CHAPTER 6: SOCIOLINGUISTICS
It is frequently asserted that approximately 30% of the communication between
individuals is transmitted by the words they use. The other 70% occurs through the
following types of non-verbal communication:
* Kinetics – the study of body movements
EXERCISE 6.1: WORDS, PHRASES, AND CULTURAL MEANINGS
The instructor can use the think-pair-share method for this exercise.
There are some words that seem to capture the essence of a culture, but which
cannot be translated accurately. For example, “Mai pen rai” in Thai roughly translates to
“things happen such as the electricity going out; you have little if any control over such
Do colors have any cultural meaning? Some colors seem to convey the feelings
and beliefs of a culture. For example red, white and blue seem to effectively convey the
positive and patriotic feelings of the American culture. Also, the color blue in China
represents death or a funeral which red is a very positive color.
The instructor can use the think-pair-share method. Can the students or trainees
Colors also can come to represent sub-groups within culture. Similarly teams use colors
to distinguish themselves, and the color of the team becomes inseparable from the
accomplishments and pride in that team.
EXERCISE 6.3: THE DEAF CULTURE
The deaf culture has unique aspects that can often transcend an individual’s
The instructor can ask the class to use Kuckholn’s six dimensions of culture to
profile the deaf community. This exercise can occur in small groups or using the think-
pair-share method.
Afterwards, the instructor can point out that deaf individuals do not see
themselves as handicapped. Rather they believe that they have a unique culture that is
hearing, time is drawn out. Everything seems longer.
The instructor may point out at least one controversy. The deaf culture is so
strong that many of the deaf do not like other deaf people to associate too much with
those possessing normal hearing. Such behavior is frequently considered to be “crazy,”
and the deaf will make gestures signifying such meaning when discussing deaf people
hearing devices as a way into a normal life similar to that experienced by those with
normal hearing.
EXERCISE 6.4: STEREOTYPING NATIONAL CULTURES
The instructor can employ the think-pair-share method. He should ask the
students or trainees to identify the five adjectives that are most descriptive of Americans,
of Americans, and three of the six nations also selected “crude” and “honest.”
The instructor can compare the class profiles to the results of this survey and, if
differences exist, probe as to why.
EXERCISE 6.5: MANGLED ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS
The instructor should divide the class into small groups. Each group should try to
Figure 6.1: Mangled Translations: Real Advertising Slogans
• Kentucky Fried Chicken in China: The “Finger Lickin’ Good” slogan translates as
“Eat your fingers off.”
• Pepsi in Taiwan. The translation of the slogan “The Pepsi Generation” came out
to “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.”
• Chevy in Mexico. Sales of the Nova may have been affected by the fact that in
Spanish its literal translation is “No Go.”
• Purdue Chicken in Mexico. His slogan “It takes a tough man to make a tender
chicken” may have worked well in the United States, but shocked people in Mexico
because the literal translation can also mean “it takes a hard man to make a chicken
EXERCISE 6.6: NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
The instructor can demonstrate the importance of non-verbal communication by selecting a
student volunteer to come to the front of the classroom. Then the instructor should violate his or
her need for personal space by moving very close to the volunteer, even to the point of being
eye-to-eye and gesturing dramatically. Ordinarily the student – particularly those students from
gestures, violations of personal space, etc.
EXERCISE 6.7: JUST SAY NO
The instructor can point out that different cultures have different ways of saying “no.”
For example, low-context Americans frequently do not hide their feelings and just say no as soon
as their minds are made up. However, the high-context Japanese tend to say “maybe” or “that
simply not show up; and the Chinese whose phrase “mei guanxi” literally translates as “it doesn’t
matter,” but its underlying meaning is “no relationship,” something which is fundamental to the
Chinese.
EXERCISE 6.8: GLOBAL VIRTUAL TEAMS
You have been put in charge of a project involving management from Taiwan, the U.S.,
cross-cultural training program to take place on the Internet before the work begins. The
program should last three hours. Remember that these managers have never met face to face,
although they work for the same company. Use Hofstede’s dimensions, Hall’s revised context of
culture, the four-fold model of culture, cultural metaphors and sociolinguistics.
EXERCISE 6.9: INTERVIEWS ABOUT LANGUAGES
as a counter-reaction to European centralization, there are many regional cultures trying to
revitalize their roots. One such example is a family in France whose partents have taught their
children how to speak Breton – an almost Welsh language – that their ancestors spoke. Similarly
Catalonia in Spain and Wales in the United Kingdom are becoming more region-centric than
Europe-centric these days.
Afterwards, the instructor should point out that individuals switching easily from one
language to another significantly change their mental and emotional frameworks. For example,
one Spanish woman married to a Northern European tended to be quiet and reserved in that
setting. However, her entire personality changed when communicating with Spanish people,
even over the phone. She became extrovertic and loquacious. Her husband was dumbfounded
attached to the thumb-and-forefinger-in-a-circle gesture? Students tend to see this gesture as
friendly, indicating that you are “A-OK.” But in France and Belgium this means “You’re a
Zero.”
Similarly the gesture in which the index finger points to a person’s temple when the other
fingers are curved indicates in the U.S. that a person is intelligent. In Europe, however, this