《新编跨文化交际英语教程》复习资料U5

Unit 5

Culture and Verbal Communication

Some Ideas Related to verbal communication and culture

1. Different orientations to communication patterns

East Asian orientation

1.

process

orientation

—

communication

is

perceived

as

a

process

of

infinite

interpretation

2.

differentiated

linguistic

codes

—

different

linguistics

codes

are

used

depending

upon persons involved and situations

3. indirect communication emphasis

—

the use of indirect communication is prevalent

and accepted as normative

4.

receiver

centered

—

meaning

is

in

the

interpretation,

Emphasis

is

on

listening,

sensitivity, and removal of preconception.

North American orientation

1. communication is perceived as the transference of messages

2.

Less

differentiated

linguistic

codes

—

linguistic

codes

are

not

as

extensively

differentiated as East Asia

3.

Direct

communication

emphasis

—

direct

communication

is

norm

despite

the

extensive use of indirect communication

4. sender centered

—

meaning is in the message created by the sender. Emphasis is on

how to formulate the best message, how to improve source credibility and delivery

skills

2. Direct and Indirect Verbal Interaction Styles

The

tone

of

voice,

the

speaker?s

intention,

and

the

verbal

content

reflect

our

way of speaking, our verbal style, which in turn reflects our cultural and personal

values and sentiments.

Verbal

style

frames

“how”

a

message

should

be

interpreted.

The

direct

-indirect

verbal

interaction

dimension

can

be

thought

of

as

straddling

a

continuum.

Individuals in all cultures use the gradations of all these verbal styles, depending on

role identities, interaction goals, and situations. However, in individualistic cultures,

people tend to encounter more situations that emphasize the preferential use of direct

talk, person-oriented verbal interaction, verbal self-enhancement, and talkativeness.

In

contrast,

in

collectivistic cultures,

people tend to

encounter more situations that

emphasize

the

preferential

use

of

indirect

talk,

status-oriented

verbal

interaction,

verbal self-effacement, and silence.

The direct and indirect styles differ in the extent to which communicators reveal

their

intentions

through

their

tone

of

voice

and

the

straightforwardness

of

their

content

message.

In

the

direct

verbal

style,

statements

clearly

reveal

the

speaker?s

intentions and are enunciated in a forthright tone of voice. In the indirect verbal style,

on

the

other

hand,

verbal

statements

tend

to

camouflage

the

speaker?s

actual

intentions

and

are

carried

out

with

more

nuanced

tone

of

voice.

For

example,

the

overall U.S.

American verbal

style often calls for clear and direct

communication.

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P

hrases such as “say what you mean,” “don?t beat around the bush,” and “get to the

point”

are

some

examples.

The

direct

verbal

style

of

the

larger

U.S.

culture

is

reflective of its low-context communication character.

3. Person-Oriented and Status-Oriented Verbal Styles

The

person-oriented

verbal

style

is

individual-centered

verbal

mode

that

emphasizes the importance of informality and role suspension. The status- oriented

verbal

style

is

a

role- centered

verbal

mode

that

emphasizes

formality

and

large

power distance. The former emphasizes the importance of symmetrical interaction,

whereas the latter stresses asymmetrical interaction.

The person-oriented verbal style emphasizes the importance of respecting unique,

personal

identities

in

the

interaction.

The

status-oriented

verbal

style

emphasizes

the importance of honoring prescribed power-based membership identities. Those

who

engage

in

status-oriented

verbal

interaction

use

specific

vocabularies

and

paralinguistic

features

to

accentuate

the

status

distance

of

the

role

relationships

(e.g.,

in

parent-child

interaction,

superior- subordinate

relations,

and

male-female

interaction in

many

Latin American cultures). While low-context

cultures tend to

emphasize the use of the person-oriented verbal style, high-context cultures tend to

value the status- oriented verbal mode.

4. Self-Enhancement and Self-Effacement Verbal Styles

The self-enhancement verbal style emphasizes the importance of boasting about

one?s accomplishments and abilities. The self

-effacement verbal style, on the other

hand,

emphasizes

the

importance

of

humbling

oneself

via

verbal

restraints,

hesitations, modest talk, and the use of self-

deprecation

concerning one?s effort or

performance.

For example, in many Asian cultures, self-effacement talk is expected to signal

modesty or humility. In Japan, when one offers something to another person such as

a gift or a meal that one has prepared, verbal self-deprecation is expected. There are

set

expressions

for

verbal

humility

such

as

“It?s

not

very

tasty”

and

“It?s

nothing

special.” The hostess who apologizes to her guests that “There is nothing special to

offer you” has probably sent the better part of two days planning and preparing the

meal. Of course the guest should protest such a disclaimer and reemphasize her or

his gratitude. Self- effacement is a necessary part of Japanese politeness rituals.

In the U.S. culture, individuals are encouraged to sell and boast about themselves,

for example, in performance review or job interview sessions, or else no one would

notice

their

accomplishments.

However,

the

notion

of

merchandizing

oneself

does

not set well with the Japanese. In Japan, one does not like to stand out or be singled

out, even by others; it is far worse to promote oneself.

In

many

Asian

cultures,

individuals

believe

that

if

their

performance

is

good,

their behavior will be noticed, for example, by

their supervisors during

promotion

review situations. However, from the Western cultural standpoint, if my performance

is good, I should document

or boast about it so that my supervisor will be sure to

take

notice.

This

difference

is

probably

due

to

the

observer-sensitive

value

of

the

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Asian,

high-context

communication

pattern,

as

opposed

to

the

sender-responsible

value of the Western, low-context interaction pattern.

We should note that the pattern of verbal self-effacement cannot be generalized

to many Arab or African cultures. In Egypt, for example, a popular saying is “Make

your harvest look big, lest your enemies rejoice”. Effusive verbal self

-enhancement

is critic

al to the enhancement of one?s face or honor in some large power distance

Arab cultures.

Reading I

Understanding the Culture of Conversation

Comprehension questions

1. What made the author feel learning to converse in Mexico City was easier for

him/her in one way, more difficult in another?

It's easier because Mexicans service the relationship and they care about

everyone in the

conversation. But their conversation doesn?t move in a straight line,

drifting around both in the topic and in the way they use words.

2. Why did the Mexican customer slide into the topic of the full eclipse of the sun?

For the Mexican, the conversation starts with one topic, but if another interesting

topic seeps in he or she will ride it around for a while. Sticking to the first topic is

less important than having an interesting conversation.

3. What did the American businessman feel about the Mexican

?

s way of

conversation?

For the American, a conversation should have a topic, and he wants to take a

straight line through it from beginning to end. So he felt very impatient about the

Mexican?s way of conversation.

4. What “conversational ideal” was represented by the example of a championship

skier who was interviewed on TV?

The Swedish conversational ideal is to response in a concise manner without

elaborating specific details, especially those for self-promotion. .

5. What problems are likely to occur if an American talks with a Swede?

The American may feel totally lost in the conversation since he or she would not

get as much information from the Swede as he or she has expected.

6. What are the differences between Anglos and Athabaskans in conversation?

There are a lot differences between them. For instance, at the beginning of a

conversation, Anglos almost always speak first. Athabaskans think it is important

to know what the social relationship is before they talk with someone. There is

another difference in how long one should talk. Athabaskans tend to have longer

turns when they talk with each other, but Anglos expect shorter turns.

7. Is it enough just to learn to speak in grammatically correct manners when one

learns a foreign language? What else does he or she also need to know?

It is far from enough just to learn to speak in grammatically correct manners

when one learns a foreign language. One also has to know about the culture of

using the language in social life, things like who talks first, who talks next, who

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