Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Discourse Analysis & Intercultural Communication
Discourse Analysis & Intercultural Communication
Discourse Analysis & Intercultural Communication
Intercultural Communication
Group 2A
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0 Discourse Intercultural & The coming together
& DA in IC 02 cross-cultural 03 of DA & IC
1 communication
Lê Nguyễn Minh Đức Trần Thị Hồng Duyên Đặng Hương Giang
0 Different
Approaches to IC
7
views of 08 studies 09 IC at work
culture
Nguyễn Nhật Hà Dương Thị Mỹ Hạnh Nguyễn Lê Hồng Hạnh
1. Discourse and Discourse
Analysis in Intercultural
Communication
Presenter: Lê Nguyễn Minh Đức
Discourse and DA in IC
1.1. Definition of Discourse
What is Discourse?
What is Discourse Analysis?
1.3. IC Competence
What is IC Competence?
1.1. Definition of Discourse
Defense
The individual begins to see cultural differences and is threatened
by them.
Minimization
While individuals at this stage do acknowledge cultural differences,
they see human universals as more salient than cultural distinctions.
1.3. IC Competence
Acceptance
The individual begins to accept significant cultural differences first in behaviors,
and then in values.
Adaptation
The individual becomes more adept at intercultural communication by shifting
perspectives to the other’s cultural worldview.
Integration
Individuals at this stage begin to transcend their own native cultures. They
define their identities and evaluate their actions in terms of multiple cultural
perspectives.
2. INTERCULTURAL AND
CROSS-CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
Chinese American
Professor, I am having an English class Sorry, (regret) I‘d rather not work on
on Saturday (reason). Can I do more Saturdays, (direct refusal) but I‘m willing
during the week? (statement of to work more hours during
alternative) the week. (statement of alternative)
(Guo, 2012)
2.1. Definitions - Intercultural communication
Definition:
● Intercultural communication is “the study of distinct
cultural groups in interaction with each other”.
(Scollon & Scollon, 2001)
● Intercultural communication takes place when individuals
of different cultural backgrounds negotiate shared
meanings in interaction.
2.1. Definitions - Intercultural communication
Example: Refusals in Chinese and American culture
Mr. Jones: It looks like we’re going to have to keep the production line
qqqqqqsqqrunning on Saturday.
Mr. Wu: I see. (implicit refusal)
Mr. Jones: Can you come in on Saturday?
Mr. Wu: Yes. I think so.
Mr. Jones: That’ll be a great help.
Mr. Wu: Yes. Saturday’s a special day, did you know?
Mr. Jones: How do you mean?
Mr. Wu: It’s my son’s birthday. (reason)
Mr. Jones: How nice. I hope you all enjoy it very much.
Mr. Wu: Thank you. I appreciate your understanding.
(Wei, 2012)
2.2. Comparison of the two frameworks
+ The Dutch are used to being open, frank and honest when giving
opinions. If you say something is ‘fine’, then it’s fine.
+ The British are very different. Saying something is “fine” in the UK
really means it is not fine – it’s the exact opposite.
2. The social effect of such miscommunication:
The Dutch man cannot understand why they are being told something is
fine, to only find out later, it is not fine.
The boss should ask the Dutch man to provide missing information to make
the report completed.
Example 2: Pragmatics of
language use can impact
intercultural
communication
● Imagine yourself as a dinner guest in a Pakistani household.
You have just eaten a delicious meal. You are relatively full
but not so full that it would be impossible for you to eat
more if it was considered socially appropriate to do so.
● Consider the following dialogue:
Hostess: I see that your plate is empty. Would you like some more curry?
You :No, thank you. It was delicious, but I'm quite full.
Hostess: Please, you must have some more to eat.
You: No, no thank you. I've really had enough. It was just great, but I can't eat
another bite.
Hostess: Are you sure that you won't have any more? You really seemed to enjoy
the brinjals. Let me put just a little bit more on your plate.
You: ...................
- Culture at its most basic level can be defined as share symbols, norms, and
values in a social organization (Walsham, 2002)
4.2 Language-Culture relationship
https://vietnamisawesome.com/
4.4 Language relativity
(Sapir-Whorf hypothesis)
- The strong form (linguistic determinism) the idea that the
language you speak determines how you think.
