Sociolinguistics in the Workplace

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(1)Sociolinguistics in the. Workplace Maidy Giber Kiji. Konan Women's University lntroduction ln any given learning situation, we feel that it is important to introduce cultural attitudes and beliefs along with the language inpute. Thus we have begun to create classroorrl situations and experiences which reflect the ideas of cross― cultural corrlrrlunication.In doing so,we. have rnoved fron■ the classroorrl situations to those of business interac― tionso We have found that it is possible to offer alternatives to students. whose prior thinking patterns and beliefs are of course based on their native culture. We have tried to induce and interest them in learning to understand the attitudes of North Arrlerican culture in business interac―. tionso We have not asked the students to adopt these beliefs at any tilne, rather, to try and understand them. Students have been given the task of learning to act and function utilizing the North American cultural attitudes which perrrleate given business situations. By lneans of a questionnaire, directed writing activities and discussion,our stu‐. dents have become aware of another set of cultural rules other than their own. They have attempted to apply these rules of culture into conversational frameworks within the context ofinternational business encounters..

(2) Sociolinguistics in the Workplace Ailns of Cross―. cultural Comlnunication. Seeyle(1992)has attempted to furnish a background list of tasks or goals in the teaching of cross‐ cultural corrlinunication. The first idea or. goal as it were,is itintroduce behavioral patterns or attitudes which are. presentin the target or foreign culture. These are the waysin which the society takes into account both physical and psychological require‐ ments. The second goal is the ability to understand social variables such as age, sex, social class and place of residence as they affect ′. differences in speech and behavior in the target culture. 「 he student should be aware of conventional behavior in both coⅡ IInon and crisis situations in the cultureo Words and phrases lnust be explained as they are culturany conditiOned. Students lnust be able to redefine generalit―. ies and statements about the target culture,They should participate in research about the culture through mass lnedia and personal observa―. tiono Finany, they must shape attitudes and anow for shared knowl― edge and empathy toward the target culture.. A Definition of Culture Before embarking on the task of introducing cultural attitudes and behavlor, we must endeavor to define what we rrlean by culture itself。. The reknown linguist,Benjarnin Lee Whorf is quoted in Singer(1987: 4-5)with this idea of culture:“ We are thus introduced to a new princi―. ple of relativity,which holds that a1l observers are notled by the same. physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are sirnilar or can in some way be calibrated''. Singer suggests the substitution of the word`cultural'for`linguistic'in. this framework.. Language is seen as the enaction of perceptions,. attitudes, values, belief and disbelief systenl which are held by a.

(3) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 21. certain group. Cultures are always changing, thus perceptions also change. Singer(1987:6)has given a definition of culture:“ a pattern of learned,group― related perceptions… including both verbal and nonverbal. language, attitudes, values, belief systems, disbelief systems, and behaviors… thatis accepted and expected by an identity group is called a culture。 ''.. Perceptions are the ways in which people interpret their surround‐ ings such as symbols, things, ideas, events, ideologies and religion. Perceptions are cultural when they are taught by the group one identif… ies witho Values differin that they expound a condition which is desired. by some individuale We belive that certain conduct is socially correct and this belongs to our value system. They are closely linked to our. attitudes and identuties as individuals and groups lnembers. Singer (1987)refers to perceptions, attitudes, values, and identities together functioning as a belief system.. In approaching our classroonl activities,we adopted this definition. of attitudes taken from Bem in Singer(1987:20):“ Attitudes are likes and dislikes. They are our affinities for and our aversion to situations,. objects, persons, groups,or any other identifiable aspect of our envi― ronment, including abstract ideas and social policies。 ¨ our likes and dislikes have roots in our emotions, in our behavior,and in the social influences upon us.''。. Our students,as Japanese are subieCt tO that culture's social influ―. ence and as we expected, their attitudes llirror the belief systeⅡ l of. Japanese society to a great extent. However,according to Rokeach in Singer(1987:27),beliefs may be“ central,interinediate or peripheral"。 Central beliefs are the primitive beliefs which were formed early in life. Most individuals do not question such beliefs. These basic beliefs inake.

(4) SocioHnguistics in the Workplace. 22. intercultural coΠ Hnunication extremely difficulto Beliefs in the interme¨. diate zone refer to some authority and an individual may check informa― tion to alter such beliefs. Peripheral beliefs are the ones which are lnost apt to change according to the openess ofthe individual's perceptions. If. this is true,groups belonging to cultures who generaHy accept author― ity without questioning,would not be“ open''. In our specific situation, we are dealing with young people who are still“ open"in a sense to new ideas despite a great horrlrrlage to a society where individualism is seen. in a negative lighto Our students were willing to accept some of the. North American behavioral attitudes although we made it clear that these should not replace their Japanese attitudes. Rather, this under‐ standing should enhance their ability to function in intercultural busi… ness situations which rrlany of therrl are airrling for fonowing gradua― tion.. Intercultural ConlIIlunication. We perceive conllnunication as a dynanlic activity wherein the participants are involved with each other's lnessages and therefore some. change is taking place. Conllnunication must be interactive which means that two or inore individuals will bring their schemata or back‐ ground knowledge with thenl as they receive and transnlit messageso lt. is also irreversible, for once something has been said,it cannot be erased.「 Fhe characteristic which we feel to be of utmost importance in corrlrrlunication is the physical and social contexte Our ailn in this work is to define social context,relationships that exist between participants and create the interaction or encounter.. Frorrl here we move to the concepts of culture and intercultural or cross‐ cultural. coΠ Hnunicatione. Since culture is responsible for an.

(5) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 23. individual's perception of reality, one corrlrrlunicates through one's culture. Therefore rnisunderstandings will naturany occur when indi― viduals of two different cultures attempt to conllnunicate in any given situationo According to Victor(1992),Japan is the highest on the scale of high context cultures,while the North American culture is based on the low context end of the scaleo High context cultures rely on implied or understood inforrrlation,while low context cultures rely on explicit inforrrlationo High context cultures emphasize close interpersonal rela‐. tionships, however those of low context generally do noto Thus high context cultures such as Japan 100k at business encounters in a more indirect way than those of North Americao lt would then fonow that the Japanese are interested in broaderideas than specific ones sought by the. North Americans.Victor(1922:146)writeS abOut Robert March's work:。. ..“ the. Japanese are not accustomed to negotiating a contract or. relationship in an itenl…. by― item. way. Usuany they Seek a broad agree¨. ment first."(1988:86).. High and low context cultures are different in their degrees of reliance on verbal conlnunication according to Victor(1992:153). His chart rates high context culture in this inanner:“ conlrrlunicate‐ silence―. reliance on words tO. low;reliance on nonverbal conllnunication‐ high;view of. respected,conlrrlunicative;attention to detail-low;attention to. intention― ness… low. high;cornrrlunication approach― indirect, inferential;literal‐. literalness, interpretive。 ''.. In the same chart he rates low. context culture in this way:“ reliance on words to conllnunicate‐ high; reliance on non‐ verbal corrllnunication‐ low;view of silence‐ anxiety¨ producing, noncorrlrrlunicative;attention to detail‐ intention…. high;attention to. low; corrlinunication approach― direct, explicit; literalness‐. high literalness, noninterpretive。. ''。. Victor(1992)identifies Japan as a.

(6) Sociolinguistics in the WOrkplace ′ here‐ 「 fore we are able to anticipate some of the difficulties which will inevita‐. high context culture and North America as one oflow context。. bly arise when Japanese students are face to face with North American culture in the workplace. In Japan,businesspeople use the tactic Of contrOned silence. Speech is often rrlistrusted and is not the favored means of corrlinunication. according to Dean Barnlund in Victor(1992:154). Japanese always adΠlire the virtue of silence and consider this an art, It is referred to as “haragei''or“ beHy art"。. Japanese businesspeople employ“ haragei"in. their negotiations in order to“ .… resolve active conflict and prevent potential conflict.。 .''(Victor 1992:154).. In effect,. “haragei" is not. understood by business individuals who belong to low context cultures. such as North Americans.Long, drawn― out silences rrlake theⅡ l easily uncomfortable. In such a situation in the workplace, the absence of speech is often interpreted as one of disagreement, Japanese use this tactic to keep ideas to themselves, however North Americans will use other rrleans to withhold infoHnation,Savine_Troike in Tannen/Savil‐ le―. Troike(1985 : 7-8)explains the terrn. “haragei'' as “wordless. corrlrrlunication"which is employed when a situation is very emotional or a speaker is“ at a loss for words"。. “There is a belief that as soon as an. experience is expressed in words(ora1 0r writlen), the real essence disappears. 。.''. According to Saville‐ Troike, silence may be socio― contextual in that it is role― indicative, status‐ indicative or situation… indicativeo Silence rnay also be institutionany deterrrlined for proceed‐ ings such as business rrleetings,religious services and public perforrrl‐ ances。. Stewart(1991)discusses the differences in the management tech¨ niques of Japan and the United States. In Japan,employmentis viewed.

(7) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 25. as long terrrl and career oriented,while in the United States,it is short. ter]mt and market oriented. Japanese lnanagement values are harmony and consensus,while those of Almericans are openness and accountabil‐ ity. In the category of inanagement style,Japanese are perfectionists while Americans are action‐ oriented. In view of these differences,our students responded to a dialong situation regarding JapaneSe attitude. towards work as opposed to fanlily. position and tried to justify the“ “Arnerican"counterpart. Most of them defended their. sacrifice"of fanlily for work to the. in the dialog. However some students as we. will later note,adΠ litted that there was something undesirable about. Japanese salarymen who tended to neglect the farrlily in favor of their jobo AInericans adnlire responsible individuality while the Japanese regard individuality as inllnaturity. They may tend to consider that more obligation is due to one's lob than one's fanlilyo Some students indicated that they felt this situation is changing with the younger generation. In regard to organizational structure,Japanese"... do not discuss bargaining tactics. Pre negociations lnove slowly and cautiously.. ′. The. Japanese do not openly disagree during forrrlal negoations;they would consider this distasteful and embarrassing. They often use rrlediatOrs. during negotiations, and basicany take one position throughout the process.''。. HenWeg,Samovar and Skow (1991)in SamOvar and Porter. (1991:191)。 Concerning this point,our students were generally reluc… tant to express written disagreement in their dialog situations before they attended lny dross‐ cultural conllnunication lecture. I will elaborate shortly on this in the experilnent section of this paper.. Intercultural Competence.

(8) Sociolinguistics in the Workplace. We know from previous classroom research, that students win increase both in confidence and lnotivation as they experience learning situations. The clearer their ideas are regarding what should be done and how to lnanage agiven situation,the inore salient or obvious it will. becomeo They win increase their corrllnunicative competence in the process of acquisition of knowledge through learning experienceso lf a. certain context becomes more faΠ liliar, such as exposure to various situations within a culture,they will increase their ability as conHnuni― cators. Students lnust take on new identities and roles as they interact in the cross‐ cultural dialogs。. Canale and Swain(1980:28)outine a“ theoretical framework for cornrrlunicative. competence''。. We. understand. “ conllnunicative. competence"as the ability to cornrrlunicate in another language/cul―. ture system.. In other words it is the ability to send and receive. messages,to speak and be understood and to understand in turn.. three components of. ′ he 「. “ corrlinunicative competence" are graΠ llnatical,. sociolinguistic and strategico ln our work, we have focused on the sociolinguistic aspect of“ corninunicative competence"。. We have tried to. instillin our students,the understanding of sociolinguistic attitudes and. behavior、Ⅳhich forrrl part of the North American business world.. ExperiIIlent. I(MIaidy Giber Kiji)conducted the classroom research in two second year junior conege classes and one third year class of the four. year conege at Konan Women's University. One second year class is a serrlinar and the otheris caned Background to English. Ⅱo Both of these. classes focus on listening/speaking skills. The third year course is. Eikaiwa or conversation. The Background to English Ⅱ classis using a.

(9) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 27. text which focuses on“ cross― cultural corrlinunication"(Kirn 1989a)and the third year course follows“ language and culture in depth"(Kirn 1989. b).The secOnd year serrlinar studies with the text by Tillit and Bruder (1989)which contains general conllnunication tasks.. This experilnental process in the classroom consisted of three stageso ln the initial session,the students were given a questionnaire comprised of fifteen questions. They were asked to answer by circling either“ yes'',“ no'',“ Inaybe"or“. I don't know"for each question. This. questionnaire was written by me and the situations involved were related to business situations or social situations in a business context。. Students were not given any prior warning and were silnply told to fill in the questionnaire according to their own opinions. I explained that there was no correct answer and that the questionnaire would help rrle to understand their attitudes to intercultural business situations. They. took approxllnately ten rrlinutes to fill out the questionnaire working individuallyo The second part of the session was done through pairw‐ ork,Groups of two students were assigned one intercultural situation and asked to compose a dialog of eight sentences with atleast six words in each sentence. The situations involved the following business encounters: 1)You are JapaneSe and your business co―. workeris Americane She has some. ideas about company loyalty in Japan. She feels that Japanese are lnarried. to their corrlpany and they often neglect their farrlily.YOU DISAGREE, How do you ten her your opinion? 2)You are JapaneSe and your business co―. worker is Americano She is talking. about a new sales promotion for stereo equipment. You do not understand. her completely.. What do you do? Do you ten her that you do not. understand her?{Э r do you remain silent in order to be polite?. Students completed the dialogs in forty rrlinutes' tirrle,working.

(10) Sociolinguistics in the Workplace. with their partners.. I did not monitor their work or perforin any. corrections etc. One week later,I gave a lecture on the intercultural business situa‐. tions of the questionnaire. I elicited responses from the students,many of whoΠ l gave a Japanese interpretation to the given situation.. ′ hen I 「. explained the North American attitude in that situation.Our lecture/ discussion session lasted approxirrlately thirty lninutes. The third session took place exactly one week later. I adrrlinistered. the same questionnaire a second tirrle. It was lnarked questionnaire#2. and many students did not recognize it.. They were tilned for ten. rrlinutes to answer the questions. Then for a second tilne,they were. asked to work in pairs to write dialogs on one of the fonowing situations: 1. You are Japanese and your co― worker is Americano You are at a business. meeting and you have an important thing to say. She is talking with someone elseo Can you interrupt her or do you have to remain silent?. What do you do? 2. You are Japanese and your co― workeris Americano You see her when you are walking out of the office. Do you stop and talk with her or do you just. speak briefly and explain that you are in a hurry?. Again,these dialogs took approxilnately forty lninutes to complete. As you will see in the results section,the difference in attitudes became. apparento Students were able to adapt North American attitudes in their intercultural business situations in the lnajority of the cases.. Results and Discussion(see appendices) The results of the questionnaire are shown in Tables l to 15,and the. results of intertpretation of cross― cultural situations (dialog conl‐ position)are also shown in Table 16。 We will discuss how to read the.

(11) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 29. tables. Each table indicates the treatrrlents and the first week data from. 53 subjects before presenting the treatinents and the third week data fron1 48 subjects which were carried out during the second week of the. experiment.The difference between the number of subjects before the treatinents and the number of subjects after the treatinent is due to the. percentage of attendance,because this experilnent was made during regular class hours. Let us consider Table l as an example in order to understand the remaining tables。. ′. The observed numbers for the first. question before and after teratlnents are shown,and each percentage is. put under the observed numbers to calculate each expected number. The result of Chi‐ square test is finany presented at the lower right side. of the table. The reason we used Chi‐ squre test is all the data are nonparametrics. It is appropriate for such nonlinal data as head counts or frequency counts. We refer you to Guildford《 &Fraschter(1978)for further information about this statistical analysis. We would like to analyze the results of the questionnaire one by one. and have some discussion about them.. Table lo QueStiOn l.Is it rude to interrupt someone who is talking? Tables of the Results of the QuestiOnnaire. Before Treatments(n=53). a(Yes)b(No)c(Maybe)d(I don't know) Observed. Expected Chi―. square. 38. 71 7%. 3. 10. 57%. 188%. a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). 2. 25. 38%. 337. 17. 27. 6. 0. 90. 18. χ2=80 78 df=3 (p<01). Japanese are taught not to interrupt people who are talking to someone else.To do so is considered very poor behavior and if you want.

(12) Sociolinguistics in the WOrkplace. to talk to someone,you have to wait until they have finished talking.. They are not anowed to make any questions or coΠ IInents to their teachers in class until they finish lecturing,either. Patience or endur―. ance is regarded as one of the virtues in Japanese culture. The table. before treatments shows that the number of'yes'is 37(71.7%)and the number of'no'is only 3 (5.7%). This result clearly reflects the idea mentioned above. However,the table after treatrrlents indicates that the number of'yes'and'no'is respectively 25 and 17. There is a statistically significant difference.. Table 2。. Question 2,Do you say“ thank you"when someone gives you. a compliment? TABLE2. 13eforc Treatmonts(n=53). After Treatmonts(n=48). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(l don't know) Observed. 27. