Published Paper Details:

Abstract The increasing mobility of Indian students to Canada has created new opportunities for educational and professional development while also exposing students to unfamiliar linguistic, cultural, and interpersonal practices. This study examines the interpersonal communication and cross-cultural issues and challenges experienced by Indian immigrant students in Canada. It particularly focuses on the ways in which differences in language use, pronunciation, accent, conversational styles, cultural norms, social practices, and pragmatic knowledge may influence interpersonal interaction. The study adopts a qualitative and exploratory approach based on observations from an international conference on interpersonal communicative challenges for Indian immigrant students in Canada, supported by relevant secondary sources, including journal articles, and academic publications. The findings indicate that interpersonal communication difficulties extend beyond grammatical or linguistic competence and may also arise from differences in pragmatic and sociocultural expectations. Differences in conversational openings, greetings, politeness, speech patterns, pronunciation, accent, speech rate, and culturally influenced social behaviour may contribute to misunderstanding and communication difficulties. The study further highlights the use of communication strategies such as requesting repetition, clarification, topic avoidance, and preference for face-to-face interaction when students encounter communicative difficulties. It argues that effective adjustment requires not only English-language proficiency but also pragmatic awareness, cultural understanding, and strategic competence. The study recommends greater attention to cross-cultural and interpersonal communication in orientation and language-support programmes for international students. Developing awareness of culturally situated communication practices can help Indian students participate more effectively in academic, professional, and social interactions in Canada. Keywords: Indian immigrant students, interpersonal communication, cross-cultural communication, pragmatic competence, cultural adaptation and communication strategies.