Lecture The Study of Intercultural Communication Key Terms

3.7 Cultural Variations in Language
Which is more important, being a good speaker or a good listener? Is it preferable to be effective at communicating verbally or nonverbally? Is it better to be direct and to the point in communicating. There are cultural variations in how language is used: differences in attitudes toward speech and silence, differences in whether meaning is more in the verbal or nonverbal communication, and differences in communication style.
In some cultural groups speaking is highly-valued. For example, being a good political, business, or religious leader often depends on the ability to express oneself well, to be “quick on one’s feet”. In these cultural groups, a secondary, or less important, mode of communication is listening. And silence is sometimes viewed negatively. For example, people may be embarrassed if there are too many pauses in conversations, or they may feel that they aren’t really connecting with people. Silence also may be associated with being isolated. By contrast, many cultural groups place a primary emphasis on silence and harmony, and a secondary emphasis on speech. Many Japanese have a distrust of verbal skills; the Japanese proverb “You have two ears and one mouth” implies that one should listen twice as much as one speaks. And other Asian cultures share this distrust.
Another way of looking at power and language is to think about the labels we use to refer to other people and ourselves. For example, we might label ourselves or others as “male” or “female” to indicate gender identity. The context in which a label is used may determine how strongly we feel about the label.
Sometimes, people might complain: “Why do we have labels? Why can’t I just be me?” But the reality is, it would be nearly impossible to communicate without labels. Trouble arises, however, from the use of labels that we don’t like or that we feel inaccurately describe us. Think about how you feel when someone describes you by the terms you do not like. Labels communicate many levels of meaning and establish specific relationship between speaker and listener. Sometimes, people use labels to communicate a sense of equality with and affection for another – for example, “friend”, “lover”, or “partner”. Sometimes people use labels that are offensive to others, which reflect the speaker’s ignorance and lack of cultural sensitivity and connection to the other group. For instance, the use of terms such as “Oriental” and “homosexual” communicates negative characteristics about the speaker and establishes distance between speaker and listener. “Oriental” is viewed as negative because it does not refer to any real place and has negative connotations of things exotic and strange; it is better to use “Asian”.
People who speak two languages are considered bilingual; people who speak more than two languages are considered multilingual. Rarely, however, do bilinguals speak both languages with the same level of fluency. More commonly, they prefer to use one language over another, depending on the context and the topic. Sometimes, entire nations are bilingual or multilingual. Belgium, for example, has three national languages: Dutch, German, and French.