CHAPTER V I.docx

CHAPTER V I.docx

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CHAPTERVI

CHAPTERVI

CulturalAspectsforEffectiveBusinessTESOL

InstructionalObjectives:

-Describetheimpactofculturalfactorsonlanguageandotherformsofsocialbehavior.

-Explaintheimportanceofculturalfactorstoeffectivecommunication

-Discusssomeculturalfactorsrelatedtobusinesscommunication

-ListanddescribesomeelementsoftheUnitedStatesbusinessculture.

-DefineOrganizationalCultureanddescribeitssignificancetobusinesscommunications.

TheRoleofInterculturalCommunicationsinBusiness

Interculturalorcross-culturalcommunicationisinterdisciplinaryfieldsofresearchthatstudieshowpeopleunderstandeachotheracrossgroupboundariesofvarioussorts;national,geographical,ethnic,occupationalclassorgender（Kramsch,2001.TheCambridgeGuidetoTeachingEnglishtoSpeakersofOtherLanguages）

Theexpansionofmultinationalorganizationsintodiversegeographicalregionsandcountrieshasresultedinincreasedinternationaltrade.Consequently,employmentofpeoplewithdifferentmothertongueandculturalbehaviors,growingnumbersofbusinesstravelersandtourists,increasedinterestinforeignlanguagesaswellasinterculturalaspectshavealsobeenstimulated.Inrecenttimes,withsignificantdevelopmentsinglobalization,asingleworldculturehasbeingintroduced[based]onconsumerism,massmedia,Americana,andtheEnglishlanguage.（Scholte,2000）

However,TESOLteachersmustpayattentiontoculturaldifferences.

▪Americansneedtobeawareoftheirownculturalpracticesinordertofacilitatetherestoftheworldunderstandingofthesecustoms.TheunderstandingoftheseAmericanwayswillhelppeoplefromotherculturelearnsomeexpressionsandphrasesofAmericanEnglishinthebusinesscontext.

▪Ontheotherhand,TESOLteachersalsoneedtounderstandotherculturessincenon-familiaritywiththebusinesspractices,socialcustoms,andetiquetteofacountrycanrepresentsignificantdisadvantageforanyorganizationor[individual]incompetitivemarkets.（USDepartmentofCommerce,2008）.

SinceBusinessTESOLteachersarereallytrainersofindividualsthatareworkingoroftenplanningtodosoinmultinationalorganizationsthisaspectofteachers,trainingisvitaltotheirfuturesuccess.

▪Businessteachersmustrecognizethatculturecontrolsbehaviorsindeepandpersistingways.Indeed,practicemayleadindividualtoperfectlyperformactionsevenwithoutawareness.Andtheseactionsmaybecomedeeplyentrenchedwithconsequencesforindividualsandsocieties.

Corruption,inbusinessforexample,canbetheresultofculturalpracticeswithalonghistoryinsomepartsoftheworld.Multinationalcompaniesarediscoveringthattheymustcarefullyinvestigateandunderstandtheculturewheretheyintendtodobusinessandmodifytheirapproachesappropriately. （Hodgetts&Luthans,2003）.Learningtoadapttodifferentculturalrequirementshasbecomepartofglobalization,andanimportanttooltobesuccessfulinanincreasinglycompetitivebusinessworld.

Differentpeoplehavedifferentlanguagesanddifferentvalues,beliefs,patternsofbehavior,skills,habits,andthelike–thatis,differentcultures.Theculturetraitsofonepeoplearenotnecessarilyrightorwrong,noraretheybetterorworsethanthoseofothers;theyaresimplydifferent.（Smith,1988）.Eventhedefinitionoftheworldcultureinaspecificlanguagemayhavedifferentmeaning.Thismakesitimportanttodistinguishdifferentmeaningsoftheworldcultureforpracticalandfunctionalreasonsrelatedtothebusinessworld.

∙Onedefinitionofculturerelatestotheartisticheritageinareassuchasthemusic,literature,art,religion,sportsandotheraspectsthatshowthecreativityandcapacityforexpressingtheemotionsandentertainmentofagroupofpeopleoftenfromthesamegeographicareaortheirdescendants.

∙Culturecanalsobeunderstoodanotherway.Thatis,whenitisviewedasmodelofpeople’sbehaviorindailyinteractionwithoneanotherandovertime.Forsuccessfulcommunicationthisviewofculturebecomesindispensable.（Noble&Lacasa,1991）

∙Thewordcultureisalsousedtodescribethebehaviorsthataretypicalofdifferentgroupsandtheircorrespondingstatusinsociety.Thisoftenisaccompaniedwithreferencestointellectualandeconomicachievements.

Manyformsofmarketingcampaigns,includingthelanguageusedandtimingoftheactivities（promotions,advertisements,publicityetc）areguidedbytheseculturalelements.Still,inthebusinessenvironment,leadersmayalsoestablishcorporatepoliciesandrequiredbehaviorsthatformtheacceptedorganizationalculture.

A.TheRelationshipsBetweenCultureandLanguage

Languagemakesuppartofeachculture.Yet,effortstounderstandaculturemightevenbemoreimportantthanlearningalanguageifthepurposeistodobusiness;inmanypartsoftheworldgettingalongwiththecustomsandunderstandingthelocalbehaviorstakesprecedenceovertheabilitytospeakinthelanguage.

