Communications across cultures : mutual understanding in a global world

Communication Across Cultures is an academic reference for university students and interdisciplinary researchers who have no specialised knowledge of linguistics. Key concepts relevant to an understanding of language issues in intercultural communication are drawn from the research area of pragmatics, discourse analysis, politeness and cross cultural communication. The book examines the ways in which the spoken and written word may be interpreted differently depending on the context and expectations of the participants. Intercultural communication involves additional sociocultural dimensions to the context. Examples are drawn from a variety of languages and cultures - ranging from Japan to Germany to the Americas, to Africa and to Australia. Relevant academic literature and recent research is exemplified and explained throughout the book so readers can become familiar with the way research in this field is conducted and so that interdisciplinary researchers can incorporate some of the perspectives presented here into their own research.

Author Notes

Heather Bowe is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at Monash University and Director of the Language and Society Centre.

List of figures	p. ix
List of tables	p. x
Transcription conventions	p. xi
Preface and acknowledgments	p. xiii
Chapter 1 Culture, communication and interaction	p. 1
1.1 Introduction	p. 1
1.2 Culture, communication and intercultural interaction	p. 2
Suggested further reading	p. 8
Chapter 2 Direct and indirect messages: The role of social context identified by Grice and Searle	p. 9
2.1 Grice's maxims	p. 10
2.2 Speech acts	p. 15
2.3 Summary	p. 22
2.4 Review	p. 22
Suggested further reading	p. 25
Chapter 3 Politeness and face	p. 26
3.1 Theories of politeness: Brown and Levinson	p. 27
3.2 Different perspectives on politeness	p. 32
3.3 Criticisms of Brown and Levinson	p. 34
3.4 The study of cross-cultural pragmatics using natural semantic metalanguage	p. 38
3.5 Cognitive and cultural schema	p. 41
3.6 Summary	p. 42
3.7 Review	p. 43
Suggested further reading	p. 45
Chapter 4 Speech acts and politeness across cultures	p. 46
4.1 Requests: Indirectness and politeness	p. 47
4.2 Complaints	p. 50
4.3 Apologies	p. 52
4.4 Acceptance of an apology	p. 55
4.5 The gender factor	p. 56
4.6 Summary	p. 57
4.7 Review	p. 58
Suggested further reading	p. 60
Chapter 5 The analysis of conversation	p. 61
5.1 Turn-taking in conversation	p. 61
5.2 Some differences in turn-taking in intercultural contexts	p. 65
5.3 The role of back-channelling	p. 66
5.4 Repetition as back-channelling in successful intercultural communication	p. 66
5.5 Greetings and leave-taking	p. 68
5.6 Some functions of laughter	p. 72
5.7 Another function of humour: Joking	p. 74
5.8 Cultural differences in conversational routines	p. 75
5.9 Summary	p. 75
5.10 Review	p. 76
Suggested further reading	p. 79
Chapter 6 Power relations and stereotyping	p. 80
6.1 Hofstede and the dimensions of culture	p. 80
6.2 Power relations in interactions	p. 84
6.3 Stereotyping and ideology	p. 87
6.4 Summary	p. 89
6.5 Review	p. 90
Suggested further reading	p. 93
Chapter 7 Naming and addressing: Expressing deference, respect, and solidarity	p. 95
7.1 Pronouns of address	p. 95
7.2 Nouns of address	p. 102
7.3 Honorifics	p. 109
7.4 Summary	p. 114
7.5 Review	p. 114
Suggested further reading	p. 119
Chapter 8 Cultural differences in writing	p. 120
8.1 Linearity: A key principle of English written discourse	p. 120
8.2 Non-linear discourse structures	p. 122
8.3 Multiple perspectives: The example of Japanese	p. 123
8.4 'Digressiveness': A feature of German academic register	p. 127
8.5 The form/content distinction	p. 128
8.6 Letter writing	p. 129
8.7 Summary	p. 137
8.8 Review	p. 137
Suggested further reading	p. 139
Chapter 9 Interpreting and translating	p. 140
9.1 Types of interpreting	p. 140
9.2 Primacy of the mother tongue	p. 141
9.3 Difficulties in achieving a balance between pragmatic equivalence and impartiality	p. 141
9.4 Interpreters assuming the role of institutional gatekeeper: A case study	p. 142
9.5 Advertising: A true challenge for intercultural communication	p. 143
9.6 The development of interpreting/translating services in Australia	p. 146
9.7 Some tips for translating and interpreting in the business context	p. 152
9.8 Conclusion	p. 153
9.9 Review	p. 154
Suggested further reading	p. 156
Chapter 10 Intercultural communication issues in professional and workplace contexts	p. 157
10.1 Two different workplace cultures in contact	p. 157
10.2 Differences of expectation in intercultural business encounters	p. 159
10.3 Information gathering in medical and legal practice	p. 162
10.4 Australian Indigenous clients in the courtroom	p. 163
10.5 Workplace communication: From factory to office	p. 165
10.6 Conclusion	p. 166
10.7 Review	p. 166
Suggested further reading	p. 167
Chapter 11 Towards successful intercultural communication	p. 169
11.1 The elaboration of repetition as a creative strategy to help avoid miscommunication	p. 169
11.2 Turn-sharing as collaboration between non-English-speaking workers: Ancillary staff at a Melbourne hospital	p. 174
11.3 The response of the individual to the challenges of intercultural communication	p. 176
11.4 The emergent and distributed nature of cultural cognition: The locus of new conceptual interpretations	p. 177
11.5 Conclusion	p. 178
11.6 Review	p. 179
Suggested further reading	p. 180
References	p. 181
Index	p. 193

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