- You can never really conceive of culture and language you
speak as one because your language does not give you a single
word to represent them.
small initial
aware of the difference
differences become more
intensified.
5.1. Schismogenesis
Example
American remains a
Back-and-forth
1 American student fixed space
situation
1 Brazil student Brazil shortens the
=> Rupture
space
5.1. Schismogenesis
5.1. Schismogenesis
Example 3
Difference becomes
more vivid
5.1. Schismogenesis
(Gumperz, 1982)
5.2. Contextualization cues
Pandemic:
• Be underpaid
• do simple jobs
Kinship terms "con, cháu, em, Everyone uses “I”, and “you”
bác, cô, chú, ... can be used as without distinction of kinship
address pronouns: relationship:
“Con đã về rồi” “I come home now”
“Bác đang làm gì đấy ạ?” “What are you doing?”
6.1. Aspects of culture
6.1.2 Individualism and collectivism
- Individualism emphasize the separation of the individual from any other
social commitments.
- Individualism concern about their freedom of activity than their
connections to other members in the groups.
- In intercultural communication, highly individualistic culture would pay
more attention to personal face needs >< collectivistic culture would
always have the face of others foremost.
6.1. Aspects of culture
6.1.2 Individualism and collectivism
Example:
- Within discourse analysis and intercultural communication, cultural units have been
dissolved into boundaryless forms of intertextuality and interdiscursivity.
- Intertextuality: the shaping and understanding of a text’s meaning by another text.
Example: Today, Vietnamese in daily communication have proficiently used the vocabulary
with derived words from Chinese, accounting for about 67% of the language of our country.
And a series of words of French origin have been Vietnamese such as “xà phòng, ba gác,
xích, tăm,...”
(Fairclough, 1992)
6.2. Culture in IC
6.2.3 Culture is dissolved.
Interdiscursivity (constitutive intertextuality): shaping of a text’s meaning by
another text.
- All communications are positioned within interdiscursivity.
Example:
One is simultaneously a woman, a professional, a mother, and a member of a
charity’s management board.
=> Each of these roles has an expected set of forms of discourse, face relations,
and patterns for socialization and often they are in conflict with each other.
7. Different views
of culture
Presenter: Nguyễn Nhật Hà
Table of contents
=> “The essentialist view of culture is that, for any specific culture,
the individuals of the culture are assumed to possess a particular
set of attributes or traits.”
(Vandenberg, 2010)
7.1 Essentialist view
Definition
“Because most of our production is done in China now, and uh, it’s not
really certain how the government will react in the run-up to 1997, and
since I think a certain amount of caution in committing to TV
advertisement is necessary because of the expense. So, I suggest that we
delay making our decision until after Legco makes its decision.”
“Because most of our production is done in China now, and uh, it’s not
really certain how the government will react in the run-up to 1997, and
since I think a certain amount of caution in committing to TV
advertisement is necessary because of the expense. So, I suggest that we
delay making our decision until after Legco makes its decision.”
8.1. Discourse Approach to IC (Scollon & Scollon, 1995)
-This approach would identify people from these different groups who are
in social interaction with each other.
- The primary question would be: what is the social action in which you are
interested and how does this analysis promise to focus on some aspects of
social life that is worth understanding?
8.4. Mediated discourse approach
1. What are the cycles in and out of practices, materials, and discourses
that come together in this moment?
2. How do these cycles shape our interpretation?
3. Is she precocious or just playing? An innocent at risk from over-
exposure to games and media? Or a technotoddler with a digital
headstart in the race to learn more faster and earlier?
9. IC at work
Presenter: Nguyễn Lê Hồng Hạnh
Table of contents
9.1 9.2
Speech acts
in IC discourse IC barriers in workplace
9.3
Overcome IC barriers
9.1 Speech acts in IC discourse
These are words and expressions that change the world by their very
utterance. They usually need to be uttered by a speaker of a special institutional
role: blessings, firings, baptisms, arrests, marrying or juridical speech acts.
These are acts in which the words state what the speaker believes to be the
case. These allow the speaker to assert, confirm or describe something.
