Silence During Intercultural Communication: a Case Study

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Silence during intercultural communication: a case study
Misa Fujio
Tokyo Fuji University, Tokyo, Japan
Keywords Communication, Cross-cultural management, Languages, United States of America, Japan Abstract This is a case study of USA-Japan intercultural communication, analyzing a one-hour meeting between a US manager, a Japanese manager and a Japanese junior staff member of a US company operating in Japan. The study focuses on miscommunication caused by pragmatic transfer from Japanese, especially relating to silence, the ambiguity of “yes”, and different strategies of politeness between the US and Japanese managers. It is also discussed how both native and non-native speakers should make their approach in order to understand each other and co-construct the conversation in intercultural communication in an age when English is becoming a global language and could be separated from the cultures of English-speaking countries.

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Introduction As Barnard (1938) states, “communication” is one of the three essential elements to form an organization, as well as “common purpose” and “willingness to serve”. In fact, the influential power of communication could be a determinant of a corporate culture when communication is taken from various facets: not only as exchange of information, but also as collection, storage, reproduction and transfer of information. Especially, the role of communication is crucial in the case of global companies where serious miscommunication could be caused by cultural elements as well as linguistic ability: little shared knowledge in cultural behaviors, business customs, the way of discussion or communication styles. As many studies have pointed out (Barnlund, 1975; Hall, 1976; Condon, 1984;

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