Verbal & Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures

NOICE & SILENCE:
VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL
COMMUNICATION

OUTLINE OF THE DISCUSSION
⊡ The first contributor Is Sture Allen who argues the need to
respect all human languages as expressions of cultural
diversity.
⊡ Allén commends simultaneous translation in international
forums so that members can speak in their native
languages. He suggests this will help to counter the
domination of English as a global language and encourage
the preservation of less common languages.
⊡ His frame of reference is Europe, but his comments apply
equally to all nations and regions.
2
1

⊡ Contributors Peter Buzzi and Claudia Megele then
discuss the importance of context in
interpretation of language; and interpersonal
communication as forms of theatre in which
people as individuals and in teams play social
roles.
3
2

⊡ Elizabeth Christopher writes on verbal and non-verbal
communication across cultures.
⊡ She examines the causes of interference with
interpretations of meanings, including psychological
variables such as thought patterns, attributions,
perceptions, stereotyping and attitudes.
⊡ She refers to factors of social organization that affect
interaction: roles, verbal and non-verbal ‘language
including kinesics, proxemics, paralanguage, object
language and use of time.
4
3

LANGUAGE AS CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION:
SPEAKING EUROPEAN
1
5

6
Sture Allen
⊡ Human language is a fantastic resource, infinite in scope
and potential.
⊡ Every language has unique assets - semantic, stylistic and
culture-historic.
⊡ The process involves senders and receivers, media and
messages.
⊡ Notice that McLuhan's slogan 'the medium is the message'
does not imply any fundamental identity between the
channel and the content of a manifestation but rather the
influence of the medium on the message (McLuhan, 1964).

“
Openness and respect for the linguistic and cultural diversity are
thought to be built on strong insights into one's own culture and sense
of identity. Natural speakers of any language should be able to
discriminate between, and utilize, different kinds of texts and to create
and convey arguments in writing and speech in convincing and
appropriate ways. A emphasis on critical and constructive discussion,
the capacity to make aesthetic judgments, and the goal to achieve
quality are all signs of a positive attitude toward communication in
one's mother tongue. This is not meant to diminish the importance of
learning a foreign language in any way. Such information can broaden
cultural perspectives, facilitate relationships in daily life, and provide
insight into unfamiliar surroundings.
7

8
Sture Allen
The term European languages is taken to
mean all the languages spoken in the geographical
area called Europe. Native speakers of these
languages often share a long history and are or have
been longstanding neighbors. Therefore between
them their 500 million users in many share the same
values and this helps to create mutual
understanding. Thus, it can be said that when
speaking one of the EU's official languages,
speakers are talking European.

9
Sture Allen
Speaking European includes speaking your
own native tongue and getting professional
simultaneous interpretation to the native languages
of the other participants in the meeting. This
basically simple model could make the EU globally
unique in the domain of cultural communication. It
could also make a fundamental contribution to the
battle against a monolingual international culture.

WANT BIG
IMPACT?
Honne and
Tatemae:
10
A World Dominated by a
‘Game Of Masks’

PETER BUZZI & CLAUDIA MAGELE
11
⊡ We utter sounds that are understood by others as
words and language.
⊡ Each word either refers to something actually and
physically existing or to the idea of something.
⊡ This suggests that language is a symbolic game
where each word refers or points to a given, signified,
meaning. For instance, the word 'bird', either refers to
an actual bird or to the idea of a bird.

12
⊡ We utter sounds that are understood by others
as words and language.
⊡ The purpose of communication is to convey a
message, that is, to generate, co-create or
share joint meanings. Hence sounds
generated by people as their spoken language
are part of a code or convention of utterances
that comprises its words, phrases and
expressions

13
⊡ Each word either refers to something
actually and physically existing or to the
idea of something.
⊡ This suggests that language is a
symbolic game where each word refers
or points to a given, signified, meaning.
For instance, the word 'bird', either refers
to an actual bird or to the idea of a bird.

