Although many talk about cultural diversity on campus, the reality of a multicultural environment in higher education is rarely recognized. Barriers include communication problems, differing cultural values, and nonverbal communication patterns. Realizing a multicultural environment requires risk taking, openness to ideas, patience, and respect.…

Two distinct but related studies are reported, both investigating linguistically- and culturally-based communication problems between service providers and service seekers in Australia. The first examined language problems occurring in naturalistic situations involving a public servant and a client within three public agencies, the departments of…