𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?
The ways in which people perform speech acts, and what they mean by what they say when they perform them, often varies across cultures.
One of my Japanese students complained, for example, that he had had work done by a local (English-speaking) builder that was unsatisfactory and no matter how much he pushed the matter he could not get the builder to apologize. On reflection, he realized that this was, in part, due to the different implications that might be drawn from an apology in English as opposed to an apology in Japanese. For my Japanese student, he expected the builder to apologize as a matter of course and he was very disturbed that the builder would not do this. This did not mean for him, however, that the builder would be taking responsibility for the unsatisfactory work, or that, having apologized, he would then be obliged to do anything about it. In English, he discovered, the apology, for the builder, would mean that he was both taking responsibility for the faulty work and agreeing to do something about it - a situation the builder was most likely keen to avoid given the financial, and other, implications this might have had for him. In Japan, the apology would not necessarily have had these implications. (Brian Paltridge)
Different language and cultures have a different understanding of using language and dealing with pragmatics
Different language users have different ways of dealing with Grice maxims
In some cultures, people tend to be to the point, and in some cultures detailed responses are expected.
People who belong to rural and urban areas are different in their practical use of language (Pragmatics)
Be´al ( 1992 ) found in communication in the workplace study that communication difficulties occurred between English and French speakers because the English speakers saw questions such as ‘How are you?’ or ‘Did you have a good weekend?’ as examples of ‘phatic’ communication and expected short, standard answers such as ‘Fine thanks. The French speakers, however, saw the questions as ‘real’ requests for information and, in the English speakers’ eyes, flouted the maxim of quantity, by talking at length about their health or what they did at the weekend.
Austin’s ( 1998 ) discussion of letters of recommendation in academic settings is a further example of cross-cultural pragmatic differences. As she points out, in English academic settings letters of recommendation may vary in strength of recommendation. Readers also take into account the prestige of the person writing the letter, where they work, and the content and tone of the letter. They might also notice ‘what has not been said’ in the letter. In Japanese academic settings, however, the situation is quite different. Japanese letters of recommendation are often much shorter than they are in English and often there is no relationship between the length of the letter and the quality of recommendation. A reader may need to ask for more information about a candidate, rather than rely on the letter alone. An English-speaking academic, thus, may misread a Japanese letter of recommendation if he/she is not aware of the different pragmatic role and values these texts have in their cultural setting.
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