Therefore,itisalsoimportantforteachersandstudentstolearnthestructureoftheEnglishlanguageanditsrelationtoothercultures.Thisprocessprovidesknowledgeandpowerinaworldthatisbecomingincreasinglycloserthroughmoderntechnologicalcommunicationsystemsandconventionalformsofnonverbalandverbalcommunication.

Languageisthepowerfulchannelthroughwhichcommunicationtakesplace.Language,then,makeitpossibleforthingstohappen.Thewaylanguageisusedtomakethingshappen,however,arereachedthroughagreementsforachievingunderstanding.Wemustfirstagreeontherulesofthegamebeforestartplayingsothateveryonecanunderstandwhatisgoingon.Thatis,everygamehasitsownrulesandeverylanguagealsohaveitownrulessothatuserscanenjoyitasasocialactivity.

B.OrganizationalCulture

Organizationalculturerepresentsuniquewaysofthinkingandactingthatagroupdevelopsandmaintainsascorevaluesrelatedtoproblemsofexternaladaptationandinternalintegration.Itbecomesacodeofconductwithstandardsofbehaviorinareassuchaslanguageterminology,cooperationbetweenmanagementandemployees;productivity,productandservicesquality,customerrelationsandotheroperationalguidelinesthatensureacommoncultureintheorganization.

Nevertheless,thesociety’sculture,thatremainssosetinthemindsofmanyindividualsmaycontinuetohavesignificantimpactontheirorganizationalperformance.Organizationandpropertrainingconstitutescriticalelementsthatcanhelpencourageindividualstogetafeelforthedesiredorganizationalculture.（Hodgetts&Lutherans,2003）.Sinceculturalaspectsaresosignificantinsideandoutsideorganizations,itseemsnecessarytoobservesomehelpfulguidelinesonthetopic.

Thefollowingaresomeselectedactionsfrom（LaubachLiteracyAction,1996）whichhasdevelopedalonglistofrecommendationstohelpdevelopculturalawarenessaroundtheworldandbringpeopleofdifferentcultureincloserrelationships:

✓Learnasmuchaboutthelearner’scultureasyouteachaboutyourown.

✓Examinesimilaritiesbetweentheculturesaswellasdifferences.

✓Exploreculturalmeaningsfoundinwords,phrases,andgestures.

✓Strivetoacceptotherbehaviorasdifferent,ratherthanrightorwrong.

Infact,amongthe importantculturalelementsthatlearnersneedtoconsiderarethefunctionsofnon-verbalcommunicationsandthemeaningoftheseformsofcommunicationineachculture.

C.NonverbalCommunicationsasCulturalElementsRelatedtoBusiness

Tellthelearnersthat:

∙Informationistransmittedthroughdifferentformsofcommunication.

∙Communicationcanbenonverbaland/orverbal.

∙Communicationcanhappeninabusinesscontextoroutsideofit.

∙Nonverbalcommunicationdoesnotrequirewordstoexpressmeaning.

∙Non-verbalcommunicationalsorequirescodeinterpretingcomingfromculturalconventionsorassimilationtothem.

∙Non-verbalcommunicationisspontaneousanddeeplyauthenticinmeaning.

ThenonlinguisticfeaturesoftheEnglishlanguageareveryimportantinthecommunicativeprocess.Whenspeakersprojecttheirnonverbalcuescorrectlyandthereceivershaveinterpretedthemcorrectly,understandingisfacilitated.Themajorreasonforstudyingnonverbalcommunicationcontinuestobetheculturaldifferencesthatgiverisetodifferentwaysandcodesforinterpretingtheactions.Interestinglyenough,foreffectivecommunication,oftheEnglishlanguagecanbeaccompaniedwiththeappropriatenonverbalcuesofaforeigncultureorthoseofuniversalmeaninginordertofacilitateunderstanding.Thereverseisalsovalid.Thatis,Englishlanguagespeakerscanlearnaforeignverballanguagewiththehelpofuniversallyclearnonverbalcluesorthoselearnedfromanyforeignculture.Theimportantpointtokeepinmindisthatnonverbalcommunicationmustbeusedincorrespondencewiththeirmeaningsineachcultureinordertoprofitfromtheuseofthistypeofcommunication.

Unfortunately, veryfewnonverbalcueshavethesameuniversalmeaning.Forthenonverbalcommunicationtobeeffectivespeakersandlistenersmostknowwhatthesenonverbalcuesmeanandthattheyareoftenusedinsupportofwhatissaid.（Bushman,2000）

D.FunctionsofNon-verbalCommunications

Althoughnonverbalcommunicationcanoccurinanycontext,itisespeciallyimportanttounderstanditssignificanceininternationalbusinessenvironment.Greatbusinesssuccessorfailuresmaydevelopbetweencompaniesfromdifferentculturesdependingnotonlyandverbalcommunications,butalsothemeaningofnon-verbalcommunicationsparticularlyinmostnon-Westernsocieties.

Thenonverbalcomponentofcommunicationisessentialtofu