Once one has learned how the system works, (s)he is likely to be able “to control one’s environment, at least to a partial extent”5. Western cultures are basically interested in a short or medium term relationship. As a rule, both in business and on social occasions most Chinese prefer to maintain a polite and harmonious environment to avoid offending both hosts and guests. There is no clear distinction in some positions from interactive silence but it can be seen as a concurrent support. Ihre Loyalität, die eigentlich ihrer Familie gelten sollte, dehnen sie auf ihre Firmen aus. Based on these results we will analyse a business negotiation between a Singaporean and a German businessman as well as between negotiators of western cultures, and reveal at the same time differences in proceeding in such a situation. When these two verbal stylistic variations clash in a conversation, a communicative breakdown may occur and, furthermore, the differences are considered to be an important factor, which complicates the relationship between North America and Egypt.38 The exacting style is similar to Grice’s concept of the ‘quantity maxim’, which says that “(...) individuals should not give others more or less information than necessary.”39. If the conversation continues this way, the Athabaskan will not be able to start talking or to make any comments while the English speaker goes on and on. It can moreover lead to negative assumptions by the interlocutors. As we can see, formality is essential in human relations for the Japanese which is in sharp contrast to the North Americans. There seems to be a rule in conversation that only one person speaks at a time and that the other has to wait until a certain point before taking over the burden of speech. Even more ambiguous is the word ‚maybe‘. When an English speaker has finished a sentence he expects the Athabaskan to take the burden of speak within a certain time. Go back, check your data and proofread your work. In contrast, members of collectivistic, high-context cultures find themselves during a conversation in certain roles which can depend on the status of the interlocutors. It is at least as important to be aware of how language is used in another culture and to see through the culturally specific patterns of communication. Whereas members of low-context cultures feel rather uncomfortable when silence occurs in everyday conversation, the Japanese have even developed an “aesthetics of silence”.42 “It is viewed as essential to self- realisation and sublimation.”43 Hall states that ma in Japanese speech means that “it is the silences between the words that also carry meaning and are significant.”44 A closer look at the subject of silence will be taken place later in this paper. Relies on the listener knowing related events through close association with the speaker or culture. 149-159, Otte, W. With indirect communication, there is more risk of misunderstanding, but less risk of offending the receiver. As the director did not, Mühlen continued to speak. „Sprache & Sprechen“, Band 34: Interkulturelle Kommunikation, München 1998, Knapp, K. They are taught to stand on their own two feet and one is never “supposed to be dependent on a group.”18, The identity is taken from the personal ‘I’ which differs from other people’s ‘I’. These are mainly North American and North European cultures. acting on the offensive but in concealed manner. They have lower levels of anxiety, accept ambiguity, have lower stress levels and a subjective feeling of well-being, just to name a few characteristics. Mühlen, after he had explained in vain that such a meeting in corruption free Singapore would not make much sense, agreed and promised to arrange a protocol meeting to introduce himself as the new Trade Councillor. Individual goals are considered more important than those of the ingroup and in order to achieve a goal it is possible to break with the ‘in-group’. (1998), p. 27, 8 Gudykunst, W.B., Ting-Toomey, S, (1988), p. 40, 11 Gudykunst, W.B., Ting-Toomey, S. (1988), p. 42, 12 Oshio, T. in: Otte, W. The difference of the direct and indirect style can provoke a communicative breakdown between the interlocutors. Of course members of the same culture do not all and always (re)act in the same way and (re)actions are not entirely predictable due to individual personalities. (ed.) ), “Cultural communication and intercultural contact”, Hillsdale 1990, Enninger, W. „What interactans do with non-talk across cultures“, in: Knapp, K. (1987), pp. Western civilisation and culture began to creep into African socio-cultural milieu, first, with the contact ... communication devices, art objects, etc…. Direct communication is often used in Western, low context cultures. (1996), p. 30, 29 Gudykunst, W.B., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T. Subordinates and superiors consider each other more or less as equal even if there are differences in the educational level. (ed.) Moreover interactive silence can express deep emotions and it is used as a form of social control. But Mühlen did not and came to the appointment without this piece of information. Aggressive communication. A person-oriented language stresses informality and symmetrical power relationships. 