Week 14Week 14Intercultural Communication Intercultural Communication

• Ch. 6 wrap up Introduction to the diversity of African languages: http://video-subtitle.tedcdn.com/talk/podcast/2013/None/SakiMafundikwa_2013-480p-zh-cn.mp4

(begin at 1:00 and stop around 4:52)

Multimedia

Differences in Intercultural Verbal Styles • Mindless versus mindful interpretations of verbal style

differences can ultimately influence the quality of our intercultural or intergroup relationship developments

• Today, we’ll look at:

• low-context and high-context communication framework

• four cross-cultural verbal style differences

• direct and indirect

• complementary, animated, and understated

• formal and informal

• cultural attitudes toward talk and silence

• different modes of cross-cultural persuasion

• What is low-context communication? high-context communication?

• Describe some LCC and HCC patterns (hint: p.170 and 172).

Questions

Intercultural Low-Context and High-Context Communication Framework

• Defining Low-Context and High-Context Communication

• LC: the emphasis is on explicit verbal messages; English and German

• HC: the emphasis is on conveying meaning or intention through the context (e.g. social roles or positions) and the nonverbal channels (e.g. pauses, silence, tone of voice) of the verbal message; Arabic and Spanish

• language system itself may be more LC in expression or HC in verbal implication

• Table 7.1 and 7.2

• low-context communication(LCC)refers to communication patterns of a direct verbal mode: straight talk, nonverbal immediacy, and sender-oriented values (i.e. the sender assumes responsibility to communicate clearly)

• HCC refers to communication patterns of an indirect verbal mode: self-humbling talk, nonverbal subtleties, and interpreter-sensitive values (i.e. the receiver or interpreter of the message assumes the responsibility to infer the hidden or contextual meanings of the message=“reading between the lines”)

Question • What do low-context communicators emphasize?

How about high-context communicators? (hint: p.175)

Low-Context and High-Context Verbal Style Comparisons

• LCCs tend to emphasize:

• a direct verbal style

• an animated conversational tone

• an informal verbal treatment

• talkativeness

• HCCs instead tend to value:

• an indirect verbal style

• an understated or exaggerated conversational tone

• a formal verbal treatment

• an emphasis on the importance of silence

Question

What’s the differences between a direct and indirect verbal style? Provide examples (from the textbook will

suffice). (hint: p.176)

Direct and Indirect Verbal Styles

• it straddles a continuum much like value patterns and orientations

• direct: verbal statements tend to reveal the speaker’s intentions with clarity and are enunciated with a forthright tone of voice

• U.S. American such as “be very clear,” “don’t beat around the bush,” and “what is the point”

• indirect: verbal statements tend to camouflage the speaker’s actual intentions and are carried out in a softer tone

• Koreans ask for a favor in a more roundabout and implicit way to avoid sounding imposing or demanding

Question Define complementary, animated, and understated verbal

styles.

Complementary, Animated, and Understated Verbal Styles

• refers to the rhythms, emotional expressiveness, and intensity of tone of voice that accompany verbal content message(s).

• complementary: a matter-of-fact tone

• animated: more emotional expressiveness and emotional vitality

• understated: more emotional restraint or stoicism

• mainstream American conversation follows a complementary style approach, French conversation follows an interruption-punctuation verbal pattern in the context of well-established relationships (animated), British prefer an understated style, African Americans tend to be more animated while European Americans more verbally straightforward (complementary).

• Although British are indirect in comparison to U.S. Americans, the Japanese would not find them to be the least bit indirect

Question What does an informal verbal style emphasize? What about

a formal one? (hint: p.179)

Informal and Formal Verbal Styles

• informal verbal style: informality, casualness, and role suspension in VC; respects unique, personal identities in interaction

• low-context cultures

• formal verbal style: upholding status-based and role-based interaction that reflects formality and large power distance; honors prescribed power-based membership identities

• high-context cultures

• the speaking mode reflects the overall values and norms of a culture; therefore, reflect the hierarchal social order, family socialization, asymmetrical role positions, and power distance values of the different cultures

