Editorial | Scripta Manent, 2(2), 1

Intercultural issues have been increasingly discussed in recent years due to globalisation processes as well as the spread of modern information communication technologies that facilitate communication across the globe. Consequently, language teachers are increasingly expected to develop learners’ intercultural communication competence.

Research has been extensive in this area, however, it seems the more we know about intercultural communication, the more there is still to be uncovered. Here too theory and practice need to be better connected.

Due to its global nature, intercultural business communication appears to be most widely discussed among languages for specific purposes. This issue’s article ”The Impact of International Business Games on Improving Cultural Awareness and Writing Proficiency: An Evaluation of the “Course in International Business Writing” (1994-2004)” too focuses on it. In it, De Rycker provides a critical appraisal of an international business writing project. But his is not a mere description, De Rycker succeeds in raising the really difficult questions that so many other project descriptions fail to address. Does participation in intercultural projects really improve cross-cultural communication skills? How can we measure the beneficial effects of cross-cultural communication on writing? How to combine cross-cultural awareness raising with business writing skills development? How to plan and implement a cross-cultural project so that research could be carried out at the same time? This excellent article may not provide you with all the answers but it will surely assist you in finding the missing ones yourself.

This issue of Scripta Manent also features its first book review. Brkan reviews The New Penguin Dictionary of Civil Engineering, by David Blockley, a monolingual explanatory dictionary that has been recently published. Beside analysing the dictionary’s strengths and weaknesses Brkan also provides useful advice on how non-native students of engineering could benefit from this dictionary.

This autumn, the Editorial Board has received a number of excellent manuscript proposals built on sound theoretical basis and offering insights that would be appreciated by readers around the world. And yet this issue features only one article. Why is it so?

Scripta Manent is bound by its commitment to contributing to the professional development of its readers around the world by publishing manuscripts that strive to bridge theory and practice in the languages for specific purposes. Therefore, we cannot publish articles that focus on teaching general foreign languages. As the other manuscripts we received dealt with the latter, unfortunately, we could not publish them.

Finally, we would also like to thank the additional reviewers who have helped the Editorial Board and generously contributed their time and expertise over the past year and a half: