Language, work and law:
workplace communication
The diversity of Asian and
American ways in the workplace communication
Introduction
Language is the important
tool for people to communicate. In the daily activity, people use it to
communicate even in spoken or written language. People use language to convey
what they thought. The possession of language, perhaps more than any other
attribute, distinguishes humans from other animals. To understand our humanity
we must understand the nature of language that makes us human. According
to Chomsky, language is one characteristic that is unique to humans among all
other living beings. Actually, there are two types of language which is usually used by
people, they are formal and informal language. Formal language is usually used
for people who have higher status and informal language is usually used for
people who have same or lower status.
The study of language is
called Linguistic. Linguistics is concerned with the nature
of language and communication. It deals both with the study of particular
languages, and the search for general properties common to all languages or
large groups of languages. According to Bloomfield (1933: 20-34) Linguistic is a science, as
well as physics and chemistry is science. Linguistic is the scientific study of
languages and includes many theories to include other branches and disciplines
of study such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, cognitive
science etc. However, Linguistic is divided into two branches, they are pure
linguistic and applied linguistic. Pure linguistic includes phonology,
morphology, lexicology, semiotics, syntax, phonetic, etc. While, applied
linguistic includes sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic, geolinguistic,
neurolinguistic, etc. Moreover, pure
linguistics is more theoretical, and applied linguistics is more practical and
the testing of the theories.
Guy
Cook defines applied linguistic as the academic discipline concerned with the
relation of knowledge about language to decision making the real world. He
recognizes that the scope of applied linguistic remains rather vague but
attempts to delimit its main areas of concern as consisting of language and
education; language, work and law; and language information and effect.
Now days, the field of applied linguistic
defines into many things, such as: forensic linguistic, political linguistic.
Moreover, language is a power, it means that someone utterance can give the
impact to the other, even it is bad or good effect. Generally, language is
identical with communication. All communication has two parts: a sender and a
receiver. The sender has a message he or she intends to transmit, and she puts
it in words which, to her, best reflect what she is thinking. But many things
can intervene to prevent the intended message from being received. A good communication will lead someone in good
relationships. In contrast, someone will have problem in relationships if they
have bad communication. Therefore, it is important using an appropriate style
of communication because it can be hugely influential in someone’s
relationships. The good style of communication is like choosing an appropriate
diction, and voice.
As in
the issue of applied linguistic, this paper emphasizes on the workplace-communication.
Workplace is a place where many people work together even they come from
different countries, homeland, cultures, and ethnics. It is impossible to say
that everyone in one culture communicates similarly. It obviously that
communication in the workplace even among employees and other employee, or the
employee with the employer. However, Social conflicts often involve some
misunderstanding. Conflict parties communicate by what they say (or do not say)
and how they behave toward one another. Even normal interaction may involve
faulty communication, but conflict seems to worsen the problem. The higher the
level of conflict, the more costly misunderstandings may be. Moreover, misunderstanding
of communication in the workplace cannot be avoided. This is caused by the
difference perspective of every person who comes from different culture. Therefore,
the immigrants must adapt their new workplace, in this case especially for
their communication.
In
addition, communication has important role in the workplace. For instance, if
an employee does not know the way how to adapt in the new workplace, it is
possible for he or she will be fired. Moreover, one of the professionalism of
the employee can be seen from their communication skill. Even though the employees
have good quality in the work, but their social communication is bad, they will
get some troubles.
Furthermore,
in some countries, social status in the workplace is important. Commonly, the
employees show their respect to the employer through formal communication. Social
status and the particular context of interpersonal relationships structures how
individuals relate to one another. For example, Asians may use different
linguistic codes (i.e., plain, polite, honorific) depending on the social
status, degree of intimacy, age, sex, and level of formality of the
participants who are engaged in communication (Park and Kim, 2008).
In
addition, the using of formal communication not only to show the respect but
also the politeness. Perhaps, the
employee who has politeness in communication means that she or he has good
attitude. Usually, the employee who has good attitude will be trusted by the
other employees and the subordinate.
The form of formal communication
in workplace organized as direct and indirect communication. However, to show
the respect to the subordinate, the employees emphasize on the using of
indirect communication. The two most common forms of communication styles are
direct and indirect. Knowing when and where to use either of these two styles
can make a difference to all interactions with other people. Legibly, direct
communication is an action in which the form used directly matches the function
performed by a speaker with an utterance. While, indirect communication is an
action in which the form used does not directly match the function performed by
a speaker with an utterance.
