Aarika Stanford

Prof. Lane
Comm 2100
1 October 2021

Cultural Styles of Talk

The way in which people speak to one another says quite a lot about who they may be as

a person. Not only does one’s beliefs and personality become evident to the receiver of the

message through this communication exchange, the culture of which that person associates or

most identifies with can be portrayed without full knowledge. Every person, whether they realize

it or not, allows their culture to be put on full display just by having conversations. There is such

an abundance of information that comes with understanding how culture affects our banter, that

it cannot just be studied by region as many researchers do. There are so many different cultures,

some obvious and others not as commonly known as an actual culture, that daily communication

can become interestingly difficult between those that do not speak the same cultural language.

Thus, cultural styles of talk must be investigated under the notion that culture is not limited to

locations on a map. This research paper will emphasize and allow the reader to develop a better

understanding of how different cultural styles of talk affect daily communication, how one’s

cultural language is acquired, what barriers may be present and how they affect communication

between different cultures, as well as what constitutes as a cultural group and the styles of talk

they may create.

To understand cultural styles of talk, the researcher must first investigate what exactly

culture does to a language. In one’s own community, the way in which they communicate is a

foreign concept to an abundance of others. One’s culture directly affects the use, stimulation, and
context of words. Language and culture are not stand-alone concepts, they are intrinsic and

intertwined. An article that examines this exact relationship says, “Language, in turn, supports

culture, promoting social bonds and allowing for shared information” (Madison). The same way

culture affects language, language affects culture.

With the study of cultural styles of talk, it is important to understand that culture talk is

not inherited, it is learned. Members of a culture are taught their style of talk by paying attention

to their peers. Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development published an

article on cultural awareness that states, “… culture is learned through language and modeling

others… [it] is encoded in the structure, vocabulary, and semantics of the language” (“Cirricula

Enhancement Module Series,” n.d.). Say for instance someone creates a new word or takes

another word (even if previously existing) and applies it to something else to describe it. Sooner

or later, others around that person may start to pick up on it and use it for themselves. It then

becomes part of their culture and is practiced in communication with others. This “slang”

exhibits cohesion and close relation within a community, which is a huge part of cultural talk.

But for those outside of this community or culture, the terminology is one that is difficult to

decipher.

There is a great misunderstanding that results when people of different cultures are not

aware of the jargon and styles of communication used by one another. Author Ben Davis states,

“People can technically be speaking the same language, but dialectical differences can create

misunderstandings and gaps in communication. India, for example, uses over 22 major

languages, written in 13 different scripts, with over 720 dialects” (“How does slang affect

language?” 2021). This same concept can be applied to the United States. America is a country

where dialect and styles of communication can completely change based on your geographic
location. Often times, in addition to the regional differences, slang in America is directly affected

by race as well. AAVE, or African American Vernacular English, is a dialect created and used

by African Americans to express themselves. AAVE has grown immensely among black culture,

and with variations that can change just by the city, it is one of the most misunderstood cultural

styles of talk in the States. William Labov elaborates on this, saying, “The home dialect of most

African American speakers has developed a grammar that is more and more different from that

of the white mainstreams dialects in the major cities studied and yet highly homogeneous

throughout the United States” (“Dialect Diversity in America,” 2012). It is obvious the cultural

differences and stigma that this style of talk is encountered with in America just by paying

attention to how other cultures and races react to it. Many times, AAVE is met with the beliefs of

those that think this talk is “uncouth”, “foul”, and “poor”. Later in the paper, the researcher will

address the importance of dissuading those from this mindset in order to create a better

understanding between cultures that have differences such as this.

Although race and culture can affect each other, what many do not realize is that race and

culture do not necessarily equate to one another. Because race is such a narrow attribute, culture

must include many other attributes such as nationality, ethnicity, and geography. However,

culture goes even farther than those obvious factors. There is a specific term for these smaller-

scale cultures. This term is “microculture” which refers “to those identifiable groups of people

who share the set of values, beliefs, and behaviors of the macro-cultures, possess a common

history, and use a common verbal and nonverbal symbol system” (SAGE Publications). The

smaller cultures come from the larger cultures and behave similarly. Examples of this include

Protestants, Catholics, doctors, lawyers, bikers, gamers, gender groups, etc. In examination of

these, there is a commonality – these are groups of people that have come together to create their
own culture because they hold the same beliefs and interests. An article about how these

“cultures” create a need for consumers states, “Subcultures, such as college students, can develop

in response to people’s interests, similarities, and behaviors that allow marketing professionals to

design specific products for them” (Niosi). With companies catering to these micro-cultures, it is

inevitable that there becomes a language specific for that group of people that only they would

understand. For example, an avid 2k gamer might say things that do not necessarily make sense

to someone who is not part of that culture. Remarks such as “alley oop” are said by this

subculture, when to most other people saying “dunk” would make the most sense. Marketers will

play on this language and communication within that group in order to make more sales because

they understand this language is one that has been created by and practiced among that culture.

Culture affects almost every aspect of a spoken language, and especially affects the way

in which people from different cultures communicate with one another. There are many

variations between cultural talk that can cause confusion within that communication. For

example, high-context cultures utilize an elaborate style of speech while low-context cultures use

the exacting style. Basically, high-context cultures go above and beyond with their

communication to relay something simple, and low-context cultures believe in saying exactly

what they have to say. According to author Ingo Neuling, “To Western listeners using mainly the

exacting style, the elaborate style may sound exaggerated or even extreme, radical, and

aggressive” (Grin, 1999). This can cause a direct holt in the communication process, as one party

believes there is not enough being said to comprehend, and the other party may see the excessive

talking as aggressive and unappealing.

It is important to learn and understand how to communicate cross-culturally as this

allows for the better transfer of information between two culturally different individuals. An
article published by “Think Bilingual” gives tips on how to overcome these issues, stating,

“avoid labeling interactions that you don’t understand as ‘abnormal’…explore cultural

differences and similarities…learn from generalizations about other cultures without using them

to create stereotypes” (PackZia). Rethinking the idea of “normal” and “correct” can increase

knowledge and respect of other culture’s ways of communication, and therefore, allow a better

understanding between sender and receiver when differing ideas of cultural talk presents itself as

a barrier.

As clearly presented throughout the entirety of this paper, unique cultural styles of talk

can hugely affect the understanding between different cultures, and thus affect the

communication that can happen between these people. When communicating with others,

whether that is through text message, in person, and especially in person, there is an almost

immediate unveiling of not only the sender’s beliefs and personality, but more importantly the

culture of which that person identifies with. Cultures can not only be defined by location,

ethnicity, and race, but also by the beliefs and interests that a group of people hold. In

communicating with people of different cultures and micro-cultures, it is extremely important to

be mindful to not be judgmental of the barriers between these cultural styles of talk. One can

learn a lot about other people by learning to not take this daily exchange for granted by having an

open mind that dissuades barriers between people of different cultures.

 Works Cited

Davis, Ben. “How Does Slang Affect Language?” Mvorganizing.org, 28 May 2021,
https://www.mvorganizing.org/what-are-some-examples-of-language-barriers/.

Georgetown. “Curricula Enhancement Module Series.” NCCC,

https://nccc.georgetown.edu/curricula/awareness/C10.html.

Labov, William. “Dialect Diversity in America: The Politics of Language Change.”

UNIVERSITY of VIRGINIA PRESS, 29 Sept. 2021,
https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/4510.

Madison, Elisha. “How Language Reflects Culture & Affects Meaning.” Study.com | Take
Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers,
https://study.com/academy/lesson/how-language-reflects-culture-affects-meaning.html.

Neuling, Ingo. “Differences in Communication Styles between Cultures.” GRIN, 1999,

https://www.grin.com/document/104380.

Niosi, Andrea. “Subcultures.” Introduction to Consumer Behaviour,

https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/introconsumerbehaviour/chapter/subcultures/.

Packzia, Angela. “Why Cross-Cultural Communication Skills Are Vital in Business.” Think
Bilingual, 16 Sept. 2020, https://austin.thinkbilingual.org/why-cross-cultural-
communication-skills-are-vital-in-business/.

SAGE Publications. The Microcultural Context. https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-

binaries/87095_Ch_10.pdf.