_.png){kind=logo}
* Corresponding Author
Fostering Hybrid Identity in Hello Talk to Conquer Intercultural Miscommunication
https://doi.org/10.22146/ikat.v8i1.115588 Jessica Iona(1*)
(1) Universitas Katolik Soegijapranata
(*) Corresponding Author
Abstract
Global digitalization has increasingly exposed people to diverse cultures worldwide, which, while enriching, also creates greater potential for intercultural miscommunication. Despite this, many individuals still lack adequate Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC) to effectively navigate such challenges. Therefore, fostering hybrid identities through the negotiation of meaning—also known as the grounding process—is essential for enabling more meaningful intercultural dialogue. This study aims to identify adaptive strategies in performing the grounding process by examining a case study of Chinese users navigating intercultural miscommunication while interacting with international peers in Hello Talk Voice Rooms. A qualitative approach is employed through non-participant online observation, further interpreted using Xin’s analytical model, Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), and foundational concepts of ICC. The findings reveal that language differences and habitual communication styles are the most significant sources of intercultural miscommunication. However, attitudes, beliefs, and levels of open-mindedness also play crucial roles, as both similarities and differences inevitably shape intercultural interactions. Maintaining constructive and respectful dialogue requires avoiding judgment, developing a strong self-concept and cultural awareness, and demonstrating a willingness to adapt one’s behaviour to different contexts. Enhancing language proficiency also contributes significantly to smoother communication. These adaptive strategies have broad global relevance, particularly within Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Pragmatic negotiation emerges as a powerful tool for strengthening intercultural relationships, fostering mutual collaboration, and enhancing understanding across countries—especially in trade and cultural exchange. Young people, students, and educational institutions in Indonesia can cultivate hybrid identities by utilizing platforms such as Hello Talk and adopting grounding strategies demonstrated by Chinese users to minimize intercultural miscommunication.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Bail, C. L., Baker, M. J., Détienne, F., Bernard, F.-X., Chartofylaka, L., & Forissier, T. (2021). Grounding and knowledge elaboration across cultural and geographical contexts: An exploratory case study. Elsevier, 28. doi : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2020.100477
Batunan, D. A., Cahyono, B. Y., & Khotimah, K. (2023). Nice to E-Meet You Program to Facilitate EFL Lower High School Students’ Intercultural Communicative Competence: A Case Study from Indonesia. Computer-Assisted Language Learning Electronic Journal, 24(3), 46-68. Retrieved from https://callej.org/index.php/journal/article/view/40
Bharti, M. S., & Kumari, S. (2024). China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia and its implications for ASEAN China strategic partnership. Asian Review of Political Economy, 1-21. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s44216
Bibi, F., & Hamida, L. (2024). Exploring communication patterns among international students in Indonesia: a study using communication accommodation theory. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 11:1, 1-11. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2397188
Boonsuk, Y. (2026). When EFL meets ELF: negotiating intelligibility and intercultural communication in ASEAN EMI classrooms. Taylor & Francis, 1-31. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2026.2626503
Bradbury, N. A. (2016). Attention span during lectures: 8 seconds, 10 minutes, or more? The American Physiological Society, 40, 509–513. doi: https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00109.2016
Chen, G. M. (2022). Building a Global Community: An Intercultural Communication Perspective. China Media Research, 18(4), 1-26. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/com_facpubs/80
Dai, Y., & Cheng, X. (2022). Global communication of Chinese culture in the digital era: internal motivation and external challenges. Springer, 9(3–4), 127-137. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-022-00254-4
Dang, S. (2024). Enhancing Cross-Cultural Understanding: The Role of Digital Platforms in Cultural Exchange for Chinese Graduate Students at Northwestern University. Journal of Social Science Humanities and Literature, 7(5), 55-61. doi: https://doi.org/10.53469/jsshl.2024.07(05).10
Feng, M., Aziz, M. N. B. A., & Dalib, S. (2025). Exploring Intercultural Communicative Competence Among Chinese Students: Insights from a Qualitative Study. Sage Journals, 1-15. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251336634
Fu, N. P. (2025). On Making Mandarin a Language of Wider Communication in ASEAN: What Can We Learn from Our Past Experience. Sinolingua: Journal of Chinese Studies, 3 (1), 115-122. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/sinolingua/article/download/99993/49652&ved=2ahUKEwjiwpCF_o2UAxXFaXADHbVUCz8QFnoECBsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0VlRyncmum2SsfvZQJdw3_
Gajić, T., & Maenza, N. (2022). The Comparison of Most Popular Mobile Application for Learning Foreign Languages. Paper presented at Sinteza 2022 - International Scientific Conference on Information Technology and Data Related Research, 335-340. doi: https://doi.org/10.15308/Sinteza-2022-335-340
Griffin, E. A., Ledbetter, A., & Sparks, G. G. (2019). A First Look at Communication Theory. McGraw-Hill Education.