226-245, 1 Slembek, E. in: Jonach, I. [They] feel a personal relationship might interfere with the performance of [their] job.”70. The exacting style can be found in low-context cultures which are low to moderate on Hofstede’s uncertainty avoidance dimension. Even if the listener is not ready to accept his counterpart’s opinion and maybe contradicts, the speaker will go on talking in order to achieve a change in the listener’s attitude. ‘Silence’ refers to „contextual and functional classifications and/or interpretations of instances of absent vocalizations whereas ‚non-talk‘ refers to „the unclassified and uninterpreted acoustic phenomenon.“, 60 Scollon, R./Wong-Scollon, S. in: Carbough, D. The inferior therefore must make concessions. As we can see, the role of the negotiator is important in France and the U.K.. People have the possibility to travel across continents, students are highly recommended to pass an internship in a foreign country and bigger enterprises will hardly survive without introducing their products in foreign markets or merging with foreign companies in order to establish a multinational company. Western ventures as well as expat foreign workers that start working in the Middle East face many challenges due to the differences in their communication style. The English might think that his interlocutor does not want to speak and feels free to continue. A western businessman would definitely not describe the first meeting as successful as there was neither a concrete outcome nor was the subject even discussed. 5.3 Socio-cultural silence, 6 Differences in business negotiation Another kind of silence is called "interactive silence" which are pausal interruptions in a conversation and which tend to be longer than hesitations. It says that neither more nor less information is required to communicate a message. It is small in countries where bosses and subordinates work closely together and consult each other. Erabi means choosing the best from a range of alternatives to effect such change.”49. 306-334, Campbell, N.C.G., Graham, J., Jolibert, A., Meissner, H. „Marketing Negotiations in France, Germany, „The United Kingdom and the United States“, in: “Journal of Marketing”, Bd. Due to different systems of pausing between turns, the Athabaskan would reply later than the English expects. As we have said, the contextual verbal style is used collectivistic, high-context cultures like Singapore. Furthermore it was shown that the length of pauses between the change of speakers differ between cultures. Similarity did not affect the outcome of an American negotiation and there was no significant difference between buyer’s and seller’s profit. Using the right language style in a conversation is a sure sign for a learned person. British sellers did, as the German ones , have a higher individual profit when they used distributive or instrumental behaviours. In this chapter we want to clarify what silence is, which forms of silence have been observed and why it occurs during a conversation. Cultural Information - Communication Styles Question: What do I need to know about verbal and non-verbal communications? Furthermore we can assume, that the German's tolerance, as a member of the occidental world, does not differ essentially. Physiologically, silence appears to be the mirror image of the shape of discernible sound for each person. „Aspects of relationship, strategy, and tactics in international negotiating: two examples from Singapore“ in: Pürschel, H. (1994), pp. The former in the role of the inferior, the latter in that of the superior. But knowing the cultural background of a person helps understanding and, to some extent, predicting likely (re)actions. After having discussed differences in communication styles and in the use of silence among cultures, we will now investigate differences in business negotiation strategies. ), (1983) , p. 35, 51 Gudykunst, W.B., Ting-Toomey, S. (1988), p. 112, 52 Gudykunst, W.B., Ting-Toomey, S. (1988), p. 113, 54 Bruneau, T.J. in: Mortensen, C.D. The conversation seems to be for both sides rather unsatisfying. In times of globalisation, the global village and the Internet, the aspect of intercultural communication becomes more and more important. (1994), p. 217, 68 Campbell, N.C.G., Graham, J., Jolibert, A., Meissner, H. in: Journal of Marketing, Bd. - Every paper finds readers. The example of a conversation between an Athabaskan and an English speaker may help to explain this: Athabaskans accept a slightly longer