⊡ The speech act theory was introduced by
Oxford philosopher John Langshaw Austin.
⊡ Austin (1962) extended an analysis of
contextual meaning to formulate what became
known as speech act theory.
⊡ He argued that statements and words do not
only describe a situation or state a fact, but
also perform a certain action by themselves.
14
ELIZABETH CHRISTOPHER (2011)
SPEECH ACT THEORY

⊡ Austin suggests that this utterance is more
than a mere description and does things on its
own. Depending on the context and its use,
this sentence can have different functions
such as praise, irony, flirtation or flattery,
maybe as a preamble for asking a favor
⊡ Austin makes a distinction between utterance
as description and utterance-as-action.
15
SPEECH ACT THEORY

⊡ Austin divides speech acts into three
categories:
1. what is said,
2. what the speaker actually intended to
say;
3. and what happens as a consequence.
16
SPEECH ACT THEORY

⊡ For instance, the sentence “You can't do
that” is;
1. the actual utterance;
2. the speaker's intention may be to stop you
from doing something;
3. and the consequence may be that you
actually stop doing that thing - or continue to
do it as an act of defiance, the consequence
of interpreting the demand as interference.
17
SPEECH ACT THEORY

⊡ Austin argues that speakers rely on the power
of socially accepted conventions to lend force
to utterances.
⊡ Austin's speech act theory was a significant
contribution to the study of language and
meaning. He successfully relocated meaning
in the use of words and context rather than in
a fixed linguistic connection by which each
word refers to a given meaning.
18
SPEECH ACT THEORY

⊡ The main difficulty with Austin's speech
act theory and its variations is that all
these approaches are based on a
speaker-centered model of meaning in
communication, which discounts the role
of listener and the nature of
communication- as dialogue.
19
SPEECH ACT THEORY

⊡ Geertz (1993) defines culture as 'webs of
significance' spun people through their actions
and interactions. Through this dynamic,
identities, actions, practices, communities,
subjects and objects become cultural through
more or less structured webs of significance,
and this is the foundation of subjective
understanding and cultural identity (Jansson,
2002). 20
CULTURE

⊡ Therefore meaning is not created in a void; it is
structured and sustained by the socio-cultural
influences and the environment within which it is
generated. In fact, at times the same utterance can
have opposite meanings in different cultures.
⊡ Wittgenstein (1953) emphasizes the importance of
context and culture in determining meaning and states
that the speaking of language is part of an activity or of
a life-form, and that meaning is deeply rooted in the
value system in one's life or language game.
21
CULTURE

⊡ Nishiyama (1971) has analyzed the relation between
the two values of honne (what you think) and tatemae
(what you say) in Japanese culture. Honne may be
defined as true feelings and intentions, which may be
contrary to giri (social obligations); while tatemae
literally means façade or ‘front and refers to behavior
and opinions displayed in public to conform to the
social expectations embedded in individuals’ positions
in given contexts.
22
HONNE AND TATEMAE

⊡ From a dramaturgical perspective the concepts of
honne and tatemae can be related to the back-stage
and front-stage performances of social actors. As in
theatre performances, in communication and social
interactions the actors assume different roles and
identities between backstage (honne) and frontstage
(tatemae). This raises important ethical questions in
relation to image management, sincerity, authenticity,
truth, deception and cynicism in social interactions.
23
HONNE AND TATEMAE

Verbal & Non-Verbal
Communication Across
Cultures
24

⊡ Communication is the exchange and flow of information
and ideas, effective only if it is received as intended by
senders. It involves thinking, encoding, channeling,
sending, decoding and feedback. Information exists in the
mind of the senders and is transmitted via some sort of
common 'code', such as words in a particular language,
culturally determined non-verbal behavior and so on, via a
selected 'channel' (face-to-face, telephone, Internet, etc.).
25
What is
Communication?

⊡ Receivers translate messages into concepts or
information they can understand and feedback
their response (Clark, 2005). At any stage,
meaning can be distorted. Anything that interferes
with accurate understanding is referred to in the
literature as 'noise' (Jenkins, 1999).
26
What is
Communication?

⊡ Ways to avoid or minimize noise include using
different words and media, for instance, by
following up an email with letter rephrasing the
same information with a request for comment;
then to telephone the receiver to make sure all is
well. Two-way communication is essential for
mutual understanding; repeated efforts are
needed to ensure it.
27
What is
Communication?

⊡ The primary cause of interference with accurate
sending and receiving of messages ('noise') is that
senders and receivers all exist in their own unique and
private worlds.
⊡ The more dissimilar the culture, the more the
likelihood of misinterpretation: that is, noise.
Communication, therefore, is a complex process of
linking up or sharing perceptions.
28
CAUSES OF INTERFERENCE

⊡ Samovar and Porter (1999) and Harris and Moran
(1996), among others, have identified psychological
variables likely to influence communication. These
include thought patterns, attribution, perception,
stereotyping and attitude.
⊡ Other relevant factors include social organization,
roles, language (spoken or written), non-verbal
communication (including kinesics behavior,
proxemics, paralanguage and object language) and
time.
29
CAUSES OF INTERFERENCE