Guo, W. (2025). Conflict resolution in intercultural communication: strategies for managing cultural conflicts. Humanities and Social Science Communication, 1-10. doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04391-0
Hamdani, R. (2022). Antara Etnosentrisme dan Demokrasi: Konflik Etnis Dayak-Madura. Jurnal Mengkaji Indonesia, 1(2), 100-108. doi: https://doi.org/10.59066/jmi.v1i2.128
Hancock, D. R., Algozzine, B., & Lim, J. H. (2021). Doing Case Study Research: A Practical Guide for Beginning Researchers. Teachers College Press. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://books.google.co.id/books%3Fid%3DFijGDQAAQBAJ%26printsec%3Dfrontcover%26hl%3Did&ved=2ahUKEwj9pYrA_o2UAxWDUWwGHcijF-IQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3lBuXp_JqOy0kszR-4oULi
Hoffman, W. B., & Zhang, Y. B. (2022). Explaining Communication Adjustment: Communication Accommodation Theory and Its Utility in Intercultural Communication. Journal of Intercultural Communication & Interactions Research, 2(1), 75-100. doi: http://doi.org/10.3726/jicir.2022.1.0005
Howlett, M. (2022). Looking at the ‘field’ through a Zoom lens: Methodological reflections on conducting online research during a global pandemic. Sage Journal, 22(3), 387 –402. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794120985691
Kastner, M. (2021). Formation and Benefits of Intercultural Friendships: The Role of Communication. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 21(3), 26-40. doi: https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v21i3.19
Koswara, A., & Lukman, S. (2022). Communication competence of Indonesian workers in intercultural interaction in Munich and Canberra. Jurnal Kajian Komunikasi, 10(2), 199-214. doi: https://doi.org/10.24198/jkk.v10i2.41976
Kris Hyesoo Lee, Y. C. (2025). The internationalisation of education and ‘Belt and Road’ Student Mobilities in Southeast Asian Studies. Asian Population Studies, 1-6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2024.2445351
Lai, Y. (2021). A Study of Intercultural Communication Barriers between China and The United States: The Case of American Media Reports on China. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 4, 47-56. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://francis-press.com/papers/4512&ved=2ahUKEwiB7tyR_42UAxVW7TgGHbviClgQFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3cqyh5uRGFCb_xBZm0lCj2
Li, Q., Mai, Q., Wang, M., & Ma, M. (2024). Chinese dialect speech recognition: a comprehensive survey. Springer, 57(25), 1-39. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10462-023-10668-0
Lin, Y., & Zhang, H. (2021). “I finally marginalized myself from the mainstream”: An Autoethnography Study of Chinese International Student’s Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence. The Qualitative Report, 26(11), 3665-3682. doi: https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.4827
Ma, X. (2024). Cultural Diplomacy and China's Image in Southeast Asia: Managing Bilateral Relations through Soft Power. Journal of Political Science Research, 5 (2), 39-52. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.23977/polsr.2024.050204
Malik, M., Aziz, A., Iqbal, Z., & Shahid, A. (2023). Exploring Potential Factors Causing Intercultural Miscommunication Using Chick’s and Xin’s Model. 9(2), 465-473. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://jprpk.com/index.php/jpr/article/view/332&ved=2ahUKEwiK893jhI6UAxWKSWwGHRNaGtcQFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0Uyt3GuNdaXS0dJciWzBFr
Meyerhoff, M. (2023). Responses to CAT at 50: Reflections on accommodation from a sociolinguist. Elsevier, 1-7. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2023.101570
Moynihan, H., & Patel, C. (2021). Restrictions on online freedom of expression in China: The domestic, regional and international implications of China’s policies and practices. Chatham House, 1-21. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/03/restrictions-online-freedom-expression-china&ved=2ahUKEwjIkceUhY6UAxVjTGwGHYXsIEYQFnoECBcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw20LVc54qC7QdqzF13N1l5R
Mseer, I. N. (2025). Communication Accommodation Theory; for Understanding Cultural Communication Dynamics. Journal of Digital Media and Artificial Intelligence, 2 (1), 27-33. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118540190.wbeic006
Pan, H., Liu, C., Fang, F., & Elyas, T. (2021). “How Is My English?”: Chinese University Students’ Attitudes Toward China English and Their Identity Construction. Sage, 1-15. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211038271
Permatasari, I., & Andriyanti, E. (2021). Developing students’ intercultural communicative competence through cultural text-based teaching. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(1), 72-82. doi: https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v11i1.34611
Pinariya, J. M., & Sutjipto, A. M. (2021). Intercultural communication competence: An international students experience in Indonesia. Humaniora, 12(2), 89-97. doi: https://doi.org/10.62775/edukasia.v4i2.654
