scholarly journals Limits of a Second Language: Native and Second Languages in Management Team Communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Ketil Arnulf ◽  
Wanwen Dai ◽  
Hui Lu ◽  
Zhe Niu

Cultural differences in speech acts are common challenges in management involving Chinese and Western managers. Comparing four groups – Native-speaking Chinese, English-speaking Chinese, Chinese-speaking Westerners, and non-Chinese- speaking Westerners, we assessed the effects of language and ethnicity on the ability to predict communication obstacles in a management team scenario. Bilingual subjects were less likely to be influenced by ethnic biases. Still, bilinguals were not more likely to adjust their metacognitions about communication toward those of the native speakers. The study creates a link between management, cognition and linguistics, as well as having consequences for the study of metacognition in cross-cultural management.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anzhelika Solodka ◽  
Luis Perea

Compliments as speech acts have the reflection and expression of cultural values. Many of the values reflected through compliments are personal appearance, new acquisitions, possessions, talents and skills. It is especially important in linguistic interaction between people. This research aims to analyze the speech acts of complimenting in Ukrainian and American cultures in order to use them for teaching pragmatics second language (L2) students. Defining the ways of complimenting in Ukrainian, Russian and American English help to avoid misunderstandings and pragmatic failures. This study uses a method of ethnomethodology. Speach acts are studied in their natural contexts. To carry out this research native speakers of English in the United States and native speakers of Russian and Ukrainian from all over Ukraine were interviewed on-line. The analysis was made on the data that included: 445 Russian, 231 Ukrainian and 245 English compliments. Results of this study show how native speakers tend to compliment people: syntactical structure of expressions, cultural lexicon, attributes praised and language context. It has implications for teaching English to Ukrainians and for teaching Russian and Ukrainian to speakers of English. Knowing how to use speech acts allows the speaker to have pragmatic competence. Upon completion of the data analysis on the current study, further information on deeper analysis in terms of semantics and metaphorical language can be provided.


Author(s):  
Lana Kreishan

This study investigated the refusal and complaint speech act strategies employed by Jordanian undergraduate EFL learners. Refusal and complaint data were collected using a discourse completion test and role-plays. The findings revealed that, as non-native speakers, the respondents preferred to use indirect semantic formulas. The most frequently used refusal strategies involved an explanation or excuse, apology, negative ability, postponement or adjuncts to refusals. Conveying hints, requests, and annoyance constituted the preferred strategies for expressing complaints. The Jordanian students utilized these strategies quite often because the strategies are less direct and more polite. The analysis revealed similarities between the strategies used by the sample EFL learners and the strategies used by native English speakers. Because speech acts depend on standard cultural norms and practices, it is important for EFL learners to understand English-speaking social settings in order to avoid pragmatic failure and miscommunication. EFL instructors should therefore emphasize linguistic pragmatics for learners to assimilate into an English speaking cultural environment and maintain clear and unambiguous communication.


Author(s):  
Khairunnisa Khairunnisa

Speech acts realization of request is distinct for it leaves benefit to the requester but loss to the requestee. Thus, politeness is a primary issue in requesting. Therefore, internal modification can be used to soften the impact of the request. This paper looks into the internal modification used by EFL learners compared to the native speakers. Discourse Completion Tasks (DCT) is used to obtain the data. Then, the internal modification strategy is analyzed based on Trosborg's strategy of request (Trosborg, 1994). The research reveals the variety of the internal modification used by EFL learners are still limited compared to the native speakers. In this case, some factors are proved to determine the performance of the strategy being used such as proficiency and direct contact with native speakers as well as immersion in the English exposure, e.g length of stay in English speaking country.


Author(s):  
Tat’yana V. Borisenko ◽  

This paper aimed to study the content of the concept of wife in Russian and English-speaking linguocultures. The research will broaden the understanding of linguistic consciousness of Russian and English native speakers as well as identify some peculiarities of their world image. It is important to study the national world image today, as it can help to improve mutual understanding between cultures and simplify the assimilation process for those who decide to immigrate for some reason or other. The author utilized the methods of linguocultural and comparative analysis, as well as of associative-verbal nets study suggested by Yu.N. Karaulov. They include comparing associative-verbal nets by respondents’ first two reactions, identifying the most frequent types of answers, and grouping the responses into semantic zones. Further, the article analyses the synonymic chains of the word wife and explains the significance of this concept in Russian and English-speaking linguocultures, as well as identifies common semantic groups for the concept (wedding, household) and determines a common response to the stimulus in the two linguocultures. In addition, the paper traces differences in the perception of the concept of wife and singles out various semantic zones and their key elements. The research found that for many Russian native speakers, this concept contains such features as faith and belonging to someone, while in English linguistic consciousness it includes gender and partnership.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-125
Author(s):  
Carlos de Pablos-Ortega

AbstractThe main aim of the study is to ascertain contrastively, in English and Spanish, how directive speech acts are represented in film discourse. For the purpose of the investigation, the directive speech acts of 24 films, 12 in English and 12 in Spanish, were extracted and analysed. A classification taxonomy, inspired by previous research, was created in order to categorize the different types of directive speech acts and determine their level of (in)directness. The results show that indirectness is more widely represented in the English than in the Spanish film scripts, thus confirming the assertion that being indirect is a distinctive feature of English native speakers (Grundy, 2008). This research makes a valuable contribution to the exploration of speech acts in filmspeak and informs the existing local grammar descriptions of the linguistic patterns of directive speech acts.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 233-248
Author(s):  
Margie Parikh

Dilip Roy is a country head at Itsun Heavy Industry (India) Pvt. Ltd. (IHIIPL) in Delhi, India. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Itsun China, a leading private sector construction equipment company. Dilip graduated as a mechanical engineer with reputed National Science Talent Search Scholarship, started his career as a Graduate Trainee Engineer and became a Vice President in another company before he joined IHIIPL as a country head. Hu, the representative of Itsun China in India was exploring the Indian market and he ended up offering a job to Dilip after a series of interactions concerning the Indian Construction Equipment Industry. This was the first opportunity for Dilip to head an entire company. He knew the industry thoroughly and felt excited that finally his ambition was at the verge of fulfillment. When Dilip joined, IHIPL had yet to be incorporated though some business activities had started. Dilip's time at IHIIPL is dotted with problem after problem. The key problems encountered were confusion about reporting relationships, unresponsive head office with its unilateral decisions, and unprofessional and incompetent colleagues. Dilip had taken steps to address most of the company's problems: developing local solutions, drawing on personal resources, and hiring new staff. The business was growing fast on the back of increasing demand. Subsequently, Dilip realized that he was not considered trustworthy by the head office and was not involved in major decisions. His initial perception about his job and IHIIPL changed. Even though he was later given the certificate of honor with an invitation to attend the award ceremony in China, he left the company. This case is useful for examining the issues of cross-cultural management and leadership.


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