本书以作者的博士论文为蓝本比较全面地介绍了本研究领域的研究现状、系统的研究方法、本学科的前沿研究成果及其未来发展方向等。全书共分9章，以历史、文化、宗教、语言学等维度为线索来阐述东西方文化与交际模式的差异性。本研究通过在中英两所大学的学生中采集了两个不同文化的样本探索中国大学生对交际能力的自我认知与学业成绩的自我评价之间的相关联性，并从中发现他们的交际能力自我认知是否会对学业成绩的自我评价产生影响，并把所有的统计数据进行了对比性研究。

目录
Chapter 1    General Introduction 001
1.1  Introduction 001
1.2  Personal Concern and Research Importance  003
1.3  The Research Objectives 005
1.4  The Problem Defined and Research Questions(RQ) 008
1.5  Organization of the Book  008

Chapter 2    Cultural Variability and Its Influence on Communication 011
2.1  Cultural Influences on Communication 011
2.2  Basic Approaches to the Study of Culture and Communication 012
2.3  Communication: the Western Cultural Orientation vs. the Eastern
       Cultural Orientation 014
2.4  Dimensions of Cultural Variability  016
2.5  Application of the Dimensions of Cultural Variability 020
2.6  Individual-Level Factors that Mediate the Influence of Culture on
       Communication 022
2.7  Communication Styles 031
2.8  Summary 035

Chapter 3    The Socio-Cultural and Political History of China 036
3.1  Some Facets of China's History 036
3.2  Socio-Cultural Background of Multiethnic China 054
3.3  Summary 059

Chapter 4    The Chinese Cultural and Philosophical Orientation to
                    Relationships and Communication 061
4.1  Chinese Philosophical Principles and Religion  061
4.2  Core Values of Confucianism 076
4.3  Impact of Confucianism on Behaviour 078
4.4  Summary 086

Chapter 5    Communication and Communication Competence 
                    Research in the West  088
5.1  Communication Competence from the Western Perspectives 088
5.2  Summary 102

Chapter 6    Research Design and Methodology 103
6.1  Introduction 103
6.2  Research Design and Research Strategy 103
6.3  Methodology 105

Chapter 7     A Cross-Cultural Survey of Self-Perceptions of
                     Communicative Competence, Communication 
                    Apprehension, Interdependence and Independence,
                    Academic Performance and Chinese Values  122
7.1  Aims of the Study 122
7.2  Participants 123
7.3  Data Analysis and Results 126
7.4  Discussion 152

Chapter 8    Administration of Classroom Observations 172
8.1  Aims of the Study 172
8.2  Participants 172
8.3  Materials and Procedures of Classroom Observations 174
8.4  Data Analysis and Results  175
8.5  Discussion 181

Chapter 9    Conclusion 185
9.1  Overview of the Study Findings 185
9.2  The SPCBPVQ Questionnaire 190
9.3  The Classroom Observation 200
9.4  Limitations to this Study 203
9.5  Implications for Practice 206
9.6  Implications for Future Research 208

References  210
Appendix 1    Self-Perception of Communication Behavior, Performance
                      and Values Questionnaire 228
Appendix 2    VPBCS-Based Observation Form and Keys to 
                      VPBCS-Based Observation Form 236
Appendix 3    Reliability Tests of SPCBPVQ Questionnaire  240
Appendix 4    Factor Scree Plots 247
Appendix 5    Reliability Tests of Factor Analysis 250
Appendix 6    Results of Multiple Regressions 262
Appendix 7    Results of MANOVA : Chinese Sample vs. British Sample                     
                     275