutual understanding, others appear to exacerbate interactional difficulties. Based on these findings,
the study proposes a pedagogical model specifically designed for Japanese learners of English in ELF contexts,
emphasizing awareness of interactional risk points and the development of effective repair strategies. Beyond
language education, the insights gained from this study have implications for communication in other
intercultural settings, such as community engagement, where successful negotiation of meaning is essential. |
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