As the explanation above, it
concludes that many employees get trouble in the workplace because they do not
know how to communicate appropriately. Thus, the role of applied linguistic is
to solve the problem in workplace communication by a training program. This
program is purposed for the prospective employees before they start to join
with the company or other workplaces. Additionally, the examples of this
communication is taken from Asian and American culture.
Content
Communication is important
in workplace situation; whether this be at company and office. In
the workplace, communication is the creation or exchange of thoughts, ideas,
emotions, and understanding between sender(s) and receiver(s)—employee and
employer. It is essential to building and maintaining relationships in the
workplace (Guo and Shancez, 2005). Furthermore, communication is a major
challenge for managers because they are responsible for providing information,
which results in efficient and effective performance in organizations. This
paper will define some aspects which influence the communication in the
workplace.
1. The
way people speak
The way someone speaks can make a difference to the
way information is received. Actually, culture has significant role in the way
people speak. Yet, every culture has different way in communication style. Cultural
styles can and do create misunderstanding in conversation among people from
different culture.
The sociolinguistic researcher Deborah Tannen
discusses the notion that people from some cultures value ‘high involvement’
conversation patterns, while other value ‘high considerateness’ patterns. Many
people from culture that prefer high involvement styles tent to 1) talk more,
2) interrupt more, 3) expect to be interrupted, 4) talk more loudly that at
times and 5) talk more quickly than those from cultures favoring high
considerateness styles. Many high involvement speaker enjoy arguments and might
even think that others or not interested if they are not ready to engaged in
heated discussion.
On the other hand, people from cultures that favor
high considerateness styles tend to 1) speak one at a time, 2) use polite
listening sounds, 3) refrain from interrupting, and 4) give plenty of positive
and respectful responses to their conversation partners. The cultures that Tannen characterizes as
having “high involvement conversational styles include Russian, Italian, Greek,
Spanish, south American, Arab and African. In general, the various
communication styles in Asian cultures (e.g. Chinese and Japanese) would be
characterized as high considerateness.
Commonly, there are two types of communication which
usually used in the communication, especially in the workplaces.
1.1 Direct
and indirect in communication.
Direct and indirect are the most common form in the
communication. According to William, direct communication: “Is speech that
significantly states and directs an action.” and indirect communication: “Is
not typically authoritative. It invites contribution and makes the listener
feel that their ideas are important.”
Direct communication is often
used in the workplace to ensure that it is very clear who has the authority to
give an instruction, and what that instruction is. Direct communication is used
when there is no room for discussion or compromise, as the style does not
really allow for the listener to provide an opinion or viewpoint back to the
speaker. Direct communication can appear to some as argumentative or rude.
However there are times when direct communication can be seen as the only
appropriate form of communication in an academic environment or in the
workplace.
In the other hand, indirect
communication is sometimes seen as vague and non-committal, placing listeners
in a situation where they have to ‘read between the lines’. However, an
indirect communication style can be very useful because it helps teams work
together in a more cohesive way, it can help create a respectful and friendly
environment.
Culturally, the usage of
direct and indirect communication in the workplace is different. It means that
not all people have same perspective in using direct and indirect
communication, especially in the workplace.
As the example of direct and indirect usage in Asian and American
culture. In America, people may want to know others’ opinions or reactions. In
meetings, co-workers or bosses may ask each other, “What do you think of …”or,
“What is your reaction to…?” People from some other cultures, such as Japanese,
may tend to hesitate or give an answer that Americans consider to be indirect
or noncommittal. They may use more silence than Americans are used to, and wish
to respond now. “Some Japanese people may feel that it is inappropriate to
offer an opinion if a person of a higher status is present. Additionally, the
Japanese person may want to give a carefully considered answer. In contrast, many Americans like to discuss
their preliminary reactions and opinions even before having all the facts.
From the example above, it concludes that indirect
communication is used to show the respect of Japanese employee for their
bosses. However, in the American workplace, indirect communication is not
expected. Yet, Americans consider that the employees who do not give the
opinions and reactions means that they do not contribute in the meeting or
discussion. In American business meetings, people are expected to participate
verbally, or else others may think that they are uninterested in the meeting
(Levine and Adelman, 1993).
1.2 Politeness
strategy in communication.
Another aspect which influences the communication in
the workplace is politeness. It is a strategy which having to do with ideas
like being tactful, modest and nice to other people. According to Yule,
politeness can be defined as showing awareness of and consideration for another
person face (2006).
