(Papeles de trabajo - Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios en Etnolingüística y Antropología Socio-Cultural, 2011-11-01) Sanhueza Henríquez, Susan; Cardona Moltó, M. Cristina; Friz Carrillo, Miguel
The purpose of this study was to analyze the personal and social dimension of intercultural communication. Therefore, we chose a study design of multiple cases, interviewing elementary and secondary school students from different cultural backgrounds, in a regular classroom situation. Results show that communication among cultures is complex and it is characterized by attitudes of isolation, avoidance and the need of the ethnic minorities for social approval. Language, in both educative levels, is an obstacle for regular communication, having the students the need of recurring to alternative communicative ways.