THEORIES OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Renáta Panocová ACTA FACULTATIS PHILOSOPHICAE UNIVERSITATIS ŠAFARIKIANAE 138 2020 __________________________________________ Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika v Košiciach Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Theories of Intercultural Communication Renáta Panocová Košice 2020 ACTA FACULTATIS PHILOSOPHICAE UNIVERSITATIS ŠAFARIKIANAE 138 2020 __________________________________________ Theories of Intercultural Communication Vysokoškolská učebnica Autorka: doc. Mgr. Renáta Panocová, PhD., FF UPJŠ v Košiciach Recenzenti: Prof. Dr. Janet-Ann DeCesaris Ward, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona Doc. Mgr. Renáta Gregová, PhD., FF UPJŠ v Košiciach © Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika v Košiciach, Filozofická fakulta 2020 Všetky práva vyhradené. Toto dielo ani žiadnu jeho časť nemožno reprodukovať, ukladať do informačných systémov alebo inak reprodukovať bez súhlasu majiteľov práv. Za odbornú a jazykovú stránku učebnice zodpovedá autorka. 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Umiestnenie: www.unibook.upjs.sk Dostupné od: 26.03.2020 ISBN 978-80-8152-844-6 (e-publikácia) TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures ..................................................................... v Preface ............................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1 ....................................................................... 8 DEFINING COMMUNICATION, CULTURE, AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ....................... 8 1.1 Communication and language ...................................... 9 1.2 How to define culture? ............................................... 17 1.3 How to define intercultural communication? ............. 18 Exercises ........................................................................... 22 Further reading ................................................................. 22 CHAPTER 2 ..................................................................... 23 HOFSTEDE’S MODEL OF CULTURAL DIMENSIONS .......................................................................................... 23 2.1 How to define culture? ............................................... 24 2.2 What characterizes culture? ........................................ 26 2.3 Research basis for Hofstede’s cultural dimensions .... 28 2.4 Power distance ............................................................ 29 2.5 Uncertainty avoidance ................................................ 31 2.6 Individualism versus collectivism .............................. 33 2.7 Masculinity versus femininity .................................... 34 2.8 Long-term versus short-term orientation .................... 36 2.9 Indulgence versus restraint ......................................... 37 Exercises ........................................................................... 39 Further reading ................................................................. 40 i CHAPTER 3 ..................................................................... 41 FACE NEGOTIATION THEORY .................................. 41 3.1 What is a face and what is facework? ......................... 42 3.2 Facework strategies .................................................... 44 3.3 Conflict styles ............................................................. 46 3.4 Three approaches to conflict styles............................. 50 3.5 Intercultural facework competence ............................. 51 Exercises ........................................................................... 53 Further reading ................................................................. 54 CHAPTER 4 ..................................................................... 55 COMMUNICATION ACCOMMODATION THEORY . 55 4. 1 What is accommodation in CAT?.............................. 56 4.2 Accommodating through convergence ....................... 58 4.3 Accommodating through divergence .......................... 60 4.4 Conceptualizing communication in CAT ................... 61 Exercises ........................................................................... 64 Further reading ................................................................. 65 CHAPTER 5 ..................................................................... 67 ANXIETY/UNCERTAINTY MANAGEMENT THEORY .......................................................................................... 67 5. 1 Who is a stranger? What is the difference between uncertainty and anxiety? ................................................... 69 5.2 What makes communication effective? ...................... 70 5.3 The AUM’s axioms .................................................... 75 5.4 The AUM theory and Hofstede’s dimensions ............ 78 Exercises ........................................................................... 81 ii Further reading ................................................................. 81 CHAPTER 6 ..................................................................... 83 THE INTEGRATIVE COMMUNICATION THEORY OF CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION ............................ 83 6.1 The complexity of cross-cultural adaptation .............. 84 6.2 Key factors in the adaptation process ......................... 87 6.3 The concept of culture shock ...................................... 93 Exercises ........................................................................... 96 Further reading ................................................................. 96 CHAPTER 7 ..................................................................... 98 THE SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS ............................. 98 7.1 The hypothesis .......................................................... 101 7.2 Colour coding ........................................................... 102 7.3 Grammatical gender ................................................. 103 7.4 Object categorization ................................................ 104 7.5 Current evaluation of the hypothesis ........................ 106 Exercises ......................................................................... 108 Further reading ............................................................... 108 CHAPTER 8 ................................................................... 110 PROGRESS AND OUTLOOK OF THE STUDY OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ................... 110 8.1 The development of the field .................................... 111 8.2 Further research ........................................................ 118 Exercises ......................................................................... 121 Further reading ............................................................... 121 References ...................................................................... 122 iii Index ............................................................................... 140 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Jakobson’s model of verbal communication. Figure 1.2 Jakobson’s schematic representation of six functions of language. Figure 2.1 Three levels of uniqueness of mental programming. Figure 3.1 Eight types of conflict styles. Figure 5.1 The model of the AUM theory. Figure 6.1 Relationship among terms linked with cross- cultural adaptation. Figure 6.2 The structural model of cross-cultural adaptation. v PREFACE The purpose of this textbook is to introduce students to key theories, concepts, terms and topics in the study of intercultural communication. It is designed for Master level students of translation studies and interpreting and PhD level students of British and American Studies and other philology studies. It is generally accepted that the task of translators and interpreters is not only about finding equivalent words in the target language. The process is much more complex and a proficient knowledge of language including idiomatic expressions, proverbs, proper names, etc. is not the sole requirement for a successful output. Still, there are always challenging concepts which remain untranslatable and may cause misunderstanding or lack of comprehension. This is the main reason why it is essential to acquire knowledge about other cultures, their history and heritage. Translation and interpreting of ideas expressed in one language by a particular social group into appropriate expressions for another group necessarily requires cultural decoding, recoding and encoding. Currently, in this age of globalization, cultures come into increasingly closer contact, which makes intercultural considerations even more important. This textbook is organized in eight chapters. Chapter 1 contextualizes the field of intercultural communication and provides students with different perspectives of key terms and concepts. Chapters 2–7 present a selection of current theories. Chapter 2 presents in detail the model of cultural dimensions proposed by Geert Hofstede. The theory developed by Stella Ting-Toomey, which is an example of a theory focusing on identity management or negotiation is vi presented in Chapter 3. Theories focusing on accommodation or adaptation represent another direction in the study of intercultural communication and the theory proposed by Howard Giles, described in Chapter 4, illustrates this. One of the central aims of theorizing intercultural communication is to explain effective communication and effective group decision. A good example of this kind of theories is the anxiety/uncertainty management theory developed by William B. Gudykunst and discussed in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 concentrates on acculturation or adjustment and the theory developed by Young Yun Kim. The aim of Chapter 7 is to consider the relationship between thought and language from the perspective of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. Finally, Chapter 8 gives a historical account of the connections between theories of intercultural communication and outlines directions and key questions to be addressed in future research. My personal goal in this textbook has been to bring students to the point where they are prepared to confront theoretical issues in intercultural communication and start to think about the theory independently. I would like to thank the students of my class in Intercultural communication who gave feedback to an earlier version of this textbook. Renáta Panocová vii