Beliefs Expressed in Talk and Silence

• silence is important in many Asian collectivist cultures

• reflects the inner pausing of the speaker’s thoughts

• the Western rhetorical model views it as ‘empty pauses’ or ‘ignorant lapses’

• In many Native American collectivist cultures, those who themselves are quiet expect quiet from others

• The French use silence as a neutral communication process with strangers

• European Americans, however, tend to use talk to ‘break the ice’ and reserve silence for their most intimate relationships

Intercultural Persuasion Process

• Persuasion is the art of influencing someone to do something you want or to accept an idea you believe is important

• an African American student asking her Latino professor to extend a deadline on an assignment

• an Asian immigrant asking his European American supervisor to grant him sick leave to tend to his ailing grandfather

• or Walt Disney Company representatives needing to persuade the Chinese to open more China Disneyland parks

Question Explain a linear persuasion style and a spiral persuasion

style.

Linear Logic Versus Spiral Logic Persuasion • LCCs tend to practice linear-mode persuasion style (two forms)

• factual-inductive form: presents facts, evidence, eyewitness accounts, testimonials, and proofs, and from these facts proceeds to draw conclusions or generalizations (U.S. American)

• axiomatic-deductive form: starts from general principles, or axiom, and then moves forward to fill in specific details. Models, diagrams, and big-picture conceptual frameworks can help to move the negotiation process along from broad to specific points of conclusion. (Russian)

• HCCS tend to practice spiral persuasion styles (many forms)

• Arab cultures tend to use effusive metaphors, similes, stories, parables, and a wide range of flowery adjectives to reinforce a point; thus, emphasizes image over digital content and form over function

• Italian, Slavic, Jewish, and many African cultures also tend to use effusive metaphors, parables, and stories to dramatize the emotional impact of their message

• Asian and Native American cultures resort to hints, implicit analogies, Zen sayings, and subtle nonverbal gestures to convey an intended meaning

Question What does a self-credentialing verbal mode emphasize?

What about a self-humbling one? (hint: p.191)

Self-Credentialing and Self-Humbling Verbal Modes

• self-credentialing verbal mode emphasizes the importance of drawing attention to or boasting about one’s credentials, outstanding accomplishments, and special abilities

• Swiss, U.S. culture

• self-humbling verbal mode instead lowers oneself via modest talk, verbal restraints, hesitations, and the use of self-deprecation concerning one’s effort or performance

• Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cuban Americans; Latin, Native American, and Asian cultures

• cannot be generalized to many Arab or African cultures

Question Define face, self-face concern, other-face concern, and

facework.

Face Negotiation and Requesting Strategies

• Face is a claimed sense of social self-worth that a person wants others to have of him or her; tied to the emotional significance we attach to our own social self-worth and that of the others’ social self-worth; maintaining our social poise in conversations and extending our consideration in supporting or threatening the social poise of the other communicator

• Self-face concern: more interested in upholding our identities and favorable self-images

• Other-face concern: more interested in providing identity respect and support for the other person’s interest or need in the face-negotiation process

• Facework refers to the specific verbal and nonverbal behaviors pr actions that we engage in to maintain or restore face loss and to uphold and honor face again

• U.S. managers use direct persuasive strategies such as an open invitation, to make promises, or to pay direct compliments whereas Japanese managers tend to use altruistic strategies or appeals to duty in dealing with employees

What are the Different Ways to Communicate Nonverbally Across Cultures?

• conscious and unconscious aspect of everyday life

• carry strong identity and relational meaning, nonverbal cues are used to relate messages that may be too embarrassing or direct to disclose out loud, intentional or unintentional

• create intercultural friction and miscommunication because the same nonverbal signal can mean different things, multiple nomnverbal cues are sent and there are many display rule variations to consider (e.g. personality, gender, relational distance socioeconomic status, and situation)

• NVC is important because it signals our emotions, attitudes, and the nature of our relationships with others; based on what we wear, how we speak, and how we present ourselves

• NVC is communicating without words through multiple communication channels (how the meaning of nonverbal messages can be simultaneously signaled and interpreted through facial expressions, body gestures, spatial relationships, and the environment); they are learned and the heartbeat of a culture, as NVC embodies the rich meaning of a culture; one code can have many interpretations (i.e. “OK” gesture)

• NVC and VC can be used independently or together. When used together, NV cues can repeat, contradict, substitute, complement, and accent verbal messages

Artifacts and Clothing

• Physical appearance includes body type, height, weight, hair, and skin color.

