Transcript Verbal and Nonverbal Communication of Americans

Theories of Culture &
Communication
John R. Baldwin, Ph.D.
The Notion of Cultural Difference
Co-Cultural Theory (Orbe)
• Coculture: For Orbe, a “subordinate” or
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“marginalized” culture within
a dominant culture.
So—women are a co-cultural in male society;
Blacks are co-culture; Whites are not.
• The main point of this theory is: People in
marginalized groups, when speaking with
dominant cultural members, must make choices
on how to communicate. The theory attempts to
explain what the person takes into consideration
in this communication.
Background to CCT
• Standpoint (feminist) theory
– Standpoint: Each group has partial knowledge and a
distinct view of the world. This viewpoint is based on
distinct social positions.
– Some partial knowledges are more complete than
others: Subordinate group knows dominant more than
dominant knows subordinate (why?)
– It is important to learn perspectives of subordinate
groups (why?)
Six Universal Influences
Orbe suggests that a person considers six things that he calls
“influences” when communicating with a dominant cultural member.
Mostly for our exam, you just need to know the main idea and give
some examples if you give a “brief explanation” of the theory?
1. Field of Experience– “What past interactions
have I had with dominant group members
that will influence my current behavior?”
2. Abilities– “What are my physical and
psychological limitations in communicating
with the dominant culture?”
Continued…
Six Universal Influences
Orbe suggests that a person considers six things that he calls
“influences” when communicating with a dominant cultural member.
Mostly for our exam, you just need to know the main idea and give
some examples if you give a “brief explanation” of the theory?
1. Preferred Outcomes—“What communication
behavior will lead to the effect that I desire?”
Specifically, what is my identity goal. Do I
want to “assimilate” to dominant culture,
“separate” from dominant culture, or
“accommodate”—work with dominant
culture, while still respecting and valuing my
own?
Continued…
2. Field of Experience– “What past
interactions have I had with dominant group
members that will influence my current
behavior?”
3. Abilities– “What are my physical and
psychological limitations in communicating
with the dominant culture?”
4. Situational Context– “In what situation am I
communicating with the dominant culture?”
5. Perceived Costs and Rewards— “What do I
stand to gain and lose from an interaction with a
member of the dominant culture?”
6. Communication Approach– “Which of the three
approaches will I employ to achieve my
preferred outcome?” Passive, Assertive,
Aggressive
Orbe’s Co-Cultural Communication Orientations, p. 110
Separation
Accommodation
Assimilation
Avoiding
Increasing
Emphasizing
Maintaining
Dispelling
interpersonal
barriers
stereotypes
commonalities
Averting
controversy
Assertive
Intragroup
Using
liaisons
Educating others
Extensive
Aggressive
Attacking
Confronting
Mirroring
Sabotaging
Gaining
Strategic
Nonassertive
networking
Exemplifying
strengths
visibility
advantage
preparation
Overcompensating
Distancing
What is CAT
• Definition: Communication Accommodation
Theory states that when a person is in a
communicative situation with another person,
the speaker (using both verbal and non-verbal
communication strategies) can either come
closer to the listener’s communication level, or
they can move further away from the
communication level of the listener. This theory
also attempts to discover why speakers move
closer or further away in their communicative acts
with their listeners.
Luster
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Main communication approaches
• Convergence is when a speaker moves closer to
the communication level of the listener.
• Divergence: A speaker moves away from the
listener’s level of communication.
• Maintenance: A speaker does not change
comm style.
Luster
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How do we converge or diverge?
• Channels– Verbal:
• Topic, terms of address, word choice, grammar
– Paralinguistic
• Tone of voice, volume, rate, intonation
– Nonverbal
• Direction- we can move towards, away from
• Mutuality- one or both people can change
Luster
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Why do we converge and
diverge?
• Goals: To stand apart, to mark your status (diverge), to be
understood, to get a better tip (converge), etc.
• Abilities
• Social structure: which group is bigger, who else is there, what is the
social status of the individuals? Is one language dialect
“privileged”?
• Rules of the situation: In many cases, it is not appropriate to
converge
Luster
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Outcomes
• What speakers take away after an intercultural communication
episode takes place.
• Can be Good or Bad.
– If overaccommodation (either too much accommodation, or
accomodation based on stereotypes) will be bad!
– Ex: hyperexplanation—when one group (often Whites) simplifies
language and word choice or engages in repetition to “overexplain” to
another group (often Blacks)—cited as a major problem in interracial
communication!
– Ex: secondary baby talk —using upward tone, simple words, “we” form
when speaking with elderly people, as if we were speaking to small
children.
– Ex: speaking more loudly to foreigners, as if that would help them
understand.
– The key: How does the other person perceive your accommodation to
be intended? If she or he perceives good motives, the result will likely
be positive; if bad or stereotypical motives, result will likely be bad!
– Nonconvergence (maintenance or divergence) almost always result in
more negative intergroup perceptions.
Luster
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Ethnography of Communication
• Main description: Ethnography (of
communication) is an approach to
studying communication behavior
that contains an element of
observation.
• The researcher observes a culture for a
long time (can ask questions, interact,
etc.—may or may not use discourse ar
conversation analysis!). The researcher
often writes up results in one of two
forms:
Ethnography of Communication
• Scripts: Goddard & Wierzbicka talk
about “scripts” or descriptions that
summarize periods of observation.
• For example: When a stranger stands
next to you at the urinal and starts
talking to you….you X….because if you
do/don’t, then Y….
• The “script” in this case, is the
summary statement of behavior.
Ethnography of Communication
• Other researchers observe using the
SPEAKING lens or framework to uncover
behavior:
– Scene
– Participants
– Ends (purposes)
– Act sequence (order of events)
– Key (tone, feeling)
– Instrumentalities (HOW: channel, dialect, etc.)
– Norms (rules guiding the behavior)
– Genre (type of behavior in question)