Language and Politeness in Intercultural Interaction 1 December, 2018 Language and Politeness in Intercultural Interaction 7 March 2018 by Sigrid Brevik Wangsness

The Importance of Language in Cross-Cultural Communication What is intercultural communicative competence? What is “politeness” in a cross-cultural context? How can we avoid conflict or misunderstandings through strategies for managing rapport (politeness strategies)? 1 December, 2018

Communication and Culture What do the taxonomies and studies we have looked at so far say about communication? Language and Culture Why is it a good idea to know something about the language of your business partners, even speak a few words? “A language reflects deeply held cultural beliefs and reflects different realities and ways of thinking.” Can you think of some examples? 1 December, 2018

Contrasts between English and Sino-Tibetan languages What are some of the main differences listed between English and Sino-Tibetan languages? 1. 2. 3 1 December, 2018

Oral and Written Language Cultures with a stronger oral focus might ignore parts of written messages, or pay less attention to it, and vice versa Anglo-Saxon cultures (deal focused) often prefer writing rather than speech and value contracts vs. more relationship-focused cultures that might prefer phone calls and face-to-face meetings 1 December, 2018

Oral and Written Language The same cultural differences of e.g. high/low context and direct/indirect communication should be respected in writing as much as in speech The way written communication is organized and a message formulated should take cultural preferences into account 1 December, 2018

English as an International Language The most widely spoken Lingua Franca in the world today, and business language number one There are many versions of English There is an incredible amount of words and thus nuances The way people use English is often influenced by how they would use their own language 1 December, 2018

How to Improve Understanding in C-C C? Oral guidelines and strategies Written guidelines and strategies 1 December, 2018

Rapport Management Competencies What does «rapport» mean? Explain what is meant by «rapport management» Outline the authentic example of a problematic business meeting between a British and a Chinese team 1 December, 2018

Rapport Management Competencies 1. Contextual Awareness Participant relations (e.g. power, social distance) Role rights and obligations Type of the communicative activity 1 December, 2018

2. Interpersonal Attentiveness Bases of Rapport Face Face sensitivity: Does the other person threaten your face or you theirs? Give face/lose face Positive face: Negative face: Face-threatening Acts (FTAs) 1 December, 2018

2. Interpersonal Attentiveness Behavioural expectations How do we expect other people to behave? Interactional goals What do we want with this interaction? (To build a relationship? Sell a product? Do you think the other party wants the same thing?) 1 December, 2018

3. Social Information Gathering 4. Social Attuning Prepare and observe 4. Social Attuning Use active listening techniques Adjust your communication to that of the other party (based on the signals you pick up) 1 December, 2018

  5. Emotion Regulation Resilience: Acceptance: 1 December, 2018

6. Strategies for Managing Rapport and Conflict Rapport enhancement, rapport maintenance, rapport neglect or rapport challenge orientations Strategies for managing conflict: How do different cultures prefer to deal with conflicts? 1 December, 2018

6. Strategies for Managing Rapport and Conflict 5 conflict management orientations: neglect, appeasement, domination, compromise and integration 5 preferred styles of conflict resolution: denial or suppression, third-person intermediary, group consensus, direct discussion, power or authority 1 December, 2018