CC BY
85
УДК 81'34
Н. Б. Цибуля
кандидат филологических наук, профессор кафедры фонетики английского языка факультета английского языка МГЛУ; e-maiL: cybnb@maiL.ru
НЕВЕРБАЛЬНЫЙ И ПРОСОДИЧЕСКИЙ АСПЕКТЫ МЕЖКУЛЬТУРНОЙ КОММУНИКАЦИИ
Автор анализирует особенности пространственной организации общения в Англии, США и Германии и зависящие от них просодические черты речи. Размеры личного пространства также определяют тактильное поведение и зрительные стратегии коммуникантов. В статье рассматриваются случаи нарушения личной зоны не только на уровне пространства, но также на визуальном и акустическом уровне. Разработанные автором рекомендации для системного изучения и исследовательской деятельности студентов по проблеме невербального общения способствуют развитию и совершенствованию у них межкультурной компетенции.
Ключевые слова: пространственная организация общения; личное пространство; нарушение личного пространства; зрительный контакт; визуальные стратегии; просодические особенности; системное изучение; исследовательская деятельность студентов; межкультурная компетенция.
N. B. Tsibulya
Ph.D., Professor, Department of English Phonetics,
Faculty of the English Language, MSLU; e-mail: cybnb@mail.ru
NONVERBAL AND PROSODIC ASPECTS OF CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
The author carries out anaLysis of spatiaL organization of communication in EngLand, USA and Germany and reLated to it prosodic features. The size of personaL space also determines communicants' tactile behavior and their visual strategies. The article considers cases of intrusion upon privacy on spatial, acoustic and visual levels. A system of classroom and research activities worked out by the author enhances development of students' cross-cultural competence.
Key words: spatial organization of communication; personal space; intrusion uponpersonal space; visual contact; visual strategies; prosodic features; systematized learning; students' research activities; cross-cultural competence.
Introduction
Increase in communication with people of other countries requires better knowledge of various cultural dimensions including nonverbal behaviour.
After the Second World War American diplomats and businessmen often failed in negotiations with Third World countries. Though they knew
the languages very well, but hidden cultural peculiarities were out of their awareness [2].
Cultural differences may be observed in time orientation and space organization, use of gestures and touch, specificity of facial expressions, eye contact, styles of relationships, use of senses, and others. All these have deep roots in the behaviour of animals [3]. One of the most significant roles in their lives belongs to space and territoriality.
As for human beings, everything in our world always takes place in a certain space, in a certain spatial environment. The importance of it in people's life is reflected in the language. Words referring to space and distance or with spatial connotations constitute about 20 per cent of the words listed in dictionaries. In the pocket Oxford dictionary, for example, their number is about five thousand [7]. One can give such examples as: up, down, above, under, into, surrounded, hall, close, distant etc., etc.
The design and structure of the spatial setting have a profound impact on the people. This sphere of communication was pioneered by Edward Hall, an American anthropologist, who in the middle of the 20th century started to deeply investigate cultural differences in space organization, their varieties and dimensions.
As soon as E. Hall and his colleagues had carried out a wide scale research in this sphere, cross-cultural communication as an academic discipline was introduced in American universities. In European universities, this subject became part of the curriculum in the 70s of the 20th c.
It is important for Russian-speaking students specializing in languages to learn and know not only foreign languages but also to master silent communications, multifold cultural differences in nonverbal behaviour, including space. Lectures delivered by teachers should be followed by practical courses which should include interactive research, role play situations, a system of exercises, and other activities.
The aim of this article is to give a survey of spatial and related to them prosodic peculiarities of English-speaking cultures and Germany and offer a system of practical and research activities for Russian students to overcome difficulties in communicating with the Americans, the English and the Germans in terms of space and vocal production.
Space and Touching Behaviour
E. Hall introduced the term "proxemics" - a branch of science which studies use of space by people [9].
It turns out that cultures interpret spatial dimensions and spatial data differently. Used under certain circumstances in one country, the same pattern may be misunderstood and lead to a culture shock or a conflict in another.
Communication distance is very closely related to touching strategy. The latter depends much on the size of space between the interlocutors which is culturally bound. There exist touching and non-touching distances. The touching space is more typical of the Russian culture. In the USA and, especially, in England non-touching distance is usually established between interlocutors in semi-formal and formal situations.
Space and Visual Behaviour
In different cultures there exist certain rules about visual behaviour.
From early age the English are taught to listen to other people attentively and to look the interlocutor straight in the eye. They just blink their eyes to show that they are listening or heard what was said. This kind of eye contact shows interest and is considered to be polite.
