TY - GEN
T1 - Yang, P. (2025). Intercultural Nonverbal Modes of Expression: Approaching Impoliteness, Emotion and Identity in Online Discourse. Virtual Presentation to the Fourth International Conference on Discourse Pragmatics: Discourse Pragmatics, Online Interaction and the Age of AI. 17-19, October 2025, Zhejiang International Studies University, Zhejiang, China.
AU - Yang, Ping
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - In increasingly globalised digital spaces, intercultural communication often unfolds not through speech but through nonverbal modes of expression, such as visual, symbolic, gestural and typographic cues. This study explores how nonverbal elements of online discourse—such as emojis, GIFs, symbols, colours, and timing—function as vehicles for (im)politeness, emotional expression presented in the coded symbols, and identity performance across culturally diverse contexts. Drawing on discourse pragmatics, intercultural nonverbal communication theory, and sociolinguistic perspectives, this research project examines the challenges and negotiations that arise when interlocutors interpret digital nonverbal cues through different cultural lenses. Digital data will be collected from WhatsApp chats, international student forums, and global fan communities. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo 14. Through coding and recoding the various sources of data, thematic analysis was undertaken to find the emerging themes that contribute to answering the research questions around intercultural nonverbal speech acts in social interaction. Through illustrative examples from multilingual and multicultural digital interactions, this work highlights how cultural misalignments in interpreting nonverbal signals can lead to misunderstanding or perceived rudeness, unique and innovative, if not strange or foreign, modes of emotional display. The findings call for more nuanced awareness in intercultural digital education and contribute to understanding the multimodal nature of online relational work. The paper argues that online intercultural nonverbal communication is not merely expressive but constitutive of social meaning, shaping impressions, relationships, and group belonging.
AB - In increasingly globalised digital spaces, intercultural communication often unfolds not through speech but through nonverbal modes of expression, such as visual, symbolic, gestural and typographic cues. This study explores how nonverbal elements of online discourse—such as emojis, GIFs, symbols, colours, and timing—function as vehicles for (im)politeness, emotional expression presented in the coded symbols, and identity performance across culturally diverse contexts. Drawing on discourse pragmatics, intercultural nonverbal communication theory, and sociolinguistic perspectives, this research project examines the challenges and negotiations that arise when interlocutors interpret digital nonverbal cues through different cultural lenses. Digital data will be collected from WhatsApp chats, international student forums, and global fan communities. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo 14. Through coding and recoding the various sources of data, thematic analysis was undertaken to find the emerging themes that contribute to answering the research questions around intercultural nonverbal speech acts in social interaction. Through illustrative examples from multilingual and multicultural digital interactions, this work highlights how cultural misalignments in interpreting nonverbal signals can lead to misunderstanding or perceived rudeness, unique and innovative, if not strange or foreign, modes of emotional display. The findings call for more nuanced awareness in intercultural digital education and contribute to understanding the multimodal nature of online relational work. The paper argues that online intercultural nonverbal communication is not merely expressive but constitutive of social meaning, shaping impressions, relationships, and group belonging.
M3 - Other contribution
ER -