Ideas about the appropriate language to
mark politeness differ substantially from one culture to the next. If people
have grown up in a culture that has directness as a valued way of showing
solidarity , for instance, ‘Give me that chair!’ and people use directness to
people whose culture is more oriented to indirectness and avoiding direct in
position, then people will be considered impolite. People may thing of the
others as vague and ensure of whether they really want something or are just
asking about it “Are you using this chair?” In either case, it is the pragmatics that is
misunderstood and unfortunately, more will be communicated than is said.
In American
workplace, it is common if the employee call the superiors with their first
name. This act is influenced by one of American values, egalitarianism.
Egalitarianism is the belief in and actions which believing
that all people are equally important and should have the same rights and
opportunities in life. If
the employees are immigrant, they will be difficult to become accustomed to
this practice. In contrast, in Asian culture, it seems like impolite if the
employee calls someone who has higher status with the first name. Usually,
Asian employees call their superior with adding Mr., Mrs., Sir, and Madam.
Another example of politeness is shown by the
Japanese speaking style. Each participant in a Japanese conversation waits
politely for a turn and knows exactly when the time is right to speak. That is,
they know their place in line. One’s turn depends on status, age, and the
relationships to the other person. In Japanese conversation, long silences are
tolerated. However, According to some Japanese, Americans ask too many
questions and do not give the other person enough time to formulate a careful
answer. To the American, the Japanese speaker appears passive and uninterested
in the conversation. The Japanese feels that the American is pussy an overly
inquisitive because of the difference in cultural conditioning.
2. Cross-cultural
communication in the workplace
The term ¨cross-cultural¨ implies interaction with persons
of different cultural, ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious,
age and class backgrounds. Cross-cultural communication¨ is a process of
exchanging, negotiating, and mediating one's cultural differences through
language, non-verbal gestures, and space relationships. It is also the
process by which people express their openness to an intercultural experience
(Clarke and Sanchez, 2001).
According to some experts, there are
several parameters that may be perceived differently by people of different
cultures. These may include:
·
High
and low context cultures
·
Non
Verbal, Oral and Written
·
Non-Verbal
contact
·
Eye
contact
·
Facial
expressions
·
Oral
and written communication
Actually, every culture has different communication
style. In
particular, Hall (1973) categorized cultures into high-context cultures (where
the communication style in which most of the information is already shared by
people in the society, leaving very little information in the explicit
transmitted part of the message) and low-context cultures (where the
communication style in which most of the information is incorporated into the
message and detailed background information is needed in the interaction with
others). Sometimes,
those different context can cause misunderstanding in communication.
Communication
is a vital part of creating and maintaining a safe and efficient workplace
environment. However, workplace
is one of places which is possibly to appear a misunderstanding in the
communication. The appropriate communication in the workplace is important.
Yet, if the employee and the employer has good communication, it will give a
good impact to the company and can build the trust.
The example of cross-cultural communication in the
workplace is the implementation of ‘brainstorming’ in the American meeting.
‘Brainstorming’ is a common practice at American meetings. The purpose of
brainstorming is to express as many ideas as possible on given question
problem. This technique is used to collect all the ideas of the group, without
stopping to discuss or evaluate the value of each suggestion. First people
brainstorm freely; then they narrow down and eliminate ideas or suggestions
that are not workable. Brainstorming is creative process that demands full
verbal participation. This method of creating, exploring, and solving problems
is foreign to many people who are not culturally comfortable with blurting out
ideas.
3. How
to solve the problem of the differences cultures in workplace communication.
After showing the different
ways of communication in the workplace, this is the turn to show how to solve the
problem in a workplace. There are some strategies to solve the problems in
difference cultures in the workplace. The strategies is purposed for
prospective employees, especially immigrant employee who will join with their
new company. The strategy is a training for them to improve their skill,
especially in communication. The training program should include the following
ways:
·
Understand
and respect individual differences. Keep an open mind toward others who are
different from you. Remember that not everyone sees things the same way you do.
·
Be
assertive. Let other people know how you want to be treated, and do not be
afraid to speak up if another's actions make you uncomfortable. How will people
know that you find a particular expression or behavior offensive unless you
tell them? And, if someone has the courage and sensitivity to tell you how
you've offended them, don't get defensive - be thankful. The only way you can
correct the situation is through honest communication. Do not say, "That's
not what I meant! What's the matter with you?" Say, "I'm sorry you
heard it that way. That's really not what I meant. Can I clarify and tell you
what I did mean?"
·
Learn how others want you to treat them. Use
the New Golden Rule (sometimes called the Platinum Rule): Treat others the way
they would like to be treated. If you're confused about how to pronounce an
unfamiliar name, or whether a person would rather be called black or African
American, ASK. Your question will not only help you learn how to avoid
misunderstandings and conflict but also will communicate a respect that will
strengthen your relationships. Act as a force for change. Everyone is
responsible for workplace behavior. If you encounter an example of
discrimination or prejudice, speak up. Tell the people involved why you think- the
behavior was inappropriate. You may not be able to change attitudes overnight,
but you can change behavior, and that's the first step.
