DOCUMENT RESUME ED 370 392 FL 022 150 AUTHOR Nakajima, Setsuko TITLE Demonstrating Miscommunication Problems Between American and Japanese Businessmen Through Video. PUB DATE 93 NOTE 20p.; Paper presented at the Annual Eastern Michigan University Conference on Languages and Communication for World Business and the Professions (12th, Ypsilanti, MI, March 31-April 3, 1993). PUB TYPE Reports Descriptive (141) Speeches/Conference Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Communication Problems; Cross Cultural Studies; *Cultural Differences; English; Foreign Countries; Interpersonal Relationship; *Japanese; Language Attitudes; *Language Patterns; Languages for Special Purposes; Second Language Instruction; *Sex Bias; Sex Differences; Stereotypes; *Videotape Recordings; Work Attitudes IDENTIFIERS *Japan; United States ABSTRACT This paper discusses common miscommunication problems that occur between Japanese and Americans, even when both are speaking Japanese, with a focus on high contextuality and women's position in business organizati,n.s. It also examines how these cultural differences can be add-essed through the use of videotaped conversations. One of the preeminent features of the Japanese language is that items obvious to conversants are not stated. The subject and direct object of a sentence are often omitted, even in written communication, making it difficult for non-native speakers to comprehend the exact meaning. Context, expectations, and gestures also play important roles in conversation. Women in Japanese corporations are still largely relegated to secretarial and receptionist roles, even if they possess university degrees, despite the passage of equal employment legislation. Japanese businessmen tend to consider women fit only for subordinate positions, and attitudes toward sexual harassment and discrimination are fairly lax. Other cultural and language differences between Japan and the United States are also examined. (MDM) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY WrtA Clet) Setsuko Nakajima, Senior Instructor NPos!cA. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." o Kidder Hall 210 U.S. 1%. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 0/fice of EducahonaI CO Research and Improvement Oregon State University EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION Cil CENTER(uta hrs document has been la reproduced as received from the person or orgenItation Corvallis, OR 97331 On ginatono et 0 Msnor changes have been made to rmprove reproduCtion quality TeL 503-737-3951 ment do not neCessardy represent officrat OERI position or Poky Demonstrating Miscommunication Problems Between American & Japanese Businessmen Through Video Although both Japanese and Americans may be speaking in English, miscommunication can occur because of the differences in their customs and communication styles. The main purpose of this videotape is to demonstrate communication problems and to help native and non-native Japanese speakers recognize their cultural differences. Through this presentation, two subjects are discussed: high contextuality in the Japanese language and women's position in business. Edward T. Hall classifies culture on the basis of the communication that predominates in the culture: low- context and high-context. In low-context cultures, detailed information has to be explicitly stated when people are ,,sk c) to do something or to make a decision. He asserts that the ,J U.S. is placed toward the lower end where "the mass of the 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE information is vested in the explicit code." Japan, however, falls toward the high-context end of culture where "most of the information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. For most normal transactions in daily life, Japanese do not require much in-depth background information."' The structure of the Japanese language also reflects this feature: high contextuality which forces non-native Japanese speakers to guess at the unstated part of sentences. One of the preeminent features of the Japanese language is that items obvious to both conversants are not stated. The subject and its direct or indirect object of a sentence are often omitted. Thus with only a predicate, a Japanese speaker can state a completely understood sentence. This is not only true for conversation, but for the ordinary style of writing such as letters, memos, articles and literary works. For example, an English speaker might say, "Would you like to eat this cake?" if he or she is holding a piece of cake and wants to offer it to someone. A Japanese would say "Would like to eat?", omitting the "you" and "this cak." Another example is that speakers can make themselves understood simply by stating "will give" when they want to give something to an interlocutor. The words "will give" are omitted because the subject and the object in these sentences are considered so obvious and are therefore left unstated. 