In the USA, on the contrary, it is prohibited to stare at people [7]. The Americans look their partner straight in the eye only when they want to be quite sure that their message was understood. They avoid looking fixedly at others in a conversation. Their gaze may wander over the interlocutor's face and then leave it for some time. This difference in the eye-behaviour makes the English wonder whether their American partners are listening to them at all. The Americans, on the other hand, are not sure whether their English interlocutors understood them.
The Germans are also very sensitive to visual disturbance. Thus, to look at other people in public places is interpreted as intrusion in Germany. Moreover, the German law prohibits photographing unknown people without their permission.
However, employing peripheral sight one can see a lot of general things out of the corner of one's eye at different angles. For example, at an angle of 45 degrees we can tell the body built and sex of a person, probably his age, and also the colour of his hair and clothes, some general characteristics of his nonverbal and vocal behaviour [7].
Space and Vocal Behaviour
Volume of the voice is one of culturally bound features.
In the USA a group of two or three people having a conversation is separated from others by a certain distance. There is an invisible boundary
crossing which means intrusion. Within this enclosed space interlocutors keep their voices rather low not to intrude on others. In case loudness increases others will behave as if they did not hear anything, thus preserving privacy and demonstrating good manners.
However, in the opinion of the English and other Europeans, Americans talk too loudly and actually do not care very much about being heard by others or intruding on other people by speaking loudly. In the USA, loud voice is a sign of their openness, success, availability, good mood and benevolence.
Increase in loudness, in general, is important for spatial and distance adjustments. Within twenty feet one can hear the partner very well. At one hundred feet, one-way speech at a slower tempo is possible. Beyond that limit, vocal communication is hardly possible. Sight, on the contrary, gets more information and is communicatively efficient even at a mile distance.
As scientists note, upper-class people in the United Kingdom speaking Received Pronunciation (public-school English) can modulate and direct their voice to a much greater degree than the Americans. The English are said to be very sensitive to acoustic space, and any outside interference into their conversation causing inability to direct the voice arouses annoyance [7].
Space maintained between people is very significant for communication. It reflects social relationships and it is usually outside awareness. E. Hall and G. Trager experimented with various distances between interlocutors and loudness of the voice related to these distances. Registered vocal changes dependent on the shifts in proximity and further studies provided basis for a conclusion that there exist four distances, each with a close and far phase.
These zones were observed in communication of adult, middle-class, non-contact Americans from the North-East of the United States. For the most part, they were businessmen or professionals.
The choice of space depends, in the first place, on a number of social factors, but emotions experienced at the time of communication may play a decisive role in the distance used. Environmental factors, such as sound and light, for example, can also influence the distance [7].
Intimate distance, with its close (up to 6 inches = 15 cm) and far (6-18 inches = 15-45 cm) phases, is typical of members of the family
in an informal situation. Conversation usually goes in a very low voice or a whisper. Middle-class Americans do not demonstrate this distance in public.
The close phase (1, 5-2, 5 feet = 45-75 cm) of personal distance may be used by husband and wife, or close friends in public. The far phase (2, 5-4 feet = 75 cm-1m 20 cm) is usual between friends, and loudness of the voice is moderate.
Social distance is observed in business. Its close phase (4-7 feet = 1 m 20 cm-2 m 10 cm) is typical of informal business between colleagues. The far phase (7-12 feet = 2 m 10 cm-3 m 60 cm) is established in conducting formal business and formal social discourse. The voice level increases as compared with personal distance. The far phase of social distance may be used for screening, so that people can work without interfering or being interfered. It may also be kept by members of the family after work in the evening when they relax, reading a book at a distance of 7-12 feet from each other.
Public distance is employed by lecturers or public figures when they address large audiences. However, it can be used by other people in public situations as well. At the close phase (12-25 feet = 3 m 60 cm - 7,5m) the voice is rather loud. Speakers choose words, grammatical constructions and phrases carefully. The far phase (25 feet and more = 7, 5 m and more) is established in communication with VIPs. It is also typical of theatrical performances. Actors' speech is characterized by slowing down the tempo, increased loudness, and exaggerated articulation. They also emphasize gestures and body movements; otherwise, the message can be very unclear or even lost.
Americans became aware of the existence of space zones only after World War II when they began to communicate with people of other cultures who organize their space differently. The fact made researchers also realize that even within American culture space organization may vary from one social or ethnic group to another. Intimate zone in one culture, for example, may become personal, or social, or even public in other cultures [8].
