Cross-Cultural Communication [CCC]

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Cross-Cultural CommunicationCCC

• Presented by
• Norio Ota
• Department of Languages, Literatures and
  Linguistics
• York University

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Prologue recent events

• US submarine and sunk Ehime-maru
• U.S. spy plane and downed Chinese jet fighter
• Japan China - demanding apologies
• Offering apologies - common courtesy
• Sorry for what happened.
• Offering apologies - admitting guilt and
  responsibility U.S.

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CCC Exercises

• Bowing with greetings
• Counting numbers with hands
• Eye-contact
• Chiming-in
• Negative questions and Yes and No
• Other nonverbal communication

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What is Cross-Cultural Communication?

• Communication is CCC.
• CCC is Discipline.
• CCC is Action.
• CCC is Practice.
• Networking.
• Globalization.
• Sustainability.
• Multi-culturalism.

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Communication is CCC.

• CCC bridges gaps between sub-cultures.
• Every institution has its own sub-culture.
• Family, marriage, friendship, school
• Cross-gender
• Cross-generation
• Cross-occupation
• Cross-position
• University Students, Staff, Faculty, Techies,
  Administrators

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CCC is Discipline.

• CCC is an interdisciplinary discipline.
• CCC cuts across human activities.
• CCC sheds light on unnoticed aspects.
• CCC can explain why and how people behave.
• CCC is applicable to other cultural and
  sub-cultural situations.

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CCC is Action.

• CCC is not a theory, but an action.
• CCC requires knowledge, training and application.
• CCC enhances cross-cultural communicative
  competence.
• CCC improves 1st and 2nd language communicative
  ability.
• Nonverbal communication

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CCC is Practice.

• Networking
• Globalization
• Sustainability
• Multi-culturalism
• Anti-racism
• World peace

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CCC is Networking.

• CCC helps to network horizontally and vertically.
• CCC becomes foundation for communication network.
• Network is evolutionary.
• CCC breaks through isolationism.
• CCC reduces racism.

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CCC is Globalization.

• CCC prepares people to manage and survive in new
  environment.
• CCC creates people who share similar values.
• CCC appreciates both similarities and
  differences.
• CCC is instrumental to world peace.

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CCC is Sustainability.

• CCC enhances knowledge and understanding other
  cultures.
• CCC appreciates diversities and different values.
• CCC creates sustainable environment for
  individual cultures.
• CCC fights against marginalization in
  globalization.

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CCC is Multi-culturalism.

• CCC promotes multi-culturalism and anti-racism.
• CCC enhances cross-racial understanding,
  knowledge and communication.
• CCC has niche in Canada because of its diversity
  and policies.
• CCC makes Mosaic possible.

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Contrastive Approach

• Key notions to describe Japanese culture, society
  and psyche
• Japanese vs. English
• Video
• Giving and Receiving Favors
• Education

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Japanese vs. EnglishCognitive/Discourse/Textual

• Japanese
• holistic
• general
• descriptive
• situational
• context-dependent
• elliptical

• English
• analytic
• specific
• explanatory
• less situational
• context-independent
• exhaustive redundant

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Japanese vs. EnglishSociolinguistic/Pragmatic

• Japanese
• formal
• indirect indecisive
• rank-conscious
• submissive
• concessive
• agreeable understanding
• appreciative
• apologetic
• modest reserved
• responsive
• less exclamatory
• less derogative
• less rewarding

• English
• informal
• direct decisive
• egalitarian
• independent
• self-determined
• competitive challenging,provocative
• less appreciative
• self-righteous
• boastful proud
• less responsive
• exclamatory exaggerative
• derogative
• rewarding

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Japanese vs. EnglishPsycholinguistic

• Japanese
• Introversive inconspicuous
• collective
• subjective intuitive
• emotional sentimental
• pessimistic negative
• retrospective

• English
• extroversive conspicuous
• individualistic
• objective logical
• rational
• optimistic positive
• prospective

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Case Studies

• Rules of Conversation
• Monologue vs. Dialogue
• Accountability
• Accountability vs. Responsibility
• Informed Consent
• Negotiation
• Genuine concerns
• Achievement
• Majority support
• Compromise

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Epilogue

• CCC starts right at home.
• Speaking the same language with different
  subcultures
• Effort in finding out about others
• How far do you go?
• Beyond cultural relativism
• Establishing inclusive but critical and selective
  common criteria

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References

• Benedict, Ruth (1946) The Chrysanthemum and the
  Sword Patterns of Japanese Culture, Boston.
• Christopher, Robert (1984) Japanese Mind, Pan.
• Hall, Edward T. Mildred Reed Hall (1987) Hidden
  Differences Doing Business with the Japanese,
• New York Anchor Press.
• Nakane, Chie (1970) Japanese Society, Penguin.
• Sakamoto, Nancy Naotsuka, Reiko (1982) Polite
  Fictions Why Japanese and Americans seem rude
• to each other, Tokyo Kinseido.

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Contact

• Norio Ota
• Coordinator, Japanese Computing
• Department of Languages, Literatures and
  Linguistics
• York University
• Phone [phone] x88750
• Fax [phone]
• E-mail nota_at_yorku.ca
• Web http//buna.yorku.ca/