Rabe, T. (2023). Addressing the Methodological Challenges that Cloaked Profiles Pose to Digital Observations. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 52(4), 537 –558. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221135498
Rafaldhanis, M. R. A., Fajarani, Y., & Kartanapura, A. D. (2023). Enhancing Cross-Cultural Understanding among ASEAN Youth. Jurnal Alternatif, 14 (2), 80-87. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://ejournal-jayabaya.id/Alternatif/article/download/105/83&ved=2ahUKEwjU_tbNhY6UAxXvTWwGHS_ZNtsQFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2vVhAuqydw4i1GKou-QZOP
Sawedy, R. M., & Sarwono, B. (2024). Dynamics of intercultural communication: Papuans in Gorontalo. Bricolage: Jurnal Magister Ilmu Komunikasi, 10(1), 25-38. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.30813/bricolage.v10i1.5074
Sugiyanto, Arif, A., Hidayat, A., & Prihadi, S. (2025). Cultural knowledge deficiency: a root cause of communication challenges among school-aged youths in Surakarta, Indonesia. Cogent Education, 12:1, 1-12. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2544408
Suyastri, C., Sundari R., & Sasmi, D. T. (2023). Enhancing Public Understanding of ASEAN: Towards Stronger Integration. Journal of Diplomacy and International Studies, 6 (1), 15-23. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://journal.uir.ac.id/index.php/jdis/article/view/14644&ved=2ahUKEwim-__0hY6UAxXGZmwGHZKQPeoQFnoECCUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1-AQh9olLdPfGH7LTiKxrc
Taufan, G. T., & Wicaksono, J. A. (2022). Students’ Perspectives and Experiences of HelloTalk Application A Case Study. JLCT, 1, 1-11. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://sipora.polije.ac.id/30842/1/3_Students%2520Perspective.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj43cmGho6UAxX_V3ADHewiBaoQFnoECBoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Hxv00RmPvBQs4vObt4WtA
The OR Briefings. (n.d.). Hybrid Identity - Definition and Explanation. The Oxford Review. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://oxford-review.com/the-oxford-review-dei-diversity-equity-and-inclusion dictionary/hybrid identity definition and explanation/&ved=2ahUKEwip9qX378uTAxU_6zgGHSbRG-YQFnoECB0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3ogz5B2utbMV-bGLIILE1E
Wan, T.-L. A. (2025). “Hi, I’m Ruan Yuejiao, from Ho Chi Minh City!”: Digital raciolinguistic enregisterment and indexical hijack of the Vietnames Mandarin Accent. Cambridge University Press, 1-30. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404524001088
Waziri, Z. Y. (2022). Politeness Theory and Resolution of Misunderstandings in Social Media Communication. Nsukka Journal of the Humanities, 30 (2), 61-70. doi: https://doi.org/10.62250/nsuk.2022.30.2.61-70
West, R., & Turner, L. H. (2020). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application. McGraw-Hill Education.
Xie, M., Chao, C, (2022). The Interplay between Social Media and Cultural Adjustment: Analysis of the Subjective Well-Being, Social Support, and Social Media Use of Asian International Students in the U.S. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 22 (2), 22-32. doi: https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v22i2.37
Xixi, L., & Habil, H. (2023). Intercultural Miscommunication in Higher Education Institutions: A Systematic Review (2013-2023). ASEAN Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2, 115-130. Retrieved from https://ejournal.maal.org.my/asjal/article/view/15
Yahya, F. A., & Mutia, R. T. N. (2022). The great firewall of china: praktik sensor internet pada era xi jinping. HISTORIA: Jurnal Pendidik dan Peneliti Sejarah, 6(1), 13-24. doi: https://doi.org/10.17509/historia.v6i1.50007
Yang, C., Popov, V., Biemans, H.J.A., & Liu, J. (2025). Challenges of Chinese Students In Intercultural Communication: A Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Intercultural Communication. Journal of Intercultural Communication. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 25(1), 1-16. doi: https://doi.org/10.36923/jicc.v25i1.993
Yang, C.J., Popov, V., & Biemans, H.J.A. (2025). Chinese students’ perceptions of affordances and challenges, and their associated reactions within different contexts of intercultural communication. Elsevier, 105, 1-12. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2024.102133
Yang, P., & Yang, Z. (2025). Mobile Assisted intercultural competence development: The role of HelloTalk in Chinese EFL education. PLoS One, 20(7), 1-13. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328660
Zhao, D., Jablonkai, R. R., & Sandoval-Hernandez, A. (2024). Enhancing willingness to communicate in English among Chinese students in the UK: the impact of MALL with Duolingo and HelloTalk. De Gruyter, 4(1), 42–73. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/jccall-2023-0027 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/ikat.v8i1.115588
Article Metrics
Abstract views : 336
| 
views : 142
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2026 Jessica Iona
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.