Unit 8-2: Non-verbal Messages
WRLD 302 - Communicating Across Cultures
This is one in a series of tutorials on intercultural communication. Click on "mobile page" at the bottom of the page for alternative views. You may create a print version by clicking on the "print all" link at the top of the page. Note that additional learning resources are linked in the sidebars.
Anticipated completion time for this tutorial (excluding reading chapter): approximately 80 minutes. Note that you can stop and come back and your score on completed items will be retained.
The objectives below can be achieved through working with the assigned readings, watching the presentations, doing the tutorial exercises, and posting to the discussion forums. Achievement of the objectives will be measured through the score achieved on the exercises (questions can be answered more than once), on the Blackboard quiz for this unit, and on the quality of contributions to the course discussion forums.
By successfully completing this unit, students should be able to...
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This video excerpt from Curb Your Enthusiasm (2011) demonstrates some aspects of non-verbal communication we will be dealing with in this unit. The main character, Larry, is returning to a Japanese restaurant where he had gotten take-out, and the food had spilled from the containers.
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First, watch the video (about 3 minutes long) below: Video not available on YouTube - see stills on the next page |
After watching the video, think about the following:
Now, turn to the next page for comments. |
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1. What difference is there in the two characters' use of language? Larry talks a lot (as the manger comments), while the manger is rather reticent. This, of course, makes sense given the context, in that Larry is the one doing the complaining, so it's understandable that he does most of the talking. Larry David as an individual is also famously talkative, which often gets him into trouble. On the other hand, the two demonstrate different communication styles. Larry is not shy in talking about his personal life (he's competing with a Lesbian for the favor of a bisexual), which, it's clear, makes the Japanese manager rather uncomfortable. One of the differences in language use among cultures is in the typical amount of speech as well as in the topics that are considered to be appropriate in everyday conversations. As a high-context culture, the Japanese tend to use words as only part of the message conveyed. Other factors, such as silence, subtle body language, and tone play important roles in the communication style. 2. How about differences in gestures and facial expressions?
3. How does the manager apologize? What's Larry's reaction?
4. What does the importance of bowing say about Japanese culture? Japan has a largely homogeneous population with a wide cultural consensus on acceptable and expected social behavior. While Japanese society has embraced many aspects of contemporary industrialist cultures, especially in the area of technology, many aspects of life in Japan adhere to age-old traditions. Bowing has been a way to show respect in Asian cultures for a long time. In the highly regulated and conformist Japanese culture there are many rituals attached to events such as greeting, eating, bathing, or visiting someone's house. For visitors to Japan, being aware of such conventions is important in order to avoid embarrassing social blunders. Bowing is not just an everyday personal ritual for expressing respect in Japan, it is also expected that corporations or politicians who go astray bow deeply in a public display of remorse. The president of Toyota was critiqued severely when in his apology for safety defects he gave only a slight, brief bow. This contrasts with the deep bow of Sony executives when apologizing for the theft of personal data from users' game stations. 5. How do you suppose the episode ends after Larry learns he's gotten a "shit bow"? Larry later returns to the restaurant to pick up a take-out order (this time with the containers well secured) and confronts the manager about the shallow bow. The manager assures him that in Japan "a bow is a bow", but nevertheless he gives Larry a deep bow, while then suggesting that Larry try out some of the other restaurants in the area. Clearly, he is hoping that Larry does not return; in contrast to Larry's cultural and personal communication style, the manager prefers to avoid conflict and confrontation. View the clip. |
Cultures differ in the way in which physical actions accompany everyday events such as greetings, welcomes, thanking, or apologies. In many of these contexts in Japan, bows are used, whereas in American culture bowing is restricted to performers on stage or martial arts enthusiasts. Gestures that accompany greetings vary considerably from culture to culture. In the US a firm handshake is expected; in other cultures a handshake may be just a touch of the hands (in some parts of Kenya) or may be accompanied by touching one's forearm (in Mali). In some cultures, one continues holding hands as a sign of trust or friendship. When former President Bush strolled with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah holding hands, this was considered normal behavior in the Arab world, but raised eyebrows in the USA. Practices involving touching and personal space can vary considerably across cultures. In the Middle East, male to male touching is common and standing close in conversation is expected, so close one can smell the other person's breathe (considered a good thing). On the other hand, touching members of the opposite sex in public or, in some cases, even being seen together in public, is taboo.
NOTE: You should have read pp. 278-288 in the textbook before watching the presentation.
=> YouTube version
Q1: Regulators
Q2: Affects displays
Q3: Adaptors
Q4: Silence as paralanguage
NOTE: You should have read pp. 288-305 in the textbook before watching the presentation.
=> View YouTube version
Q5: Low to moderate contact cultures
Q6: Haptics
Q7: Dress/appearance in non-verbal communication
For preparing for the on-line quizzes on this material, the publisher Web site can be helpful. It includes Flashcards that cover the key terms listed below. There is also a Web quiz in multiple choice format that would be good practice for our on-line quiz. If you take the practice quiz from the publisher, you don't need to send the results to me (you can email them to yourself instead)
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Larry is very expressive, both in speech and body languages, making gestures to accompany almost everything he says. He sometimes moves his whole body in conjunction with what he is saying. The manager uses some gestures, but far fewer. He also uses fewer different facial expressions, mostly just raising his eyebrows in response. At the end of the conversation, the manager is somewhat exasperated, and he shows it in subtle changes in his facial expressions, with his eyes opening wider and his voice raised somewhat. Although facial expressions ("affects displays") tend to be very similar across cultures, cultures differ in the extent to which people try to control the expression of emotions. In Japan, as a collectivistic culture, there is a strong tendency to maintain harmony and to avoid overt conflict (the kind of thing Larry David loves), hence Japanese sometimes smile in the face of unpleasant or even distressing situations.
The manager bows while apologizing. Larry is impressed. From an American perspective, the bow adds value, and maybe sincerity, to the apology. It's not something one would normally see in American society, where there is no convention for adding a gesture to an apology. Important is that one look sincere, and maybe, in particular contexts (evangelist preachers going astray) that one cry. Larry is not familiar enough with Japanese culture to know about differences in bows. Bows in fact do vary considerably, depending on the context and on the degree of respect one wants to convey. It can be tricky for Americans to judge how deeply to bow. There was criticism of President Obama when he bowed to the Japanese empereur, that his deep bow was too subservient.