• Along with our appearance, we wear clothing and we also generally display artifacts.

• Artifacts are ornaments or adornments we use to communicate just by wearing the actual item. Jewelry, shoes, glasses, gloves, nail polish, tattoos, body piercings, and face painting communicate our age, group membership, socioeconomic status and class, personality, and gender.

Paralanguage

• is the sound and tones we use in conversation and the speech behavior that accompanies the message; how something is said, not what is said

• includes accent, pitch range, pitch intensity, volume, articulation, and pace

• we tend to use our own standards to judge others nonverbal markers

• examples on p.206, first full paragraph

Facial Expressions

• also called kinesics: the study of posture, body movement, gestures, and facial expressions

• The face can produce about 250, 000 expressions

• basic facial expressions have universality, relatively speaking (SADFISH); however, the ability to recognize specific emotions may vary

• Cultural display rules are the procedures we learn for managing the way we express our emotions and when it is or is not acceptable to express them

• emoticons

Gestures

• are culturally specific and significant forms of NVC (four categories)

• Emblems are substituted for words and phrases (culturally specific)

• Illustrators are used along with the spoken message and they “illustrate” the verbal message

• Regulators are used in conversation to control, maintain, or ‘regulate’ the pace and flow of the conversation (culturally specific)

• Adaptors are habits or gestures that fulfill some kind of psychological or physical need ; some are learned and others are more automatic; not intended to communicate a message but are considered rude in the context of another culture

Haptics

• examines the perceptions and meanings of touch behavior

• there are five functions of touch behavior: part of a greeting ritual, express affection, to be playful, to have controlling behavior, and having a task-related function

• examples on p. 212, final paragraph

• French, Russians Latin Americans and Italians are members of high-contact cultures: often look each other in the eye directly, face each other, touch and/or kiss each other, and speak in rather loud voices

• East Asians and Asian Americans are from low-contact cultures: little if any touching, preferring indirect eye gazes and speaking in a lower tone

• Moderate-contact cultures, such as the U.S., Canada, and Australia, are a blend of both

• Southern Europeans touch more than Northern Europeans

• haptics depends heavily on gender, age, context (very important, ‘buttock pat’ on p.213), duration of relationship, and personality factors

Multimedia Multimedia Verbal Communication StylesLow-context vs. High-context

Direct vs. Indirect Informal vs. Formal

Talk vs. Silence

Nonverbal Communication StylesArtifacts & Clothing

Paralanguage, or how something is said (accent, pitch range, pitch intensity, volume, articulation, pace)

Facial expressions Gestures

Haptics, or perceptions and meanings of touch behavior

Verbal Communication StylesLow-context vs. High-context

Direct vs. Indirect Informal vs. Formal

Talk vs. Silence

Nonverbal Communication StylesArtifacts & Clothing

Paralanguage, or how something is said (accent, pitch range, pitch intensity, volume, articulation, pace)

Facial expressions Gestures

Haptics, or perceptions and meanings of touch behavior

Week 13 Assignments

• Prepare multimedia group work based on Ch. 6, 7, and/or 8 concepts.

• Find an example of the relationship between language and culture, verbal or nonverbal communication styles. 

• Make sure you identify, discuss, analyze, or comment not only on your multimedia but on related IC concepts from Ch. 6, 7, and/or 8. 

• Multimedia format such as video, photo, article, OR blog entry 

• Keep it short. You do not need to email it to me prior to class. Therefore, you need to consider giving a VERY BRIEF summary or introduction. Only one item per group. If it's a series of related photos, that's acceptable. Please keep in mind that it is not a presentation! As such, five minutes worth of discussion  (per group) is more than enough. 

• Prepare to discuss your findings, observations, analysis, commentary etc., NOT present it. If you use visuals, it will only be to visually discuss your findings, observations, analysis, commentary etc.

• Lastly, I have absolutely no problem with you switching the groups around. I do not need to be informed ahead of time.