Download Culture, Language and Communication

Culture, Language,
and Communication
 Language is universal psychological ability in
humans
 Language forms basis for creation and
maintenance of human cultures
 Language differences reflect important
differences between cultures
The Structure of Language
 All languages have:
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Lexicon
Syntax and Grammar
Phonology
Semantics
Pragmatics
 Phonemes: smallest, most basic units of sound in a
language
 Morphemes: smallest, most basic units of meaning
CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON
VERBAL LANGUAGE
Cultural Influences on Language
Acquisition
 Culture influences language acquisition at very
early stage
 Culture influences all aspects of language
 Through use of language, individual transformed
into agent of culture
 Culture has a powerful influence on verbal
and nonverbal encoding and decoding
processes.
 Culture affects not only language lexicons,
but also the function and or pragmatics.
 Research has shown that the languages of
individualistic cultures allow pronouns to be
dropped from sentences. Other research
supports cultural differences in other
aspects of the communication process,
including:
Language differences across cultures
 Culture and Lexicons
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Self-Other Referents
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In U.S., use of “I”, “we”, but in Japan how to refer
self and other dependent on the relationship
between you and the other person
This reflects importance of status and group
differentiation in Japan
Language differences across cultures
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Counting Systems
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Different objects counted by different suffix in
Japan
Basis for number
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In Japanese (and many languages), bases for
numbers on the words for one through ten
Language differences across cultures
 Culture and Pragmatics
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Drop of pronouns
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Language use and communication styles
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Less individualistic cultures tend to drop pronouns
Collectivistic cultures use principle of equity
involving greater social penetration when
communicating with ingroups
Cultural differences in apology, self-disclosure
High vs. low context cultures
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In-group vs. outgroup
communication,
Use of apologies,
Self-disclosure,
Compliments, and
Interpersonal criticism.
 At a more technical level, culture can affect
the structure of thought processes ala SapirWhorf hypothesis.
 Despite legitimate criticism of the link
between culture and thinking, research on
bilingualism shows a close relationship
between culture and language.
Language and Thought:
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: speakers of different
language think differently because of differences in
languages
 In support of Sapir-Whorf: Navajo children more
likely to categorize objects by shapes than
European or African American children
 Challenging Sapir-Whorf: Dani speakers did not
have lower ability to discriminate or remember
colors than Americans even though they only have
two color terms (dark and light)
Comments on Bilingualism
The unique circumstances surrounding
communication by individuals who speak
more than one language has generated much
interest among experimental psychologists,
psycho linguists and educators and
politicians.
 I will address only a few critical issues.
Perceptions of Bilinguals
 People have negative impressions and stereotypes
about people communicating in their second
language
 Foreign language processing difficulties:
cognitive difficulties while processing information
due to lack of fluency in speaking a language
 Foreign language effect: temporary decline in
thinking ability of people using foreign language
Language Development of Bilinguals
 The context in which the various languages
are acquired is a good starting point for our
discussion of bilingualism.
 Compound vs. coordinate development
Subordinate Development
Meaning
Language A
Language B
Compound Development
Meaning
Language A
Language B
Coordinate Development
Meaning
Language A
Meaning
Language B
Linguistic Interference
 “…those instances of deviation from
the norms of either language which
occur in the speech of bilinguals as a
results of familiarity with more than one
language.”
Types of linguistic interference
1.
2.
3.
4.
Semantic
Syntactic
Lexical
Phonological
 Linguistic Integration?
Psychological Differences
as a Function of Bilingualism
 Bilinguals have two mental representations of
culture encoded in their minds
 Reasons for language-related shifts in personality
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Culture-affiliation hypothesis: immigrant bilinguals
tend to affiliated themselves with values and beliefs of
culture associated with language currently speaking
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Minority group-affiliation hypothesis: immigrant
bilinguals adopt behavioral stereotypes of majority
culture about their minority as their own
Psychological Differences
as a Function of Language
 Code frame switching: bilinguals switch back and
forth from one cultural meaning system to the other
when accessing one language or another
Cognitive independence vs.
interdependence
 Primary DV = Reaction Time
Blue
Green
Red
Red
Green
Blue
Azul
Verde
Amarillo
Overarching Conclusions
 Bilinguals access different cultural systems in their
minds when speaking their respective languages.
 Culture also affects nonverbal behavior. Despite the
well-documented universality of many facial
expressions such as anger, contempt, disgust, fear,
happiness, sadness, and surprise, cultures differ in
display rules for these pan cultural expressions.
Overarching Conclusions
 In addition, there are well-established
cultural differences in gestures, gaze and
visual attention, interpersonal space, body
posture, and voice and vocal characteristics.
 Basically then, both verbal and nonverbal
encoding and decoding processes are
influenced by culture.
 Culture and the Decoding Process
Cultural filters,
Ethnocentrism,
Emotions, and
Value Judgments
Culture and Stereotypes
 Concerning communication, our stereotypes
prime our expectations.
 We attend selectively to cues and events that
support our stereotypes and ignore, perhaps
unconsciously, cues and events that
challenge them.
Culture and Social Cognition
 This has to do with how we interpret the
actions of others—the causal attributions we
make.
 Basically, the cultural differences in this area
refer to proneness to make dispositional
versus situational attributions of others
behavior.
Definition of communication
 Message: Information and meaning exchanged
during communication
 Encoding: Process by which people select, imbed
messages in signals, and send signals to others
 Signals: Specific verbal language and nonverbal
behaviors that are encoded when message sent
 Channels: Sensory modalities by which signals sent
and messages retrieved
 Decoding: Process by which people receives signal
from encoder and translates those signals to
meaningful messages
Intercultural Communication
 Unlike intra-cultural communication where
message senders and receivers share the
same ground rules, intercultural
communication is associated with a host of
additional social and psychological issues.
Uncertainty
 To start, there is uncertainty or ambiguity
concerning the ground rules by which the interaction
should occur.
 Given the pervasive influence of culture, it’s always
difficult to figure out the rules being employed by
two people from different cultures.
 And this uncertainty in inherent in verbal as well as
nonverbal communication, in both coding and
decoding modes.
Uncertainty (cont.)
 How can we package messages into precise words
to convey our thoughts as accurately as possible
and how can we interpret the sender’s messages as
intended?
 Uncertainty can easily mount to the point of utter
miscommunication. Hence, uncertainty reduction is
the initial major goal of intercultural communication.
 Unless uncertainty is reduced, it’s impossible for
senders and receivers to begin processing the
intended message content.
Conflict
 Once we engage in intercultural
communication, some conflict and
misunderstanding is inevitable.
 Conflict arises when people’s behavior does
not confirm to our expectations.
 We tend to interpret such behaviors as
transgressions against our values.
 Of course, uncertainty can contribute to this
conflict.
Context
 As we have said earlier, context has to do primarily
with how communication takes place when cultures
vary in context orientation. Here are several possible
combinations.
 1.
High Context with High Context
 2.
Low Context with High Context
 3.
Low Context with Low Context
Context (cont.)
 But the “context of intercultural communication”
also includes several other dimensions of cultural
variability:
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Individualism-collectivism,
Power Distance,
Uncertainty Avoidance, and
Masculinity-femininity
CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
 Nonverbal behaviors: all behaviors that occur
during communication that do not include verbal
language
 Nonverbal channels are more important in
understanding meaning and emotional states of
speakers than verbal language
 Important to be more attentive to nonverbal cues
that occur in communication
The Types of Nonverbal Behaviors
 Culture and Gestures
 The American A-OK sign is an obscene gestures
in may cultures of Europe
 Culture and Gaze
 Contact cultures engage in more gazing and
more direct orientation when interacting with
others
 Culture and Interpersonal Space
 Arabs and Latin Americans interact with others at
closer distance than Americans
The Functions of Nonverbal Behaviors
 Nonverbal behaviors
 serve as emblems, speech illustrators,
conversation regulators, and convey emotions
INTRACULTURAL AND
INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
 Cultural Influences on Encoding
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Cultures differ in how nonverbal behavior is used
in communication
 Cultural Influences on Decoding
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Cultures influences decoding process through
ethnocentrism, cultural filters, emotions, value
judgments, stereotypes and expectations
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Decoding rules
Intracultural communication
 Communication between people of the same
cultural background
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Interactants share same ground rules; they
encode and decode using the same cultural
codes
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Can be negative because of expectations created
by cultural filters and ethnocentrism
Intercultural communication
 Communication between people of the
different cultural background
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Interactants do not share same ground rules; they
encode and decode using different cultural codes
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Can lead to
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Uncertainty and ambiguity
Conflict
Barriers to Effective
Intercultural communication
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Assumptions of similarities
Language differences
Nonverbal misinterpretations
Preconceptions and stereotypes
Tendency to evaluate
High anxiety or tension
Barriers to Intercultural
Communication
 Source: Barna, L. M. (1997). Stumbling
blocks in intercultural communication. In L.
Samovar and R. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural
communication: A reader (pp. 370-379).
Belmont CA: Wadsworth.
Barriers (cont.)
1. Assumptions of similarities
 We need to keep in mind that
communication is a uniquely human trait
shaped by culture.
 In fact, communication itself is a product of
culture, and cultures vary in their
assumptions of similarities.
Barriers (cont.)
2. Language differences
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The use of words which may be highly effective at
conveying meaning within a particular culture
often communicate unintended meanings across
cultures.
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Add to this the nonverbal channel of
communication and you have a recipe for conflict
and misunderstandings.
Barriers (cont.)
3. Nonverbal misinterpretations
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This is the single most frequent cause of
breakdowns in the communication process across
cultures.
4. Preconceptions and stereotypes
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These are natural and inevitable psychological
processes that have a strong influence on our
perceptions and communications.
Barriers (cont.)
5. Tendency to evaluate
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We make attributions about the behavior of others
based on our own cultural values.
6. High anxiety or tension
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While some degree of anxiety may be conducive to
optimal performance, too much anxiety or stress
can lead to dysfunctional thought processes and
behaviors.
Improving Intercultural Communication
 Mindfulness and uncertainty reduction
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Mindfulness offsets uncertainty and anxiety
Uncertainty reduction leads to focus on the content of
signals and messages
 Face
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Should be mindful of face (public appearance of
person) in collectivist culture
 Emotion Regulation
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Controlling negative emotions aroused from conflict is
important