COMMUNICATION IN AUSTRALIAN CULTURE

QUESTION

The readings for this assignment are: 
Wierzbicka , A. (1991) Cross-cultural pragmatics. The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter. Ch 2: “Different
cultures, different languages, different speech acts”
Hickey, L. (2005) Politeness in Spain: Thanks but no “thanks”. In L. Hickey and M. Stewart.
Politeness in Europe. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters
Béal, C. (1992) Did you have a good weekend: Or why there is no such thing as a simple question
in cross-cultural encounters. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 15(1), 23-52.
The texts are available in your reading book and on-line through the course home page or the
library website.
Task:
This assignment examines several accounts of a language issue and requires both analysis of the
accounts and synthesis of the material from these accounts to construct a new perspective on that
issue. Using these readings only answer the following question in a brief essay format:

Speaking a language not only involves knowing the words and grammar of the language
but also involves knowing the cultural practices involved in using words and grammar for
communication.

In addition to the readings set, you should draw on concepts and ideas that we have discussed in
the lectures, but you are not required to do any further reading. The focus of the assessment is on
your ability to draw on the readings to address an issue. This involves both selecting relevant
information and understanding how information from different sources fits together. Your answer
should not simply be a summary of each paper. In some cases, you may find that the readings
may disagree and if this is the case, you need to consider how to deal with this disagreement.

To construct the answer to this task you need to include the following:
 a brief introduction which sets out the issue that you are addressing.
 an argument in response to the topic based on the information in the articles. (Note you can
agree or disagree with the topic, as long as you can use the material in the article to
support your claim.)
 a brief conclusion which sums up the argument that you have made.
Assessment Criteria
The response should show that you:
 understand the content of the articles
 that you can select material relevant for your purposes from someone else’s writing
 that you have developed a perspective on the issues covered in the article that you can
incorporate into your own writing;
 that you can adapt research papers to your own writing;
 that you can synthesize information from a range of sources to answer a question concisely
and accurately

The feedback forms for this assessment are located at:
http://learn.unisa.edu.au/file.php?file=/fbf/100904/Feedback-Analytic2_INT.pdf

SOLUTION

Learning a language which is generous, broach, vehemently, peculiar and constantly evolving comprehend the rich subtlety of communication (Shohamy, 2007:5). The scope of language is not limited to alphabets, words, grammar or punctuation. It is the manner in which one perceives the world, the way one look at the world and the way they talk about the world. Every language and every user of a particular language describes the world in their own unique style. For a purposeful communication understanding of proper language is quite essential. Apart from proper understanding of words, grammar and pronunciations, understanding of culture of a person with whom one is communicating is also important. This belief makes language a social practise in which an individual participate rather than just a body of knowledge which an individual learn or study (Kramsch, 1994). Language is an integral part of one’s life. It is the source of expressing their feelings, organising and portraying the meanings of what others have said and building and asserting their personal as well as societal relationships. Knowledge of grammar and vocabulary is not enough for the learners of language as language serves the purpose of deriving meanings and determining facts. Gaining knowledge of style of communication of people from different culture and how to get engaged in communication with them is equally essential. This demands the evolution of consciousness of the ethos of language and its importance on the world (Svalberg, 2007).

Learning takes place both at intrapersonal as well as interpersonal levels. In addition to providing a person a source of communication it also help in shaping a person. It is the language of an individual which helps in determining his origin and his identity.

Anna Wierzbicka (1985) in her article ‘Different cultures, different languages, different speech acts: English vs. Polish’ presented an idea concerning the cultural and pragmatic differences between various languages, mainly focusing on the differences between English and Polish. According to her, the cultures represented by English and Polish are entirely different. In addition, she also claimed that, different speech acts and different realization of those speech acts is demonstrated by these two different languages. She believed that speech act theory is based on Anglo-centric approach and does not take into account many other facts which are presented by other speech act theories apart from English. According to Wierzbicka, the respect for the individual’s rights and magnanimity towards multiplicity, peculiarity and divergence due to various human standards are two bases for the Anglo-Saxon culture and English language. In Anglo-Saxon culture, the consignee is given the option to take decision related to activities and opinions. Any kind of authority in activities and opinions are not preferred in this culture. Where as in polish culture, the user of the Polish language takes the responsibility of taking decisions and responsibilities related to events that will take place in future. However this is not the case alone with Polish, rather many other European languages, like, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish etc are different from English.

While discussing Spanish language Leo Hickey (2004) in his book ‘Politeness in Europe’ has stated that there not even a single word in Spanish which is harmonic to politeness. English words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ which generally dominate politeness are very rare in Spain. Spaniards do not favour leaving others in peace and quiet. They find it very rude. Neither they like themselves to be felt left out nor they prefer to do the same with others. Though they commend people who use words like ‘please’, ‘thanks’, ‘sorry’ and ‘excuse me’ but when it comes to using these words on their own, the ‘please’ or ‘por favor’ becomes a very formal gesture for them. Spanish language comprises of short and sharp sentences which may convey an action or information. Spaniards believe in putting forward their opinion potentially with dynamism, obsession and affirmative belief. Spaniards have great endurance rather they can be termed insensitive towards any kind of encroachment in their private life. If they push someone unintentionally in public place or interrupt someone in between then they might not say a sorry. Same way, small favours like a glass of water or in case someone tell them the right path is generally not followed by a ‘thank you’ but a pleasant facial expression.

Beal (1992) has explained an interaction between colleagues from two different cultures. One is an Anglo-Australian and other one is French. Béal noted that in French culture, emotions play an important role where as the expression of anger, in particular, is much more socially acceptable than in the Australian culture and can be a source of conflict. Béal further discusses the fact that having opinions about almost everything is an integral part of French culture and telling everyone what they think about an issue or about anything is a form of showing respect. On the other hand Australian try to be nice with everyone and it is one their most important fundamental value of their culture. They try to make every possible effort to uphold a feeling of easiness and social understanding. Thus it is always preferred to maintain an intervening space over any kind of face-off in order to keep off the possible dispute. These two different cultural values create differences between French and an Australian when they communicate with each other. Even simple questions contain a variety of assumptions ranging from whom it is suitable to ask to the kind of answer or the amount of detail that is expected.

There is always a risk of becoming fluent fool if a person learns a language but does not lear a culture (J. Bennett, M. Bennett, & Allen, 2003, p. 237). Languages unfold cultures, and cultures unfold languages. In other words, linguistic knowledge and cultural practices both are substantial element of social networks in the world. They differ from country to country, culture to culture and region to region, but ultimately both go hand in hand.

References

Wierzbicka , A. (1991) Cross-cultural pragmatics. The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter. Ch 2: “Different cultures, different languages, different speech acts”

Hickey, L. (2005) Politeness in Spain: Thanks but no “thanks”. In L. Hickey and M. Stewart. Politeness in Europe. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters

Béal, C. (1992) Did you have a good weekend: Or why there is no such thing as a simple question in cross-cultural encounters. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 15(1), 23-52.

Risager, K. (2006). Language and Culture. Derby, UK: Cromwell.

LF62

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