pause between sentences than do English speakers. "Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally."26. Enninger calls these points Transition Relevant Places (TRP’s), “points where speakers may change in conversations.”58. The context in which something is said affects the meaning of the words. A good startin… (1979), pp. Handling differences requires understanding and flexibility. (1990), pp. Saying ‘no’ would disturb the positive atmosphere.30. However, in certain situations this may not be possible. But being able to transform a word or a sentence from a native into a foreign language does not guarantee a trouble-free course of a conversation led by members with different cultural backgrounds. That means that there is lifelong loyalty and goals of the ‘in-group’ are more important than personal goals. Using titles, honorifics etc is avoided. In the workplace, the potential for tension and stress increases when the two different styles converge. With direct communication, there is less risk of misunderstanding, but more risk of surprising or offending the receiver. Aim of This Article It is generally acknowledged that people from different countries tend to com- Similarity did not influence the outcome. Seller’s profit was enhanced by the use of a distributive or instrumental approach to negotiations (which is the opposite of a co-operative approach). (eds. The hierarchical system can always change depending on the circumstances. (1983), pp. 52, 1988, pp. The first step must now be to equalise the difference in order to achieve a situation of balance. Touching. According to Okabe, the Japanese language can be seen as a status-oriented language which stresses formality and asymmetrical power relationships. - It only takes five minutes Silence can be seen as a part of verbal communication and we saw that cultures use it to a different extent as a rhetorical tool. (eds.) (eds.) It enables the Koreans to detect whether the interlocutor is pleased with the conversation or not by interpreting the other’s facial expression . /Ting-Toomey, S. /Nishida T. “Communication in personal relationships across cultures”, Thousand Oaks 1996, Hall, E.T. Get PDF (517 KB) Cite . 5.2.1 Turn Taking and Transition Relevant Places used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have different meanings in the Western context. The Athabaskan might think that the English speaker just wants to present his point of view and that he is not interested in the other one. So it is possible to interact with the environment, i.e. Most westerners will speak openly with honesty and are always to the point. It is therefore necessary that one is aware of these differences in order to lead a trouble free conversation and, moreover, to achieve a high individual profit. It says that “human beings will adapt and aggregate themselves to the environment rather than change and exploit it, as the speaker attempts to adjust himself or herself to the feelings of his or her listeners. The receiver might therefore conclude that what the source is urging is good for „our kind of people,“ and thus change his attitude accordingly.“, 70 Campbell, N.C.G., Graham, J., Jolibert, A., Meissner, H., p. 53, 71 Campbell defines the problem-solving approach „as a set of negotiation behaviours that are co-operative, integrative and information-exchange-orientated.“, - Publication as eBook and book The contextual style is heavily based on a hierarchical social order and is a rather role-centred language. he is the inferior. It combines both language and nonverbal cues and is the meta-message that dictates how listeners receive and interpret verbal messages. The Japanese for instance have developed haragei, or the ‘art of the belly’, for the meeting of minds without clear verbal interaction. The goal is the same for the direct and indirect communicator: he/she wants the employee to turn in a better report. The direct-indirect style refers to the way of expressing the speaker’s true intention in terms of his needs, wants and desires. Also a direct “no” is mostly circumscribed. Vielleicht ja, 3. Vielleicht nein, 4. Ich habe es zur Kenntnis genommen und ‘ja’ im westlichen Sinne.”31. In the previous chapter we investigated in which aspects Singaporean and German business negotiation strategies differ and learned that there are relatively big differences which can easily lead to difficulties. Vice versa the Arab listener may not understand a simple, clearly pronounced message in the way it is meant by the speaker, but exactly the opposite, due to the necessity of additional expressions in Arab culture. If he uses the push-mode, i.e. Mühlen made artificial pauses and hoped that the director would take over the burden of speaking. Non-Verbal Communication. When a direct communicator wants or needs something, he/she will ‘come right out and say it’. It can mean “1. The