Intercultural Communication

Lecture 2

Review

Discourse Systems

Based on Ideology (beliefs, values) Relationships Communication patterns Socialization (learning)

Can be big or small

Multiple Overlapping Discourse Systems

Chinese

City U Student

Hong Konger

Youth

Christian

Female

Examples of discourse systems

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Two types of discourse system

Voluntary Goal oriented

Involuntary Based on characteristics that are not chosen

IMPORTANT POINT

Since everyone is simultaneously a member of many discourse systems

Interdiscourse communication is NOT ONLY

Me-----You

BUT ALSO

Me----Me----Me

My new experience

Yoga

Combat!

Task

Watch the video

How does this situation constitute interdiscourse communication?

The Ambiguity of Language

People don’t mean what they say

People don’t say what they mean

We must draw inferences about meaning

Our inferences tend to be fixed, not tentative

Our inferences are drawn very quickly

The Grammar of Context

Two main ways we deal with ambiguity

We make inferences based on the words people say and the way that they say them

TEXT

We make inferences based on the situation

CONTEXT

What is ‘Grammar’

Grammar is a system of shared expectations about how language should be used in a certain community

Grammars which are written down in books are descriptions of how the people who have power use language

Different dialects or varieties may have different grammars

Where are these people from?

My brother really hungry la. Let’s go for makan.

I cannae mind the place where those bairns are from.

Yo mama so bowlegged, she looks like the bite out of a doughnut.

Grammar is a System

BAE She very nice

He a teacher

I run when I bees on my way to school

LV to be omitted

be signals repeated action

SAE

She’s very nice

He’s a teacher

I always run when I’m on my way to school

LV can’t be omitted

always signals repeated action

What’s correct?

Speech is correct as long as it follows the system

Most people never study the grammar of their own language (learned informally)

Nobody follows the system exactly

Variation in usage is not ‘wrong’. Usually it has a purpose

Markedness

Unmarked=the usual way, conforming to the system.

Marked=unusual, not conforming to the system.

Whether something is unmarked or marked depend on the context.

‘What is it?’

‘What it be?’

The Grammar of Context

Just as language has systems, discourse (language in context) also has systems.

language grammars tell you how to arrange words, word endings, etc.

context grammars tell you what to say to whom, when and how.

GOC is ‘learned’ in the same way language grammar is

Shared Expectations

People from the same discourse community have shared expectations about how speech situations, events and acts should be arranged.

People don’t always follow the system exactly. Like language grammar, we use it as a guide-line to assist us in communication.

Grammar of Context

Seven Components Scene Key Participants Message form Sequence Co-occurrence Patterns Manifestation

Scene

Setting Time Place

location use of space purpose topic genre

Genre

A ‘type’ of communication lecture business letter informal conversation novel song TV news report

Lecture: Fixed

Setting Time: Thursday, 9:30-12:30 Place: B5311 Use of Space: L standing in front, S’s sitting in chairs Purpose: to learn Topic: Intercultural Communication Genres: lecture, small group activities

Date: Not as Fixed Time: usually evening

Place: cinema, restaurant, park, karaoke

Use of space: depends on other components of GOC

Purpose: To establish or maintain relationship

Topic: Depends on participants

Genre: dinner, karaoke, picture-taking

Date: Marked Occurrences

Time: Thursday, 1:30-4:30

Place: B5311

Use of space: Boy standing in front, girl sitting in chair

Purpose: to learn

Topic: Intercultural Communication

Genre: lecture

Time and space

Edward T. Hall Famous American Anthropologist Hall, E.T. (1959). The silent language. Garden City, NY:

Anchor Press/Doubleday.

Hall, E.T. (1977). Beyond culture. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

Hall, E.T. (1983). The dance of life. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.

Punctuality in Brazil

As a visiting professor in Brazil, Levine (1988) discovered that college students there had a very different conception of class time compared to American students. When the time came to meet his first class, Levine arrived twenty minutes late to an empty classroom (Levine & Wolff, 1985). But, unlike in the U.S.A., that did not mean that the class had already been there and left. Rather, it meant that none of the class had even arrived! Then, when class was over, only a few students left. The rest hung around for an additional half hour.

Punctuality and Values

Levine asked US and Brazilian college students about what makes a successful person

US students rated people who were never late for appointments as more successful

Brazilians rated people who were always late for appointments as more successful

Why?

Time

Different discourse systems have different concepts of time

For some: abstract, measurable, independent of circumstances, synthetic

For others: measured in natural cycles (eg. Crops)

Chronos (‘clock time’)

Kairos (‘appropriate time’)

Metaphors for Time

Time is money

Spend time

Waste time

Run out of time

Save time

Lose time

Urgency

Type ‘A’ personality

‘hurry sickness’

Rural—city

Genders

Generations

Professions

Contexts

Effect of technology

Monochronic vs. Polychronic Orientation towards time

Monochronic

Linear, tangible, divisible

Single focus: Events scheduled one item at a time

Schedule takes precedence over relationships

Emphasis on punctuality

Adherence to plan

Polychronic

Circular, holistic. Flexible

Multiple focus: Simultaneous attention to different things

Greater involvement with people

Change plans easily

Easily distracted

ageric vs. non-ageric

How does one define being ‘busy’

Thinking vs. Doing

Especially important in corporate discourse systems

‘Looking busy’

Variety

Related to sense of time passing

Boredom

Cultural differences

Urban-rural

Generational

Effects of technology

Attitudes towards the past and the future

‘Golden Age’ view

Utopian view

Traditional Chinese/Confucian view

Maoist view

Contemporary Chinese view

Contemporary American view

Your view?

