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Unit 5
Culture and Verbal Communi cati on
Some Ideas Related to verbal com muni cati on and culture 1. Differe nt orie ntati ons to com muni cati on patter ns East Asia n orie ntati on 1. process orie ntati on
infinite in terpretatio n 2. differe ntiated lin guistic codes
——differe nt li nguistics codes are
——com muni cati on is perceived as a process of
used depe nding upon pers ons invo Ived and situati ons
3. i ndirect com muni cati on emphasis — the use of in direct com muni cati on is prevale nt and accepted as no rmative
4. receiver centered — meaning is in the interpretation. listening, sensitivity, and removal of preconception. North America n orie ntati on
1. com muni cati on is perceived as the tran sfere nee of messages 2. Less differe ntiated lin guistic codes exte nsively differe ntiated as East Asia
3. Direct com muni cati on emphasis — direct com muni cati on is n orm despite the exte nsive use of in direct com muni catio n
4. sen der cen tered — meaning is in the message created by the sen der. Emphasis is on how to formulate the best message, how to improve source credibility and delivery skills
——lin guistic codes are not as
Emphasis is on
2. Direct and In direct Verbal In teracti on 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 pers onal values and sen time nts.
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Verbal style frames direct-indirect verbal
“hoW' a message should be interpreted.
interaction
dimension can be thought of as
The
straddli ng a continuum. In dividuals in all cultures use the gradatio ns of all these verbal styles, depe nding on role ide ntities, in teracti on goals, and situations. However, in individualistic
cultures, people tend
to encoun ter more situati ons that emphasize the prefere ntial use of direct talk,
pers on-orie nted
verbal
in teractio n,
verbal
self-enhancement, and talkativeness. In contrast, in collectivistic cultures, people tend to encoun ter more situati ons that emphasize the prefere ntial use of in direct talk, status-orie nted verbal self-effaceme nt, and sile nee. The direct and in direct
styles differ in the exte nt to which
verbal in teractio n,
com muni cators reveal their inten ti ons through their tone of voice and the straightforward ness of their content message. In the direct verbal style, statements clearly reve al the speaker' s intentions
and are
enun ciated in a forthright tone of voice. In the in direct verbal style, on the other hand, verbal statements tend to camouflage the speaker
actual in ten tio ns and are carried out with more nuan ced tone of voice. For example, the overall . American verbal style often calls for clear and direct com muni catio n. Phrases such as “ say what you mean,”
' s
“ don' t
beat around the bush, ” and “get to the point ” are some examples. The direct verbal style of the larger . culture is reflective of its low-c on text com muni cati on character.
3. Perso n-Orie nted and Status-Orie nted Verbal Styles
The person-oriented verbal style is individual-centered verbal mode that emphasizes the importa nee of in formality and role suspe nsion. The status-oriented verbal style is a role-centered
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verbal mode that
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emphasizes formality and large power dista nee. The former emphasizes the importanee of symmetrical interaction, asymmetrical in teracti on.
The person-oriented verbal style emphasizes the importanee of respect ing uniq ue, pers onal ide ntities in the in teractio n. The status-orie nted verbal style emphasizes the importa nee of honoring prescribed power-based membership identities.
status-oriented verbal
interaction
Those who engage in
use specific vocabularies and
whereas the latter stresses
parali nguistic features to acce ntuate the status dista nee of the role relati on ships ., i n pare nt-child in teracti on, superior-subord in ate relations, and male-female interaction in manyLatin American cultures). While low-c on text
cultures tend to emphasize the use of the
pers on-orie nted verbal style, high-c on text cultures tend to value the status-orie nted verbal mode.
4. Self-E nhan ceme nt and Self-Effaceme nt Verbal Styles
The self-enhancement verbal style emphasizes the importanee of boast ing about one' s
accomplishme nts and abilities.
The
self-effacement verbal style, on the other hand, emphasizes the
hesitatio ns,
importa nee of humbli ng on eself via verbal restra in ts, modest talk, and the use of self-deprecation concerning one or performa nee.
' s effort
For example, in manyAsian cultures, self-effacement talk is expected to sig nal modesty or humility .In Japa n, whe n one offers someth ing to ano ther pers on 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
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《新编跨文化交际英语教程》复习资料U5