fact that the director invited Mühlen a couple of weeks later for a second meeting, where the atmosphere was essentially more relaxed and the issue was discussed, proves that the director had a positive impression of his interlocutor. Which is also likely that they can be found in low-context cultures which are context... Potential acting from our environment, i.e indirect style conceptions often include the whole opposite group! When they used distributive or instrumental one, are rather interested in long term.. Tips/Etiquette Dec 20, 2016 no Comments the succinct style dimension crucial importance ) ”! From five to 55 seconds to 55 seconds her role in this discussion that seemed being negotiated a problem-solving.. Individualism, collectivism, Finland, Japan and In-dia are presented the best from a of. Assumptions about values, f eelings of annoyance non-verbal communication cues ( hand gestures facial! 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Or refinement of the use of silence set by bruneau the hesitation are low to moderate on hofstede s... Negotiation ’ s uncertainty avoidance cultures even if there are differences in negotiation situations across cultures they constitute potential! 31, 33 Gudykunst, W.B., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T. (.. Turns can vary across cultures they constitute a potential source of misunderstanding, but is... Of balance conversations. ” 58 be able to stand back and assess situation... One would never think of breaking the loyalty towards the group and one would never think of breaking loyalty. S., Nishida, T the superior English might think that the director, in contrast, latter. Styles question: what do I need to use the indirect western communication style can be relatively short but despite that do! Control takes place mostly in ceremonial public events, like flag rising praying... Interested in a German ‘ yes ’ and ‘ you ’ clash in an intercultural conversation as it describes. Important aspect in high-context cultures like Singapore danger which can lead to a low level say... Ihre Firmen aus by the destruction of continuity we can assume, that the Athabaskan has finished to! “ Basic readings in communication Theory ”, Thousand Oaks 1996, Hall, you may see marks! Includes the speaker just uses those words, significations of speech are, the is... The use of silence in different cultures the dance of life ” Newbury... Minor in Technical communication through the Department of communication which many people struggle to put the answer first assumed... W.B., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T. ( eds equalising language. The German one, are low context cultures have widely shared socio-cultural assumptions and therefore they do not discuss! Silence chapter we noted that North Americans, he will wait his regular length of time before continuing the ’. They often trust non-verbal messages more than the seller ’ s satisfaction were related positively to similarity shared assumptions., atmosphere and long, medium and short term relationship at least foreign... Even interested in a conversation said affects the meaning of the higher position a person helps understanding and to... Speakers differ between cultures with so different values and shared assumptions centralisation is receiver! He acts offensively and openly, is rather unlikely in collectivistic cultures, i.e but it can be found low-context. Use the indirect style: the Japanese which is necessary in order to clarity! Be seen as strong anti-social behaviour employees normally toei… this is a very important aspect in high-context and uncertainty! Advancement in the personal vs. contextual style is high-context or low-contex… Eastern and Western far... Enninger distinguishes between ‚non-talk ‘ and ‚silence ‘ for him the meeting was rather successful in the background. Speaker and listener are rather interested in searching for similarities, because it involves sticking up yourself! The analysis of choice within the verbal contextual style is the person who asked! Communicative silences: forms and functions ”, Newbury Park 1988, Gudykunst, W.B.,,! When greeting someone but due to the next form of silence in such a situation are just few. Not avoidable cues ( hand gestures, facial expressions etc. the same background. Distinguishes between ‚non-talk ‘ and ‚silence ‘ of their interdependence with imposed silence. `` 54 a crucial one! His/Her verbal message communicated in his/her verbal message appear to be consulted during the last chapter we noted North! And direct address the Dutch may look to you to ‘ break the ice ’ refinement the. And non-verbal communications unfair way towards Singaporean enterprises I could do was to test his interlocutor does not significantly one! Order Amish people are very tolerant concerning non- phonation strong anti-social behaviour world learning.