Your grandparents’ view?

Different dimensions of time

WHICH ARE YOU?

Urgency vs, non-urgency

Monochronism vs. polychronism

Ageric vs. non-ageric

Variety vs. regularity

Golden age vs. utopian

Use of space

Proxemics

The Hidden Dimension (1966)

human perceptions of space are molded and patterned by culture

differing cultural frameworks for defining and organizing space can lead to serious failures of communication and understanding in cross-cultural settings

personal spaces that people form around their bodies

cultural expectations about how streets, neighborhoods and cities should be properly organized.

Use of Space: Business

North Americans big boss has the corner office on the top floor, deep

carpets, an expensive desk, and handsome accessories. The most successful companies are located in the most prestigious buildings.

France the highest-ranking executives sit in the middle of an

open area, surrounded by lower-level employees.

Middle East fine possessions are reserved for the home, and

business is conducted in cramped and modest quarters.

Personal Space

Intimate space the closest "bubble" of space surrounding a person.

Entry into this space is acceptable only for the closest friends and intimates.

Social and consultative spaces the spaces in which people feel comfortable

conducting routine social interactions with acquaintances as well as strangers.

Public space the area of space beyond which people will perceive

interactions as impersonal and relatively anonymous.

Personal Space

According to Hall…

In the United States people engaged in conversation will assume a social distance of roughly 4-7’

in many parts of Europe the expected social distance is roughly half that

Americans traveling overseas often experience the urgent need to back away from a conversation partner who seems to be getting too close..

Personal Space

The distance one keeps with the other person may influence the response one will get

If you are too close to a person who is used to keeping a certain physical distance in conversation, this person may feel threatened.

If you keep the same distance with a person who is used to physically closer interaction, physical distance may be interpreted as psychological distance.

Elevator Rules

What are the rules are for standing in the elevator? Which way should you face?

Where do people stand when there are only two or three people?

What happens when a fourth person enters the elevator.

How would you feel if there were two people on the elevator and a third person entered and stood right next to you?

What do people look at in a crowded elevator?

When is it permissible to talk to the other people?

Participants

Number

Who they are

What roles they take

Different roles in different situations

Performatives: Speech acts which can only be performed by certain people in certain places

‘I now pronounce you husband and wife’

Participants

Different discourse systems have different ideas about participant roles

Japanese vs. American decision making

American vs. Chinese classrooms Chinese: Teacher always introduces topics American: Students often introduce topics

Key

From music: minor key/major key

Mood

Key of a Wedding: Happy

Key of a Funeral: Sad

Key of a Lecture: ?

Intercultural Differences laughter = relaxed/ laughter = nervous crying at weddings/dancing at funerals

Message Form

Speaking

Writing

Silence

Other media Video Overhead projection,

slides Amplification Recording

‘The Medium is the Message’

The message form we choose changes the message

Breaking up

What’s the best way and the worst way to break up and why face to face conversation telephone Letter Email Facebook (relationship status) Weibo or Twitter text message (SMS) instant messaging (MSN) Silence a combination of the above

Sequence Set Agenda

Open Agenda

Conventional Ordering

Proposing Marriage

Preparation: ‘I have something to talk to you about...’

Reasons: ‘We’ve been going out for a long time...’

Main Point: So, would you like to get married?

Sequence

Associated with ‘scripts’

McDonald’s script

Yum Cha script

Western Restaurant script

‘Hey man, don’t eat my shit’

Co-occurrence Patterns

Things that usually go together

joke--humorous key

apology--serious key

lecture--lecture theater

meeting--set agenda

conversation on date--open agenda

Manifestation

Explicit (rules stated in a very clear way) (often the case in ceremonies)

E.g. ‘Please rise’

‘You may now kiss the bride’

Tacit (rule not stated but understood)

Manifestation of GOC is usually tacit

So people from different DS’s have problems

What’s the GOC in your discourse system for ...

Taking your boyfriend home to meet the parents

playing mahjong

robbing a bank

breaking up with a lover

____________________

Task

Compare the GOC for a school assembly and a pop music concert

Context

Hall

High vs. low context cultures

meaning

Infor-mation

context

LC

HC

High vs. Low Context

Low

Most of the meaning in the words

Background information more explicit/verbalized

Narrower social networks

‘New couple’

High

Most of the meaning in the context

Background information more implicit/tacit

Wider on social networks

‘Old couple’

Context and Culture

Which of the following countries do you think Hall categorizes as High Context and which as Low Context? (List in order of high to low)

France

Brazil

Japan

USA

Context and culture

While these terms are sometimes useful in describing some aspects of a culture, one can never say a culture is "high" or "low" because societies all contain both modes. "High" and "low" are therefore less relevant as a description of a whole people, and more useful to describe and understand particular situations and environments.

Task

High or Low Context Situations

A meeting of a small religious group

A party with friends

A sport or game where rules are clearly laid out

Eating at a neighborhood restaurant with a regular clientele

Taking a flight at an airport

Eating at a cafeteria/canteen