⊡ Attribution happens when people look for explanations
of others' apparently incomprehensible behavior.
Alternatively, they may attribute superior wisdom to
them. People also may make attributions in
accordance with an external locus of control, as
described in Rotter's social learning theory (1954).
This refers to the extent to which people believe they
can control events that affect them.
30
ATTRIBUTION

⊡ Individuals with a high internal locus of control believe
that events result primarily from their own behavior
and actions. Those with a high external locus of
control believe that powerful others, fate or chance
primarily determine events as religious people do
when they attribute events to the will of God, or when
they say, 'Events were beyond my control.
31
ATTRIBUTION

⊡ People perceive reality from the perspective of their own world of
values, and stereotyping is a common cause of misunderstanding
in intercultural communication. Macrae et al. (1996) have written
a comprehensive overview of contemporary research on
stereotypes, which they describe as structured sets of beliefs
about the characteristics of members of social categories,
influencing how people attend to, encode, represent and retrieve
information about others, and how they judge and respond to
them.
32
PERCEPTIONS &
STEREOTYPES

⊡ It seems to be generally understood that people's attitudes
underlie the way they behave and communicate and the ways in
which they interpret messages from others. For example, the
results of a study (Treviño et al., 2000) of attitudes towards media
communication suggested that recipients' general attitudes
towards different media are influenced most consistently by
perceived medium richness, including the degree of interaction
provided between people and technology. This may help to
explain the worldwide popularity of interactive computer games.
33
ATTITUDES

⊡ Confusions and breakdowns can occur through inability to speak
the local language, poor translation, ignorance of idioms, lack of
perception of the of non-verbal language and symbols. More than
just conveying objective information, language also conveys
cultural and social understandings from one generation to the
next. Anything that can be said in one language can be translated
into another; but sometimes one word will need several in
translation. This provides clues to cultural priorities.
34
COMMUNICATION CONFUSIONS AND
BREAKDOWNS

⊡ In as much as language conveys culture, technology and
priorities, it also serves to separate and perpetuate subcultures.
Because of increasing workforce diversity around the world,
international business-managers deal with a medley of
languages. Therefore international managers need either a very
good command of the local language or competent interpreters.
35
COMMUNICATION CONFUSIONS AND
BREAKDOWNS

⊡ As the phrase implies, this is without words (although it is often
accompanied by words). Even minor variations in body language,
as well as speech rhythms, send messages to observers, to be
interpreted favorably or unfavorably, depending on the total
situation. Non-verbal behavior includes seating arrangements,
personal distance and sense of time.
36
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

⊡ Another aspect of non-verbal communication is seen in different
approaches to "knowing". European-based cultures traditionally
have valued theoretical and verbal reasoning above learning from
experience and intuition. On the other hand, Asian, Middle
Eastern and African cultures have always recognized the
importance of experience, of describing the world in symbolic
imagery as well as by facts and figures. Music, drama, dance and
rhythm are as valuable as more formal communication media.
37
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

⊡ Anthropologist Ray Birdwhistell (1952) used the term
'kinesics behavior' to refer to communication through
body movements: posture, gestures, facial
expressions and eye contact. Marjorie Vargas (1986)
wrote:
A man stands inside of a closed glass phone booth. You
cannot hear a word he says, but you see his postures,
gestures, and facial expressions. You see his kinesics.
38
KINESICS

⊡ Although some actions may be universal, often their meaning is
not. Because kinesics systems are culturally specific and learnt
they cannot be generalized across cultures. Even displays of the
basic emotions of happiness or misery, friendship or anger, shock
or delight will vary. Many businesspeople and visitors in foreign
countries react negatively to what they feel are inappropriate
facial expressions.
39
KINESICS

⊡ This concept deals with the influence of space on communication-
personal space, and exterior and interior designs.
⊡ Regarding personal space, South Americans, Southern and
Eastern Europeans, Indonesians, Indians and Arabs are
members of what Edward T. Hall (1959) calls 'high-contact
cultures': that is, they prefer to stand close, touch a great deal
and experience a 'close' sensory involvement. Conversely,
following Hall's arguments, Australians, Canadians, Chinese and
Northern Europeans belong to low- contact cultures and prefer
much less sensory involvement, standing farther apart and
touching far less. They have a more 'distant' style of body
language.
40
PROXEMICS

⊡ There seems to be a link between degree of individualism (as
defined by Hofstede (1991), for instance) and culturally
acceptable levels of personal contact. In general, people from
individualistic cultures tend to adopt more remote and distant
behavior with colleagues, whereas those from collectivist cultures
are more likely to work in closer proximity. This is noticeable in
subcultures also: for instance, young people tend to be like
puppies in a basket, happy to huddle up to each other in confined
spaces, but older people need more room.
41
PERSONAL CONTACT

