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Cross-Cultural Communication: Politeness and Cultural Influences, Appunti di Comunicazione Internazionale

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE)Comunicazione Internazionale

These lecture notes delve into cross-cultural communication, focusing on politeness theories (brown & levinson), cultural dimensions (hofstede), and high vs. Low context communication. the notes use real-world examples to illustrate how cultural differences impact communication, emphasizing the importance of cultural sensitivity in international business and interactions. key concepts like face-threatening acts, positive and negative politeness strategies, and the influence of cultural values on communication styles are explored. The examples of interactions between people from different cultural backgrounds highlight the complexities and potential misunderstandings that can arise from differing communication norms.

Tipologia: Appunti

2022/2023

Caricato il 27/04/2025

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Inglese 25/10 -26/10
Lesson 25/10/23
FTA = FACE THREATENING ACT (affrontare un atto minaccioso)
A few suggestions concerning language use:
ACCOMMODATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE by rephrasing and explaining (never taking
anything for granted, as there are differences amongst possible
stakeholders(interlocutiori) , due to their culture, nationality, etc. which will inevitably
result in differences in background knowledge)
ADOPT A WIDER CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
BUILD RAPPORT reaching out to one’s interlocutors by making the communicative
interaction as easy and smooth as possible;
REFER TO LOCAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS rather than looking for a generic translation in
English, but provide an explanation of the meaning of the culturally-bound term.
Dialogue between two colleagues (a Malaysian and an American) who teach at a community
college in the United States:
M: Can I ask you a question?
A: Yes, of course.
M: Do you know what time it is?
A: Yes, it’s two o’ clock.
M: Might you have a little soup left in the pot?
A: What? I don’t understand.
M (becoming more explicit since the colleague is not getting the point): I will be on campus
teaching until nine o’ clock tonight, a very long day for any person, let alone a hungry one!
A (finally getting the point): Would you like me to drive you to a restaurant off campus so you can
have lunch?
M: What a very good idea you have!
VIRUALLY ALL SOCIAL ACTS, ARE POTENTIALLY FACE THREATENING ACTS.
•Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory is based on three main concepts: face, face
threatening acts (FTAs) and politeness strategies.
•In the course of an interaction, certain acts that threaten a member’s face (Face
Threatening Acts) can be accomplished. Due to the fact that there is mutual advantage in
maintaining each other’s face, those acts are often mitigated or expressed by means of
strategies that soften their impact.
•Face: “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself, consisting in
two related aspects:
•(a) negative face: the basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction
- i.e. to freedom of action and freedom from imposition
•(b) positive face: the positive consistent self-image
•or 'personality'(crucially including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and
approved of) claimed by interactants.
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Inglese 25/10 -26/ Lesson 25/10/ FTA = FACE THREATENING ACT (affrontare un atto minaccioso) A few suggestions concerning language use:  ACCOMMODATE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE by rephrasing and explaining (never taking anything for granted, as there are differences amongst possible stakeholders(interlocutiori) , due to their culture, nationality, etc. which will inevitably result in differences in background knowledge)  ADOPT A WIDER CULTURAL PERSPECTIVEBUILD RAPPORT  reaching out to one’s interlocutors by making the communicative interaction as easy and smooth as possible;  REFER TO LOCAL TERMS AND CONCEPTS rather than looking for a generic translation in English, but provide an explanation of the meaning of the culturally-bound term. Dialogue between two colleagues (a Malaysian and an American) who teach at a community college in the United States: M: Can I ask you a question? A: Yes, of course. M: Do you know what time it is? A: Yes, it’s two o’ clock. M: Might you have a little soup left in the pot? A: What? I don’t understand. M (becoming more explicit since the colleague is not getting the point): I will be on campus teaching until nine o’ clock tonight, a very long day for any person, let alone a hungry one! A (finally getting the point): Would you like me to drive you to a restaurant off campus so you can have lunch? M: What a very good idea you have! VIRUALLY ALL SOCIAL ACTS, ARE POTENTIALLY FACE THREATENING ACTS.

  • Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory is based on three main concepts: face , face threatening acts (FTAs) and politeness strategies.
  • In the course of an interaction, certain acts that threaten a member’s face ( Face Threatening Acts ) can be accomplished. Due to the fact that there is mutual advantage in maintaining each other’s face, those acts are often mitigated or expressed by means of strategies that soften their impact.
  • Face: “the public self-image that every member wants to claim for himself, consisting in two related aspects:
  • (a) negative face: the basic claim to territories, personal preserves, rights to non-distraction
    • i.e. to freedom of action and freedom from imposition
  • (b) positive face: the positive consistent self-image
  • or 'personality'(crucially including the desire that this self-image be appreciated and approved of) claimed by interactants.

FIVE STRATEGIES:

Everything we do might be face threatening  Five strategies  There are five strategies for doing FTAs, according to Brown & Levinson (1987: 68–71). (redressive action=azione riparatrice)

  • Strategy 5 entails not doing the FT A at all. In business, however, if somebody needs to have something done, it is unlikely that he/she just drops the issue because of the FTA involved in it. This is likely to entail problems to the entire organization, as some corporate activities would not be taken care of.
  • In the same vein, Strategy 4, going off-record with the FTA , would run contrary to any company’s goals. For any goal-oriented organization thus vaguely and ambiguously worded FTAs are likely to require too much time and effort to be conducive to the company’s business in the long run When you perform an FTA off record you are very vague and you levae to your communicator to understand your communicative purpose. But you are never sure the other person understand what you mean. Not very common in commercial. Off record  very vague it means not officially complying with canon. The person who performs this action is very vague, uses a vague language (not “could you please…”). If the other one wants to take the hint, that’s ok, otherwise nothing happens. You leave the other person the task to interpret what you are implying. This strategy would run contrary to any company’s goals because in business context it is not really advantageous to use off record. For any goal-oriented organization, vaguely and ambiguously worded FTAs require too much time and effort to be conducive to the company’s business in the long run. In other words, sometimes you don’t have time for pleasantries. It is not so common, but there might be cases where you have to privilege other solutions rather than hedging. On record  you have yet to decide if performing redressive action or without. Without, the person talking is direct (bald) and the other interlocutor can take offence (be sure they will not)  ex Give me the water! Vs could you please…? Once you decide to perform the FTA on record with redressive action , you are willing (as the Malaysian), you can mitigate your message with positive or negative politeness. This implies the positive and negative face. BALD ON RECORD FTAs performed without redressive action are performed baldly, in a clearly unambiguous way. This kind of acts presupposes that the speaker does not fear reproach from the addressee. It involves all those circumstances in which both addresser and addressee agree in considering the face threat connected to the communicative act less important than the achievement of the communicative act itself.
  • Hedge opinion : ”You really should sort of try harder”.  importat to convey attitudes. You are saying less than needed. What does it mean: attend to the hearer?  dialogue Mal-American the Malaysian was very indirect because he didn’t want the American to feel under pressure. And the Mal makes the American feeling as he proposed to go to dinner together this is what means “Attend to the hearer”. The Malaysian in this case he can:
  • Have used negative politeness  in the second formulation, he was more direct
  • but another possibility he performed off record, he was very vague the 1st^ time he was very vague. The American havìsn’t understood.
  • Pessimism: ”I don't suppose you could close the window, could you?”
  • Indicating deference: ”Excuse me, sir, would you mind if I asked you to close the window?”
  • Apologizing:” I'm terribly sorry to put you out, but could you close the window?”
  • Pluralize the person responsible: “We forgot to tell you that you needed to buy your plane ticket by yesterday”.  mitigating strategy to make the statement more general. While positive politeness can be defined a “social accelerator” (Brown/ Levinson 1987: 103), negative politeness techniques are often used as tools of “social distancing” (Brown/ Levinson 1987: 130).  negative politeness used to not to intrude too much in people lives. EXERCISE ANSWERS You are at a bus stop waiting for your bus to go home when you discover that you have no money. You can: Decide to ask for money - Do the FTA Say 'Be a pal, and lend me something till tomorrow.' - On record, with redressive action, positive politeness Say 'Give me some money!' - On record, without redressive action, baldly Say 'I'm sorry to trouble you, but could I possibly borrow some money until tomorrow?' - On record, with redressive action, negative politeness