Space and Privacy in Germany, the USA and England
Pushing to the front of the queue makes the Germans, Americans and the English angry; it is considered to be intrusion on their privacy [1; 4].
Standing on the threshold of an open door and speaking to a person inside is not taken by the Americans as being inside the room, an office, or a house. The Germans, on the other hand, consider such behavior as invasion on their privacy. They also arrange front and back yards of their houses, balconies and fences so as to preserve visual isolation.
The Germans are very sensitive to the size of space surrounding them and to share it with somebody else may lead to conflicts. They are also very precise in their assessment of spatial intrusion. For example, if two people have a talk and someone comes up to them within seven feet (2 m 10 cm), it is considered intrusion.
A chair standing in a German office for a visitor should not be moved by him. A change of its position is taken by the Germans as a kind of disorder. In the USA, on the contrary, they do not mind if somebody moves the chair to feel more comfortable.
The Americans are used to have a room of their own. It protects their privacy and makes them feel comfortable. When they want to be alone, they just close the door of their room. The English, however, usually share a room with their brothers and sisters. Only the eldest among the children may have a room of his own for some time before leaving for boarding school. So, the English do not use space as protection from other people. When they want "to be alone", they show it by their behaviour: submerged in their thoughts, they sit or pace around the room and do not talk to anyone. For an American, refusal to talk to other people in the same room is interpreted as great displeasure and even rejection [7].
Shut and Closed Doors in Germany and the USA
Americans like to keep their doors open at home and in the office. It is a sign of their availability to others, their readiness to communicate, and answer questions. They usually close doors to conduct private talk, or when they want to concentrate on something, or have a rest. The closed door in the USA means that the person does not want to be disturbed.
In Germany, a closed door signals something entirely different. The Germans like to have their doors closed. They think that a closed door serves as a necessary boundary between people; it also supports the spatial integrity of a room, whereas an open door is considered to be a sort of disorder. It introduces a relaxed atmosphere in which they cannot concentrate or do business.
The open-door business of the Americans and closed-door custom of the Germans often serve as a cause of conflicts and misunderstanding between American and German companies in doing business both in Germany and overseas.
In this article we have given examples and looked upon some basic notions of space perception and its organization in English-speaking countries and in Germany. However, to study variousaspects of proxemics more deeply we have worked out practical and research activities for language students.
Practices and Research
Drawing on our own experience of carrying out research of non-verbal and prosodic aspects of cross-cultural communication and teaching it as an academic discipline to language students, we have worked out a system of practical activities, research and experiments.
At seminars or research club meetings students discuss basics of proxemics and also cross-cultural differences in proxemic and vocal behaviour which may include the following items:
1. Definition and analysis of proxemics as one of the main spheres of non-verbal communication.
2. Discussion of key notions of proxemics, such as: personal space (the bubble), territoriality, touching and non-touching distances, establishing conversational space and related to it prosodic features.
3. Analysis of cross-cultural differences in maintaining distances in formal and informal situations. Considering factors that determine space and vocal behaviour in a conversation, such as gender, age, social status, education, emotional state, environment, and others.
4. Space and visual strategies across cultures. Establishing, maintaining and avoiding eye contact. Visual privacy and visual intrusion.
5. Cross-cultural views on the factors that ensure order, support spatial integrity of a room, and facilitate communication (open and closed doors traditions, arrangement of furniture and other artifacts).
Having discussed the suggested topics, students, under the supervision of their scientific advisors, may carry out their own research and experiments on proxemics, vocal and visual behaviour in the Russian culture. Then, the results should be analysed and compared with the data obtained by scholars concerning English-speaking cultures.
Н. Б. Цибуля
In their experiments students may investigate:
1. The size of intimate, personal, social and public distances and related to them vocal characteristics in Russian communication. Increase or decrease in loudness, changes in temporal characteristics and timber of the voice.
2. Distance between interlocutors in formal and informal situations that is taken as intrusion on their privacy (critical distance).
3. Factors that may determine touching and non-touching distances in communication.
4. Establishing eye contact and its duration in different situations. Analysis of various factors influencing visual behaviour, such as: gender, age, social status, education, emotional state, environment, and others. Visual intrusion and visual privacy in Russian communication.
5. Characteristics of space organization that can facilitate or hinder interaction in Russian communication.
The suggested system of exercises and activities can facilitate formation and enhance development of cross-cultural competence.
In the present work we have touched upon the most important aspects of cross-cultural proxemic communication relevant to teaching and learning. However, there are many more to consider in the process of its study, like the issue of space and time correlation, space and rhythms of culture [5; 6], space and use of gestures, and others.
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