(Dupont,
19993)
The training material for prospective employees:
Courteousness: When the prospective employee becomes an employee, she or he should
always be courteous while speaking to anyone in the workplace, whether senior
or junior. One should not speak disparagingly with juniors, while speaking in a
laudatory way with seniors. Courteousness should be maintained in the workplace
irrespective of rank.
Precision: The employee is not supposed to sit and chat in the workplace.
Workplace communication facilitates necessity and should be completed as
quickly as possible. It mostly consists of delegating tasks and reporting
results. So keep it short.
Language: The employee should never use any
slang terms while at work. Business communication should be crisp and clear so
that everyone understands what you're saying. Slang terms bring in the
eventuality of misunderstanding and also look unprofessional. So one should
avoid using slang in office.
Low Speaking Volume: One comes across so many
loud-talkers. Perhaps they are naturally so or do so deliberately to drive some
point across. But speaking loudly is disturbing to other people around you
hence, a low speaking volume should be maintained.
Clarity: It is also essential to ensure that
the person you are speaking with has completely understood what you have to
say. Hence, one should speak very slowly and clearly. If you have a strong
ethnic accent, you should make sure that you talk slowly so that the other
person gets what you have to say. It is always good to ask, "have you
understood?" just in case someone doesn't get what you have to say.
Listen to Others: Most people think of effective
communication as a one-way thing. But it is very important to also be a good listener
and not just a good talker. Others too often have something to say or to
contribute to a discussion hence, listening too, is one of the effective
communication skills at work.
Posture and Body Language: They say
actions speak louder than words and the same can be considered to be true at
the workplace. The body has a language of its own too, and at the workplace,
the body ought to be courteous. There are simple things to keep in mind,
whether it is wishing everyone 'good morning' at work, or having a courteous
smile on your face, being well-dressed in office, or sitting erect when someone
is talking to you.
(Kulkarni, 2012)
Those
strategies above are expected to give some advantages for employees and the
company. From the training, the quality of the company will increase because
the company has productive and quality employees. Moreover, the employee can
overcome their problem in the communication and there will be no firing which
is caused by misunderstanding.
Conclusion
A good
relationships is begun with a good communication. In other words, the
communication has important role in people’s relation. A good communication
means that people know how to use the appropriate terms in showing what they
thought. Effective
communication with people of different cultures is challenging. Cultures
provide people with ways of thinking--ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting
the world. Thus, the same words may mean different things to people from
different cultures, even when they talk the same language. When the languages
are different, and translation has to be used to communicate, the potential for
misunderstandings increases.
Workplace is a place where we can find many people from different
background possibly. When people communicate with someone who has different
background, it can lead misunderstanding sometimes. Therefore, knowing about
the way how to communicate across-culture is important.
Actually, every culture has different context in communication. In
Eastern, people use high considerateness in communication. While, the Western
use high involvement in their communication way. Direct and indirectness in communication also
have important role in communication. However, the usage of direct and
indirectness in communication is different in each culture.
For effective
communication in a work environment, establishing a relationship with those we are communication with is
important. Learn to talk to people and not at them. Chances of being given
attention when addressing a mature group is when our tone that is both polite and
authoritative. Employees are not children to be shouted at, this only generates
rebellion and lack of concentration.
Usually,
immigrant employees will get the difficulties in their new workplace. This is
caused by the difference of their previous culture. In addition, most of them need
times to adapt with their new culture. Sometimes, the result of
misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication of the workplace can cause
firing to the employees. According to Davies and Mitchell, the dual purpose of
applied linguist are to extend the knowledge of the language genre so as to add
to the theoretical base of language variety; and to provide input to the design
of language-teaching materials for use in training courses on workplace
communication for migrants, or to provide advice for administrators about how
to minimize miscommunication.
Therefore,
it is necessary if the prospective employees are given a training before they
start to work. It is well-known that before the employees come to work, they have to
leave their informal
self back home.
Furthermore,
the training material should contain some strategies in building a good
relationships through the communication. In addition, the material should show the
diversity in cross-cultural communication. Giving a training for prospective
employee can increase the quality of the company. Yet, the prospective
employees which have been trained will give the contribution to their company
through professional work. Therefore, there will be no firing because of a
misunderstanding of cross-cultural communication in the workplace.
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