Week 6: Language and

intercultural communication
Team 1: Phạm Quỳnh Chi, Nguyễn Hùng Tuân
 Content

I. Functions of language: the cultural perspective

II. Intercultural verbal communication styles
III. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
I.
I. Functions
Functionofof
language
language: the cultural perspective
Language across cultures

(Fisher,
(Fisher,1998)
1998)Cultural
Culturalvalue
valueorientations
orientationsdrive
drivelanguage
languageusage
usagein
ineveryday
everydaylife
lives.

Australia - Me culture Japan - We culture

A culture has a high individualism value index A culture has a low individualism value index
(90) (20)
Me, my goal, my opinion Our team, our goal, our unit

retrieved
Retrieved from:from: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/
 Diverse functions of language across cultures

1. Group identity

1. Group identity

Example 1: Chinese, Vietnamese culture

[Family name] [personal name]

Example 2: Western naming conventions

[personal name] [middle name] [family name]

Our construction of our own identities are closely tied with the naming
Our construction of our own identities are closely tied with the naming

Stellar Ting-Toomey. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York, London: The Guilford Press, p91
 Diverse functions of language across cultures

1. Group filtering

2. Perceptual filtering function

For example: Chinese culture

+ Xiao (the proper relationship between children
and parents)
+ Han xu (implicit communication)
(Gao, ting-toomey, 1998)

Chinese:
+ Those sensitive to parents’ needs – speak subtly and implicitly, act as a good listener
+ Conversely, individuals disrespectful to parents’ needs - Speak bluntly or explicitly
3. Cognitive reasoning

Benjamin Whorf (1952) “the language is a guide to cultural reality”

concludes “Language is not merely a vehicle for voicing idea but rather is itself the shaper of idea…”
4. Status and intimacy

- Use language to signify status differences such as the selective use of formal vs. informal pronouns
in different languages.

- Use language to regulate intimacy through verbal means of signal friendship and relational bonding
(Brown and Gilman, 1960)
5. Creativity

- Children reach their fourth birthday – already internalized the exceedingly complex structures of
their native tounge

- Children posses the entire linguistic system that allows them to utter and to understand sentences
they have not previously heard. (Fard, 1973)
Cross-cultural verbal communication styles
 Low – context Communication

EXPRESS INTENTION OR MEANING THROUGH EXPLICIT VERBAL

MESSAGES.

REFER TO COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF DIRECT – VERBAL MODE:

STRAIGHT TALK, NONVERBAL IMMEDIACY, AND SENDER-ORIENTED
VALUES
 High – context Communication

HOW INTENTION OR MEANING CAN BE BEST CONVEYED THROUGH THE

CONTEXT AND NONVERBAL CHANNELS OF VERBAL MESSAGE

REFERS TO COMMUNICATION PATTERNS OF INDIRECT VERBAL MODE – SELF –

EFFACING TALK, NONVERBAL SUBTLETIES, AND INTERPRETER-SENSITIVE
VALUES (TING-TOOMEY, 1985)
Table 4.1. The Low-Context Communication (LCC) and High-Context Communication (HCC)
Frameworks ( Communicating Crossing Culture, Stella Ting – Toomey, p101)
Example:

Mrs.A: Your daughter has started taking piano lessons, isn’t she? I envy you, because you can be

proud of her talent. You must be locking forward her as a pianist. I’m really impressed by the her

enthusiasm – every day, she practices so hard, for hours and hours, until late at night.

Mrs.B: Oh, no, not at all. She is just a beginner. We don’t know her future yet. We hadn’t realized

that you could hear her playing. I’m so sorry you have been disturbs by her noise.
 Direct Verbal Style

STATEMENTS CLEARLY REVEAL THE SPEAKER’S

INTENTIONS AND ARE ENUNCIATED IN A
FORTHRIGHT TONE OF VOICE.
 Indirect Verbal Style

STATEMENTS TEND TO CAMOUFLAGE THE SPEAKER’S

ACTUAL INTENTIONS AND ARE CARRIED OUT WITH MORE
NUANCED TONE OF VOICE.
Example:

American A: We’re going to New Orleans this weekend.

American B: What fun! I wish we were going with you. How long are you going to be there?

American A: Three days. By the way, we may need to ride to the airport. Do you think you can

take us?

American B: Sure. What time?

American A : 10.30 p.m this coming Saturday.

 Person-Oriented Verbal Style

INDIVIDUAL – CENTERED VERBAL MODE THAT

EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMALITY AND
ROLE SUSPENSION.

EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF RESPECTING UNIQUE,

PERSONAL IDENTITIES IN THE INTERACTION.
 Status-Oriented Verbal Style

A ROLE – CENTERED VERBAL MODE THAT EMPHASIZES

FORMALITY AND LARGE POWER DISTANCE.

EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF HONORING

PRESCRIBED POWER-BASED MEMBERSHIP IDENTITIES.
Example:

English is a person-oriented language

Japanese is a status-oriented language

- Okabe(1983)
 Self-Enhancement Verbal Style

EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF BOASTING ABOUT

ONE’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ABILITIES.
 Self-Effacement Verbal Style

EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMBLING ONESELF

VIA VERBAL RESTRAINTS, HESITATIONS, MODEST TALK,
AND THE USE OF SELF – DEPRECATION CONCERNING
ONE’S EFFORT OR PERFORMANCE.
Example: In classified ads in magazines:

An American: “ A handsome, athletic male with a good sense of humor

seeks a fun-loving partner…”

An Japanese: “ Although I am not very good locking, I’m willing to try

my best to work hard…”

 Beliefs Expressed in Talk and Silence
SILENCE CAN:
- OFTENTIMES SAY AS MUCH AS WORDS.
 HOLD STRONG, CONTEXTUAL MEANINGS IN HIGH-CONTEXT CULTURES.

FROM HIGH-CONTEXT PERSPECTIVE, SILENCE CAN BE THE ESSENCE OF THE

LANGUAGE OF SUPERIORITY AND INFERIORITY

THE PROCESS OF SILENCING OR REFRAINING FROM SPEAKING CAN HAVE

BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVES EFFECTS.
Example:

European Americans: perceive that the use of talk as being a means of

social control

Native-born Chinese: perceive the use of silence as being a

conversational control strategy

- Wiemann et al (1986)
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, also known as the linguistic

relativity hypothesis, refers to the proposal that the
particular language one speaks influences the way one
thinks about reality.
(J.A. Lucy, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001)
 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis asserts that language

influenced or even determined the ways in which
people thought
(Myron W. Lustig & Jolene Koester. (2006) Intercultural competence,P 177)
References
•

• Fred E Jandt. (2016). An introduction to IC identities in a global community. LA,

London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC, Boston.
• J.A. Lucy, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences,
2001
• Hofstede (2021), retrieved from:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/
• Myron W. Lustig & Jolene Koester. (2006) Intercultural competence, pp 167 – 179
• Stellar Ting-Toomey. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York, London:
The Guilford Press, pp 59-64
• Stellar Ting-Toomey. (1999). Communicating across cultures. New York, London:
The Guilford Press, pp 85-110