Say 'Oh no, I'm out of cash, I forgot to go to the bank today.' - Off record Walk home - Don't do the FTA Acts threatening H’s positive face

  • Disapproval, criticism, ridicule, complaints, reprimands, accusations, insults
  • Contradictions, disagreements
  • Violent expressions of emotion, taboo topics, bad news, non-cooperation, use of ‘inappropriate’ address forms or conversational style Taboo in the China Daily women going astray because prostitute was a taboo and they didn’t want to make their reader afraid to loose their face. Acts threatening H’s negative face
  • Orders, requests, suggestions, advice, reminders, warnings, threats
  • Offers, promises
  • Compliments
  • Expressions of strong emotion (anger, hate, lust) Important is that also compliments should be considered to a good relationship maybe not so good if you exaggerate Language matters
  • In an international context there are multiple possibilities to speak English, each of them depending on the speaker’s system of values.  especially important because what is good for us it cannot be good for others (Japanese hierarchy is very important vs democracy for USA)
  • Native speaker’s English traditionally was recognized as the unique acceptable form (“the norm”). In the past speaking a good English meant “to copy” native speakers’ way of speaking  we should enrich the English curriculum with insights from elf. Culture influence also how we react I situations not surprise if someone react in a different way from yours EXAMPLE FOR THE TEST: OUT OF ORDER Natasha (Russian) Sharon (American) N: Excuse me, but the elevator is out of order. S: Really? Whom should we talk to? N: Talk to? S: To report it

An English utterance can be

grammatically correct, but some

hidden cultural codes can make

Something important about cultures is how they react to the idea of hierarchy. Us have low attitude what might influence sharon’s reaction?--> in her view not apparent division of roles In Eastern  clear distribution with roles so it’s not Natasha’s problem These info is not caved in stone but it’s suggestive we are not all alike, we are all different in attitudes and patterns in society. Cultural differences CULTURES have different orientation to hierarchy and TIME Usa idea of efficiency Little tables diaries Slots for usa money Asia slots muh longer and here there is no money

Lesson 26/10/ Grice stated that in order to be collaborative, the communication has to follow different rules. Requests are potentially threatening  as in the example of the Malaysian HOW CULTURE LOOK AT TIME  while Hofstede devises a complex model with 6 taxonoyes , Hole make a dichotomy between low and high context  Usa

  • Low context the context does not provide much information
  • High context cultures don’t feel the need to express much information because everything is given by the context  Asia
  • Northern eu, usa, etc time is based on resources on to use them efficiently. If the idea is on achievements. each part is equal and based on time. People have to organize their day accordingly efficiency
  • People from centra, south America, etc.  my time is not only mine but belongs to us. Focus on trelationships not on resources. we can have longer or shorter slots necessity
  • eastern countries idea of properness, face saving. Focus on ritual. The organization is subject to rituals and what is considered to be the right behavior properness A tight schedule In this example, they are not on the same page because of their cultural differences, they can interact but there is something going on. Mr. Abu Bakar Mr. Armstrong Mr. AB: Mr: Armstrong! How good to see you. Mr. A: Nice to see you again, Hassan. Mr. AB: Tell me: How have you been? Mr. A: Very well, thank you. And you? Mr. AB: fine, fine. Allah be praised.

expects deference system, hears solidarity system Mr. R. thinks: This guy doesn’t want to be my friend. He’s not very nice. expects solidarity system, hears deference system they are both right because they are both thinking in terms of their own culture. Of course there is a lack of enlightment. You should adapt your conversation to the other interlocutor. Schemata= mental set-up 1 st West structure to ask something KISS= keep it short and simple. 2 nd Eastern structure. They never go straight to the point but they go gently to the request.  Kiss model email: Good morning Dottor Smith, Could you send me the documents about the research of Mr Armstrong? Best regards, XX  Eastern structure: Dear Dottor Smith, I hope this email finds you well. It is nice to hear from you. I am writing this email with regard to the documents of Mr Armstrong on English as a Lingua Franca. I would be grateful if you could send them to me in no hurry, as soon as you have time.

