The world has become a much smaller place and our daily interactions are likely going to include many people from backgrounds different from our own. While these different cultures will differ greatly in their similarities and differences from our own culture in customs, body language, directness of communication, and many other areas, there are ways in which we can work to anticipate the communication problems in our interactions. Relevance theory, as a theory of how we understand and receive language-based communication, can provide some insights into how we can work to communicate clearly and effectively with others in our personal interactions and in our written communication.