3 Only when the Japanese want to stress the word "cake" or to make sure that it is this particular cake they are offering, is "this cake" included in a sentence. Under this circumstance, the word "you" equivalent is not used. Some U.S. students tend to translate a sentence word for word into Japanese and include "watashi" (I) and "anata" (you) in every sentence they utter. This way of conducting a conversation gives Japanese the impression that the speaker is too self-assertive which has a negative effect in Japanese society. The use of "anata" may especially offend some Japanese. Eleanor Jorden, when introducing "anata", states, "Anata is a polite 'you' (singular), used in addressing an equal or a It is to be carefully avoided in addressing subordinate. superiors (including teachers) and persons to ',hom one owes special respect."2 It is natural to skip "anata" or simply use a proper name when a speaker has to mention a subject. Thus without mentioning a subject, two people can talk for a long time as long as their topic does not shift from the matter at hand. Even after a topic shift has occurred, the conversant usually omits "he" or "she" Japanese equivalents once the name is mentioned. The following is a typical conversation example: By the way, how is your son, Taro? A: Thank you. is fine. is going to U.S. next B: (He) (He) month. Where will (he) go? Oh really. A: 4 4 (He) said that (he) wants to go to Oregon. B: (You must be) worried. A: Another case difficult for non-Japanese to grasp is the difference between a progressive sentence structure with an intransitive verb and a progressive sentence structure with a For example, there are two ways to describe transitive verb. 1. kuruma ga tomatteimasu the parking of a car: a car is kuruma ga tometearimasu (someone) parked a car parked. 2. (and left it that way intentionally or unintentionally) The words in parentheses are not stated. The greatest problem for non-Japanese is that the agent the person who parked the car is not mentioned in either sentence and that both The sentence structure for 2 only sentences sound similar. For Japanese, however, there are clear alludes to an agent. differences between the two sentences in their use and If a person A is about to leave a party and implication. finds that a car is parked in front of his car, A has two choices to show his frustration. Sentence 1 sounds indirect and as a result is more polite. Sentence 2 has an accusing tone and may be considered less polite even though sentence 2 does not mention an agent, but it implies that someone did it. An extreme case of omitting detailed information is the use of "this thing," "that thing" and "that thing over there." The way native Japanese use "this thing" and "that thing over there" is considered to be one of the most difficult usages for non-native Japanese speakers to 5 5 A speaker usually does not even point out an understand. item, the interlocutor conjectures what the speaker means. The higher the context of a group becomes, the more For example, a frequently these expressions are used. daughter can let her mother know what she wants just by A mother rarely fails saying, "Mother, get me that thing." to guess what her daughter wants. As Nobuko Mizutani points out, English speakers also skip parts of a sentence compelling the interlocutor to guess the rest of the sentence: "If only I could see him." 3 However, the Japanese language is even more allusive. Japanese speakers often make an interlocutor infer their true For example, if person A intention which is unstated. answers in response to person B's invitation to a party, the following expression is enough to let B know A's rejection, and it is polite enough not to offend B: "Thank you, but If B cannot recognize A's intention, A can keep (pause) ." giving his or her excuse until B finally gets the message. A does not state explicitly that he or she cannot go. Skipping shared information is also a salient feature of The following is an example of a typical Japanese writing. memo where words in parentheses are not stated in the Japanese version: Memo from Watanabe to Suzuki (I) called up Mr. Yamanaka at home last night, but (he) was not at home. (I) talked with (his) wife. (She) said that (Mr. Yamanaka) went to Tokyo on business and would not come 6 6 (I) had been thinking that the three back until the tenth. (of us) would meet on the tenth and that (I) wanted to How about the fifteenth? introduce you to Mr. Yamanaka. (I) will contact (you) as soon as he comes back. As a result of the high contextuality of language, people have to conjecture the unstated part from the context or sometimes from subtle gestures. Thus being able to attain the necessary information from minimal statements is viewed as a sign of a quick thinking person. The expressions such as "ki ga kiku considerate/tactful)" and "ki ga tsuku be scrupulous/be attentive" are respectively good comments. On the other hand, "ki ga kikanai" and "ki ga tsukanai inconsiderate / slow to analyze the circumstances" are negative labels. "Ki ga kikanai hito a person who can not analyze what is needed *promptly