This group includes acts in which the speaker commits him/ herself to doing
something with words.
American says:
Iranian says:
This category covers acts in which the words uttered by the speaker are aimed at
making the hearer do something.
This last group includes acts in which the words state what the speaker feels.
In other words, it is used to express the speaker’s emotions.
Not speaking the same language can cause misunderstandings and is considered the
most crucial barrier in intercultural communication.
Verbal communication is important in every context, but the meaning of words can
literally get lost in translation. If one person isn’t aware of the exact meaning of a
word, it may be misunderstood or misinterpreted by the other person and lead to
a conflict of ideas.
The Japanese “Yes” (Hai)
After all, the American businessman gets confused because if the Japanese
businessman agrees that the American product is the best in both quality and price,
why wouldn't he sign the deal?
The Japanese “Yes” (Hai)
Its purpose is not to show full agreement, but to show that the person is listening
and cares about what has to be said.
Stereotypes
This creates prejudice among people of different cultures and causes judgmental
attitudes towards one another. People look at other cultures with certain
stereotypes as “bad” or “difficult to work with”, or “incomprehensible” and treat
them with contempt and disrespect.
Stereotypes about Japanese
He tried to talk to her about his favorite games and manga characters from the
90’s. She had no idea what the guy was talking about and would just give him a
blank stare or awkward smile. He would act surprised whenever she told him
she’s never heard about the stuff he was talking about.
Signs and Symbols
While not quite as easily misconstrued in a team environment as the other factors,
it can still lead to cultural faux-pas that may take time to smooth over and could
be avoided in the first place.
“Thumb -up” gesture
People’s varied religious or spiritual beliefs can also lead to conflict and
intercultural barriers.
Eye contact during conversation
On a personal level, one should make an effort to acknowledge his own implicit biases
and assumptions that affect the way he interacts with others. He can start by making a
conscious attempt to empathize with his audience and gain a better understanding of
others’ point of view.
Be open-minded
Being exposed to new viewpoints and making the effort to understand them can
have an impact on how a person make decisions moving forward.
Facilitate Meaningful Conversation
Not only will this allow people to gain an understanding and appreciation for
another person’s perspective, but it will also help to build strong relationships in
the workplace.
QUIZ
Q1. According to Canale and Swain’s Communicative Competence model,
which field does IC Competence belong to?
Q2. Language and Culture
- Layers of culture
a. No matter how long she lives in Italy, she belongs to Austrian culture. E
b. In Chinese culture, people’s behaviour is determined by Confucianism. E
c. The people I find most culturally strange are my children’s friends and the
village where I was a child. NE
d. School around the world have a lot of cultural similarities. NE
Q3. Decide whether the following statements are indicative of the essentialist
(E) or non-essentialist (NE) view of culture.
a. No matter how long she lives in Italy, she belongs to Austrian culture.
=> E (People belong exclusively to one national culture.)
b. In Chinese culture, people’s behaviour is determined by Confucianism.
=> E (People’s behavior is defined and constrained by the culture in which they live.)
c. The people I find most culturally strange are my children’s friends and the village where
I was a child.
=> NE (People can move through a complex multiplicity of cultures both within and
across societies.)
d. School around the world have a lot of cultural similarities.
=> NE (Cultures can flow, change, intermingle, cut across and through each other,
regardless of national frontiers, and have blurred boundaries.)
Q4. What types speech acts do these sentences belong to?
“I am so sorry for not helping you out in our group projects and letting you
do all the work.”
A. Declarative C. Expressive
B. Directive D. Commissive
C. Representative C. Directive
D. Commissive D. Declarative
THANK YOU
References
Bhat, R., & Salingaros, N. (2013). Reductionism undermines both Science and Culture. NEW
ENGLISH REVIEW. Published.
Baldwin, J., Coleman, R., González, A., & Packer, S. (2022). Intercultural Communication for
Everyday Life. West Sussex: Wiley.
Holliday, A. (1999). Small Cultures. Applied Linguistics, 20(2), 237-264.
Holliday, A., Hyde, M., & Kullman, J. (2010). Intercultural communication: An advanced
resource book for students (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Schapera, Isaac. (1977). Kinship terminology in Jane Austen’s novels. London: Royal