⊡ Paralanguage refers to how something is said rather than the
content: rate of speech, tone and inflection of voice, laughing,
whispering, shouting. Silence also is a powerful communicator. It
may be a way of saying no, of indicating offence or simply waiting
for more information. Most US Americans don't seem able to
cope with more than 10 or 15 seconds of silence - whereas in
general Asians can endure silence for much longer periods than
can Westerners.
42
PARALANGUAGE

⊡ Object language refers to how people communicate through
material artefacts, whether in architecture, office design and
furniture, clothing, cars or cosmetics. Material culture
communicates what people hold as important in the material
world. An example from the emerging wealthy middle class of
Chinese professionals and business people is their preference for
goods with internationally famous brand. names, as an indicator
of personal wealth (Journal of Asia Business Studies, 2008).
43
OBJECT LANGUAGE

⊡ As for attitudes towards time as a form of communication,
Bluedorn (2002) refers to a German preference for doing 'one
thing at a time'; and the culturally based ways in which people
regard and use time is a critical variable in the success or
otherwise of cross-cultural communication.
⊡ Edward T. Hall (1959, 1966, 1976, 1983) was one of the founders
of intercultural communication study. He suggested that in what
he called 'monochronic' cultures time is experienced in a linear
way, with a past, a present and a future. Time is treated as
something to be spent, saved, made up or wasted.
44
TIME

⊡ The relationship between time also affects communication.
chronic people, for example, are likely to hold open meetings,
moving around and conducting transactions with one party and
then another rather than com partmentalising topics, as do
monochronic people.
⊡ It is important to note gender differences. In every society men
are socialized so differently from women it can be said they
belong to different cultures. Men are brought up from birth to be
monochronic and practical, women, polychronic and emotional. In
the past these 'female' tendencies were regarded by men as
faults in women, as evidence they 'let feelings interfere with
judgement' and 'can never stick to one thing at a time'.
45
TIME & SPACE

⊡ Edward T. Hall first used the terms high- and low-context cultures
to identify differences in communication style between members
of different societies (see Beer, nd.).
⊡ By high context' Hall meant the kind of communication that
occurs in collectivist societies or groups.
⊡ Low context' refers to communication in more individualistic
societies where non-verbal communication is limited because
less can be taken for granted without explanation.
46
AWARENESS OF CONTEXT

⊡ Context also affects information flow. In high-context cultures,
such as in Thailand, information spreads rapidly but informally
because of constant close and implicit ties between people and
organizations. One result is that rumors abound, often unfounded.
Workers rely on their immediate supervisors as the link between
themselves and senior management, and also rely on them to
protect the group's interests.
47
INFORMATION FLOW

⊡ In low-context organizational cultures (such as those of Germany
and the US) information flows through formal, legitimized
channels such as memos, newsletters and emails from head
office. In countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New
Guinea (PNG) foreigners must rely on local informants to find out
what is going on. Representatives of transnationals like IBM, who
travel all the time, are constantly in touch with local IBM
employees who are their mediators with the local environment.
48
INFORMATION FLOW

⊡ The speed of information systems is another key variable. US
businesspeople expect to give and receive information quickly
and clearly, moving through details and stages in a linear fashion
to the conclusion. They use a wide range of media for fast
messages: letters containing facts and plans, telephone calls and
teleconferences, emails, faxes and face-to-face meetings. In
contrast, French written communication tends to be formal and
tentative with subsequent les ters slowly building up to a new
proposal. This echoes a need for formality in business
relationships; and results in a slowing down of message
transmission that often seems as unnecessary to US Americans
as does US haste to the French.
49
INFORMATION FLOW

⊡ As for communication via the Internet, Whitney (2009) agrees that
it is getting friendlier for a significant chunk of the world. A
proposal in 2009 was that web addresses should include non-
English characters, and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
accept non-Latin characters in the entire address. This allows
people who write in Chinese, Korean or Arabic to use their own
languages to surf the web, and it jump-started Internet use in
many regions across the Not only cross-culturally but intra-
culturally the Internet is proving to be and more essential as a
communication tool across a whole range of topics and uses,
from the most personal to the most factual. Email has become a
regular part of life.
50
THE INTERNET

Verbal & Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Verbal & Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures

Similar to Verbal & Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures (19)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Verbal & Nonverbal Communication Across Cultures