Abdelaziz Bouchara obtained his Ph.D. from the university of Heidelberg in 2001. He is presently Professor of linguistics and business German at the University of Casablanca. Current interests are politeness theory, intercultural communication and globalization. Bouchara is the author of Höflichkeitsformen in der Interaktion zwischen Deutschen und Arabern: Ein Beitrag zur interkulturellen Kommunikation (RGL/235, Niemeyer)