from a circumstance" is considered to be stupid. "Omoiyari" simply translated as "putting yourself in someone else's shoes" or "considerateness"-- demonstrates a more complex form of this conjecture intensive culture. Most Japanese are trained to anticipate the desires or behavior of those they deal with and act accordinaly. In conformity with this principle, they often conduct themselves in such a way as to meet the expectations of their colleagues. An extreme example of "omoiyari" is a case where a Japanese businessman deliberately sat in the smoking section of a jet airliner in order to smoke. Before he could light up, an American sitting in the adjoining seat asked him 7 7 if it was all right if he, the American, could smoke. As a result of this question, the Japanese businessman never smoked because he reasoned that the American thought that he didn't smoke and that he therefore should not violate the American's expectations of his behavior. Edward T. Hall points out this feature and explains: "When talking about something that they have on their minds, a high-context individual will expect his/her interlocutor to know what's bothering him/her so that he/she doesn't have to be specific. The result is that he/she will 'calk around and around the point, in effect putting all the pieces in place except the crucial one. Placing it properly--this keystone-- 4 is the role of his/her interlocutor." Therefore, Edward Hall's observation of "high context culture" is related to politeness in Japanese discourse: the more indirect a statement, the more polite it becomes. A good example is the Japanese decision making process where, for example, two people, A and B, are talking about a date for a meeting. As a response to A's question, "itsu ga gotsugou ga yoroshii deshooka?" (Which day is convenient?) there are four possible ways B can answer. "Asatte ga iidesu." (the day after tomorrow is good.) is the least desirable one because it is a statement and does not give A the chance to show his or her preference. Three other options are "asatte wa doo desuka?" (How about the day after tomorrow?), "asatte wa ikaga desuka?" (How about the day after tomorrow?) or "asatte wa ikagadeshooka?" (How about the 8 8 day after tomorrow?) The last one, "asatte wa . ikagadeshooka?" is the best in this case. "Ikaga" is the polite form of "doo", and "deshooka" is less direct than "desuka. According to scores on Edward T. Hall's and Hofstede's It- I V I g. 5 individualism in Japan scores about half that of the U.S. This fact explicitly demonstrates that Japanese society is a consensus based society. The more formal a situation becomes, the less people speak out for themselves; they avoid being a decision maker. In comparison with the Japanese style, communication style in the U.S. is more direct. As Levine argues, "the American way of life, by contrast, affords little room for the cultivation of ambiguity." This feature is reflected in expressions such as "say what you 6 mean." and "don't beat around the bush." The difference between using a direct and indirect approach is also reflected in reasoning and explaining. The Japanese have a penchant for discussing seemingly tangential matters outlining reasons for holding a certain viewpoint before actually stating what their viewpoint is. Let's suppose that representatives from an American and a Japanese company are at a negotiation table discussing their joint venture. The negotiation is taking place in the U.S. The American businessmen ask the Japanese representatives when they will be able to respond with a concrete answer on a certain subject. The Japanese representatives may begin 9 9 their answer with a detailed explanation of their schedule for their business trip, such as where their next stop will be and when they will arrive in Japan. They may also describe the organization system of their company. The lengthy explanation is the reason why the Japanese businessmen will eventually say,"We cannot give a definite date now." This circuitous route has prompted some American businessmen to interrupt their Japanese colleagues thinking they are apparently off topic. In response, the Japanese feel that Americans have no patience. The brevity of words between a Japanese boss and his secretary, however, involves more than high-contextuality in language. Two recently published books point out that Japanese managers often speak boastfully to their female subordinatesY One example is where Japanese managers simply say, "copy" when they want some documents photocopied. This attitude demonstrates not only the high contextuality of the Japanese language but also illustrates the unliberated role a woman has in Japanese business. Traditionally Japanese companies have been hiring women .a' as subordinates for male workers. Hiroshi Kitamurl, the manager of labor management for Japan Employers Association, explains, "Japanese companies have been hiring men expecting them to remain for a life time, but women are not expected to work many years--- three to six years."8 He 1 0