Cultures influence communication styles. Although this point may seem obvious, cultural styles can and do create misunderstandings in conversations among people from different cultures.

For example, consider the following conversation between an Italian and an American. The Italian made a strong political statement with which he knew his American friend would disagree. The Italian wanted to involve the American in a lively discussion. The American, rather than openly disagreeing, said, “Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I accept that your opinion is different than mine. "The Italian responded, "That's all you have to say about it? " In general, the American did not enjoy verbal conflicts over politics or anything else. The Italian actually became angry when the American refused to get involved in the discussion. He later explained to the American, "A conversation isn't fun unless it becomes heated!"

What does this example say about culture and its influence on communication? This example says that the above conversation represents types of communication patterns that are related to cultural differences.

In the book You Just Don't Understand, the sociolinguistic Deborah Tannin discusses the notion that people from some cultures value "high involvement" patterns, while others value "high considerateness" patterns. Many people from cultures that prefer "high involvement" styles tend to:

Talk more
Interrupt more
Expect to be interrupted
Talk more loudly at times and
Talk more quickly

Than those from cultures favoring "high considerateness" styles. Many "high involvement" speakers enjoy arguments and might even think that others are not interested if they are not ready to engage in a heated discussion.

On the other hand, people from cultures that favor "high considerateness" styles tend to:

Speak one at a time
Use polite listening sounds
Refrain from interrupting and
Give plenty of positive and respectful responses to their conversation partners

The cultures that Deborah Tannin characterizes as having "high involvement" conversational styles include Russian, Italian, Greek, Spanish, South American, Arab, and African. In general, the various communication styles in Asian cultures (e.g. Chinese and Japanese) would be characterized as "high considerateness". Mainstream American conversation style would also be characterized as "high considerateness", although it differs significantly from the various Asian patterns. There are important regional and ethnic differences in conversation styles within the United States of America.

Incorrect Judgments of Character

Americans can have problems when talking to each other because of differences. For example, New Yorkers tend to talk faster and respond more quickly than Californians. To some New Yorkers, Californians seem slower, less intelligent, and not as responsive. To some Californians, New Yorkers seem pushy and domineering. The judgments that people make about regional differences within the country are similar to those they make about people from another culture. The reactions to such differences are not usually expressed in the following reasonable fashion:"The way she speaks is different from my way of speaking. She must have had a different cultural upbringing. I will not judge her according to my standards of what is an acceptable communication style."

Instead, people tend to make judgments such as, "She is loud, pushy, and domineering", or "He doesn't seem interested in talking. He's very passive and uninvolved." The people interacting are forgetting that their respective cultural styles are responsible, in part, for their mannerisms and habits of communication. The important differences in communication create problems of stereotyping and incorrect judgments among members of diverse groups.

Directness and Indirectness

Cultures beliefs differ as to whether directness or indirectness is considered positive. In the mainstream American culture, the ideal form of communication includes being direct rather than indirect. There are several expressions in English that emphasize the importance of being direct: "Get to the point! Don't beat around the bush! Let's get down to business!" These sayings all indicate the importance of dealing directly with issues rather than avoiding them. One way to determine whether a culture favors a direct or indirect style in communication is to find out how the people in that culture express disagreement or how they say, "No". In Japan, there are at least 15 ways of saying, "No", without actually saying the word. Similarly, in Japan, it would be considered rude to say directly, "I disagree with you", or "You're wrong."

Many Americans believe that "honesty is the best policy", and their communication style reflects this. Honesty and directness in communication are strongly related. It is not a surprise, then, to find out that cultural groups misjudge each other based on different beliefs about directness and honesty in communication. Americans can judge members of cultural groups that value indirectness. However, many Americans in the business world do not realize that a large percentage of the worlds cultures value indirectness and consider it rude to insist on "getting to the point".

When Americans go to work in countries where indirectness is valued (e.g., in Latin America or Asia), they may need to modify their communication style. In such countries, Americans should not be too direct when giving criticism, making requests, and expressing needs and opinions.

American Male-Female Differences in Directness

It is impossible to say that everyone in one culture communicates similarly. Older people often communicate according to more traditional norms than younger people, and, as mentioned there are regional variations in the way people speak and carry on conversations. In addition, there are gender differences in communication styles.

To generalize (and I do not want to stereotype), American women have traditionally been less direct (i.e., more polite and "soft") than men in making requests, expressing criticism, and offering opinions. However, when talking about emotional issues and feelings, women tend to be more direct than men.

Conversational Structure

Let's look at another example of how people's communication patterns differ: the way people converse. Some foreigners have observed that when Americans hold a conversation, it seems like they are having a Ping-Pong game. One person has the ball and then hits it to the other side of the table. The other player hits the ball back and the game continues. If one person doesn't return the ball, then the conversation stops. Each part of the conversation follows this pattern: the greeting and the opening, the discussion of a topic, and the closing and farewell. If either person talks too much, the other may become impatient and feel that the other is monopolizing the conversation. Similarly, if one person doesn't say enough or ask enough questions to keep the conversation moving, the conversation stops.

And in conclusion, I want to say that there are important regional and ethnic differences in conversational styles of various cultures. And if you want to understand the way people speak and have no misunder-standings, you should know peculiarities of conversational styles.

Literature

The article "Verbal communication: the way people speak"
The magazine "Speak Up"