This volume is based mainly on contributions from the 24th LAUD Symposium held in Duisburg in March 1996. It discusses the cultural context in: communication across languages, international business communication, and second language learning.

1. Introduction (by Niemeier, Susanne); 2. I. Theoretical Issues; 3. Three domains of culture and the triune brain (by Hall, Edward T.); 4. Rhetorical ethos: A bridge between high-context and low-context cultures? (by Campbell, Charles P.); 5. II. Interculturality; 6. Negotiating with foreign business persons: An introduction for Americans with propositions on six cultures (by Weiss, Stephen E.); 7. III. The Cultural Context; 8. Power and distance as cultural and contextual elements in Finnish and English business writing (by Yli-Jokipii, Hilkka); 9. Cultural values and Irish economic performance (by Scharf, W. Fred); 10. IV. Linguistic Perspectives; 11. Parallel texts and diverging cultures in Hong Kong: Implications for intercultural communication (by Grundy, Peter); 12. Cultural keywords in Chinese-Dutch business negotiations (by Li, Xiangling); 13. 'Harmonious cooperation' in an English-German intercultural business negotiation (by Porings, Ralf); 14. V. Training; 15. Raising awareness in business communication training (by Baten, Lut); 16. The experience of sameness in differences: A course in international business writing (by Verckens, Jan Piet); 17. Name Index; 18. Subject Index