In Eastern cultures they are very humble so they will never answer to you in a too direct way. They underrate their abilities. Italy vs USA Il giorno mer 29 set 2021 alle ore 19:03 ha scritto: Ok, Grazie prof. Marotta per l’informazione. Noi americani siamo molto informale e le chiedo scusa! Ho fatto il corso 6 anni fa circa ma imagino che è cambiato molto da allora, e mi ricordavo che c’era un'esame. Ho parlato con XXXXX e mi ha parlato del contenuto del corso. Ha qualche suggerimento per quanto riguarda gli argomenti da affrontare? Tipo finanza, analisi, budget, trends etc? Cordiali Saluti xxxx An email from a Chinese colleague

We have different values but inadvertendly we make them appear. Speakers can make comments which reveal significant differences in their values and attitudes or in how they view or understand the world around them. Like the leprosy affected hand Very often we do refer to our schemata inadvertedly. CAVEAT This happens both between and within cultures.  NEED to refrain from ‘ESSENTIALISM’ i.e. the tendency to put people into ‘little boxes’ of disparate civilizations. We cannot reduce people in little boxes. We can say that people from Ghana tend (generally) are identified with something but a singular Ghana individual can not identify himself in that construction (maybe because they have travelled, etc). Of course defining culture as the shaping force which ‘presets people’s individual behavior’ can be very practical, as it gives us the impression that we can explain everything. HOWEVER People may share similar values, opinions, interests, … also across borders. We are part of a culture but first we are individuals. Beamer & Varner, 2008: 378). ‘Individual’ in the central layer (onion structure) we are Italians but first of all we are individuals. Meeting business partners video Bad example Japan vs USA

  • American giving the business card with one hand and not two;
  • The fact that they introduced without honorific vs him using them  “ just call me Bill and Elizabeth”  too friendly
  • Elizabeth is using positive politeness but Takinaka’s answers are very humble.
  • Please move to this chair Takinaka prevented them to seat in two different armchairs and make them move on the sofa because guests have to seat facing the door. He asked them to move because he wants to reserve what he thinks is the best seat for the guests (the ‘sofa’ gives more space).
  • Istinctively tTkinaka refers to the man before the woman the values of success in Japan, in the past, were associated with men. Sensei? No females allowed. Mary is partial responsible and she makes a mistake. Is the compliment a real compliment?  you are a real engineer  from the man’s pov it was a compliment. It was implied that despite being a woman, she was a good engineer. Her mistake was that she trusted her colleagues that she would be considered a god in the classroom. (etc) but they were males. But Japanese had problems to accept a woman in that powerful position it was unthinkable for a woman. They talked before to men than her. The mental schemata wasn’t able to accept her as an engineer.

Anyone who does business needs to be aware of how people from other cultures think and behave. Hall provided the distinctyion between high and low context. As a matter of fact Japanese, before they accept to deal business with you, they take time because they have to reflect and know you better. Usa are more open. Thinner contracts are made by Japanese because they don’t have to explain you details as they already know you, they have took the time to know you better. On the contrary, thicker contracts are American, because they are quicker in the process and at the end in the contract they have to explain more details.

(Pov of Holl, Hostede and politeness  for the exam) Truth is not something fixed. From high context culture truth is not importsnt because what is more important is to save face while from low, is important. We have different assumption but we should learn to not judge people. Hofstede centreexample Mexico vs Sweden Most awkward and embarrassing moment. Meeting with Swedish colleague. The Mexican assumed the Swedish had understood everything because he was knodding, showing approval but during the project he has understood nothing. Switzerland vs China