NM3413 Audience Analysis

1. 5 NM3413 Audience Analysis DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE

2. OVERVIEW • Barriers to intercultural communication (cont’d) • Dimensions of culture

3. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication LaRay M. Barna (1997): • Anxiety • Assuming similarity instead of difference • Ethnocentrism • Stereotypes and prejudice • Nonverbal misinterpretation • Language

4. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication LaRay M. Barna (1997): • Nonverbal misinterpretation - Physical appearance (clothes etc.) - Proxemics (personal space) - Chronemics (time) - Kinesics (gestures) - Haptics (touch) - Oculesics (eye contact) - Vocalics/Paralanguage (voice) - Olfactics (smell)

5. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication LaRay M. Barna (1997): • Language Basic Word Order SOURCE: Matthews, Polinsky, and Comrie (1996).

6. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication LaRay M. Barna (1997): • Language Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Benjamin L. Whorf (1897-1941) and Edward Sapir (1884-1939) “Culture is controlled by and controls language.”

7. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication LaRay M. Barna (1997): • Language Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - Vocabulary - Grammar and syntax - Translation problems

8. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Vocabulary You can assume that if a language has a particular rich vocabulary for a thing or activity in comparison to other language, that thing or activity is important in that culture.

9. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Vocabulary Eskimo language have many words for different kinds of snow: qana falling snow; snowflakes akilukak fluffy fallen snow aput snow on the ground kaguklaich snow drifted in rows piqsirpoq drifting snow qimuqsuq snowdrift

10. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Vocabulary - The Hanunoo tribe has 92 separate single words to refer to rice. - In most of the languages of Asia, one word means both food and rice. - Speakers of Guguyimadjir in the Australian state of Queensland have no words for “right” or “left”. - The Yanomamo language of southern Venezuela has only three numbers, which correspond to “one,” “two,” and “more than two” in English. - In Japanese language, the four seasons are divided into 24 subseasons according to the traditional lunar calendar. And each subseason is divided into the beginning, middle, and end.

11. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Grammar and Syntax - Grammar had an even greater influence than vocabulary. - In the Eskimo language, there is a consistent use of the word if rather than when in reference to the future. - Linguistics have associated the more common use of if in the Eskimo language with the harsh environment that Eskimos live in, where life is fragile and there is little control over nature (Chance, 1966). - In the word order, English places emphasis on a doer, on an action taker. - You are more likely to hear, “I brought my textbook with me” in the United States and hear “Brought book” in Japan.

12. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Barriers to Intercultural Communication Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Translation problems Even when cultures speak the same language – as do Australia and the United States – there can be vocabulary differences. When cultures speak different languages, translation is critical – but always imperfect. - Vocabulary equivalence - Idiomatic equivalence - Grammatical-Syntactical Equivalence - Experiential Equivalence - Conceptual Equivalence

13. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE

14. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Dimensions of Culture Geert Hofstede (1980): • Individualism • Masculinity • Power Distance • Uncertainty Avoidance • Loosely structured to tightly integrated. • How a culture’s dominant values are assertive or nurturing. • The distribution of influence within a culture. • A culture’s tolerance of ambiguity and acceptance of risk.

15. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Dimensions of Culture Individualism versus Collectivism This dimension refers to how people define themselves and their relationships with others.

16. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Collectivism The interest of the group prevails over the interest of the individual. People are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups that continue throughout a lifetime to protect in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. In collectivist cultures, other groups are taken into account in a major way when goals are set. Individualism The interest of the individual prevails over the interests of the group. Ties between individual are loose. People look after themselves and their immediate families. One difference is reflected in who is taken into account when you set goals. In individualist cultures, goals are set with minimal consi-deration given to groups other than perhaps your immediate family.

17. Individualism Rankings for 50 Countries and Three Regions SOURCE: Hofstede (2001, Exhibit 5.1, p. 215).

18. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Dimensions of Culture Masculinity versus Femininity Hofstede (1980) found that women’s social role varied less from culture to culture than men’s. He labeled as masculine cultures those that strive for maximal distinction between what women and men are expected to do.

19. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Femininity Those labeled as feminine cultures are those that permit more overlapping social roles for the sexes. Cultures that place high value on feminine traits: • Stress quality of life • Interpersonal • Relationships • Concern for the weak Masculinity Masculine cultures strive for maximal distinction between what women and men are expected to do. Cultures that place high values on masculine traits: • Stress assertiveness • Competition • Material success

20. Masculinity Rankings for 50 Countries and Three Regions SOURCE: Hofstede (2001, Exhibit 6.3, p. 286).

21. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Dimensions of Culture Power Distance The way the culture deals with inequalities. Hofstede (1997) defines power distance as “the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally”

22. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Low Power Distance In the low power distance workplace, subordinates expect to be consulted, and ideal bosses are democratic. In more democratic organizations, leaders are physically more accessible. High Power Distance Children are expected to be obedient toward parents versus being treated more or less as equals. People are expected to display respect for those of higher status. • Power is centralized. • There is a wide salary gap between the top and bottom of the organization.

23. Power Distance Rankings for 50 Countries and Three Regions SOURCE: Hofstede (2001, Exhibit 3.1, p. 287).

24. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Dimensions of Culture Uncertainty Avoidance The extent to which people in a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situation. Hofstede explains that this feeling is expressed through nervous stress and in a need for predictability or a need for written and unwritten rules (Hofstede, 1977). In these cultures, such situations are avoided by maintaining strict codes of behavior and a belief in absolute truths.

25. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Low Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures weak in uncertainty avoidance are contemplative, less aggressive, unemotional, relaxed, accepting of personal risks, and relatively tolerant. • No more rules than are necessary • Precision and punctuality have to be learned. High Uncertainty Avoidance Cultures strong in uncertainty avoidance are active, aggressive, emotional, compulsive, security seeking, and intolerant. • Need for rules, precisionand punctuality

26. Uncertainty Avoidance Rankings for 50 Countries and Three Regions SOURCE: Hofstede (2001, Exhibit 3.1, p. 287).

27. NM3413AUDIENCE ANALYSIS CULTURE Reference: Jandt, Fred E. An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2010.