The Self Concept, Culture and Cultural Identity: An Examination of the Verbal Expression of the Self Concept in an Intercultural Context

This paper is an examination of what verbal expressions of the self concept, assessed through analysis of self descriptions, reveal about an individuals identity claims in a given interaction. Based on the findings of a larger study into the communication behaviour of a small number of Japanese women conversing in English with a British interlocutor in England, the paper concludes that cultural identity plays a salient role in an individual's self concept in intercultural communication. The paper begins with a definition of the self concept and a critical evaluation of the analytic tools to assess it. This is followed by background information on the aforementioned study, an overview and discussion of the findings and a conclusion.