Download Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication Across

Chapter 7
Verbal Intercultural Communication
This multimedia product and its contents are protected
under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
•any public performance or display, including
transmission of any image over a network;
•preparation of any derivative work, including
the extraction, in whole or in part, of any
images;
•any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.


Language is learned unconsciously, without
awareness, and is too often taken for
granted.
It is usually when people speak their
language to those who do not understand it
or when they struggle to become competent
in another language that they recognize
language’s central role in the ability to
function, to accomplish tasks, and most
important, to interact with others.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.





Verbal means “consisting of words” either spoken
(oral) or written (non-oral).
A verbal code is defined as a set of rules about
the use of words in the creation of messages.
Symbols are words, actions, or objects that stand
for or represent a unit of meaning.
Phonology refers to the rules of language for
combining phonemes (basic units of sound).
Morphology refers to the rules of language for
combining phonemes to form morphemes, which
are the smallest units of meaning.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.



Semantics refers to the study of the meanings of words.
◦ Denotative meanings are the more public, objective,
dictionary-based meanings.
◦ Connotative meanings are the more personal,
emotionally charged, private, individually-based
meanings.
Syntactics refers to the study of the relationship of the
words to one another.
Pragmatics refers to the study of how language is
actually used and the effect that language has on
human perceptions and behaviors. (How people
perceive the meaning of communication according to
the context in which it occurs.)
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Distinguishing between translation and
interpretation
◦ Translation is the use of verbal signs of one language
to understand the verbal signs of another language.
◦ Interpretation is the oral process of moving from one
code to another.

Translation equivalence is used to describe the process
of trying to translate and represent a source language
as closely as possible.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Types of equivalence
◦Vocabulary equivalence—finding a word in the target
language that has the same meaning in the source
language.
◦Idiomatic equivalence—expressions that have a
meaning contrary to the usual meanings of the words.
◦Grammatical-syntactical equivalence—transferring the
grammatical rule system of one language to another.
◦Experiential equivalence—words that have meaning
within the experiential framework of the receiver.
◦Conceptual equivalence—how different cultures define
reality.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language, Thought, Culture, and
Intercultural Communication

Every language has unique features and ways of
allowing those who speak it to identify specific
objects and experiences.
◦ The linguistic features of a language help distinguish it
from others.
◦ Linguistic features affect how speakers of a language
perceive and experience the world.
◦ The theory of linguistic relativity examines relationships
among language, thought, culture, and intercultural
communication.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language, Thought, Culture, and
Intercultural Communication

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity
◦ Two versions of the hypothesis have been
propounded: a “firmer” or deterministic version
and a “softer” version of the relationship between
language and thought.
 The “firmer” view holds that language functions like a
prison, meaning that once people learn a language
they are irrevocably affected by its particulars.
 The “softer” view holds that language shapes how
people think and experience their world, but that this
influence is not unceasing.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language, Thought, Culture, and
Intercultural Communication

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity
◦ Variations in vocabulary influence perception.
 Some languages have fewer or more words for
particular features of the environment, influencing how
people perceive objects and actions around them.
 There are variations in how languages distinguish
colors, influencing how people perceive colors in their
environment.
 Variations in languages reflect what individual cultures
believe is important to their members or for their
members to know.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language, Thought, Culture, and
Intercultural Communication

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity
◦ Variations in linguistic grammars highlight the
relationship among language, thought, and
culture.
 Cultural conceptions of time can vary from culture to
culture and influences perceptions.
 Languages allow, and to a certain extent force,
speakers to display respect for others.
 Pronouns are indicative of important cultural
characteristics and say something essential about the
degree of individualism and the degree of collectivism.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language, Thought, Culture, and
Intercultural Communication

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity
◦ Linguistic relativity and intercultural
communication
 Because language provides categories for making
sense of the world, we perceive the world in
particular ways.
 When categories are vastly different, people will
have difficulty communicating.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language and intercultural
communication

Language, ethnic group identity, and
dominance
◦ Language is used to identify people in a group by
members of a group and by outsiders of the group.
◦ Some languages survive over time while others do
not.
◦ Language plays an active role in the relationship of
one culture to another.
◦ People also make a positive or negative evaluation
about the language others use; some languages are
more respected than others.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language and intercultural
communication

Alternative versions of a language imply that no
language is spoken precisely the same way by all who
use it.
◦ Dialects are versions of a language with distinctive
vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation that are spoken
by particular groups of people, or within particular
regions.
◦ Accents are distinguishable marks of pronunciation.
◦ Jargon refers to a set of words or terms that are shared
by those with a common profession or experience.
◦ Argot refers to a specialized language that is used by a
large group within a culture to define the boundaries of
the group.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Language and intercultural
communication

Code switching refers to the selection of the
language to be used in a particular
interaction by individuals who can speak
multiple languages.
◦ The interaction setting influences the decision
to use a particular code.
◦ One’s conversational partners influence the
decision to use a particular code.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Verbal Codes and Intercultural
Competence




The study of a foreign language is
extraordinarily useful in understanding the role
of differences in verbal codes in intercultural
communication.
Learning a foreign language teaches much
about the culture of those who use it.
Learning another language can lead to an
appreciation of those who are struggling to
communicate in second or third languages.
Language learning provides an important link
between competence and verbal codes.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Verbal Codes and Intercultural
Competence


Recognizing the possibility of irritability and
fatigue when functioning in an unfamiliar
linguistic environment is an important
prerequisite to intercultural competence.
Intercultural competence requires knowledge,
motivation, and actions that recognize the
critical role of verbal codes in human
interaction.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.



Is accurate translation and interpretation
from one language to another possible?
What are some of the reasons why it would be
beneficial to become proficient in a second or
third language?
If you could construct an ideal society, would
it be one in which everyone spoke the same
language? Or does a society in which people
speak different languages offer greater
advantages?
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.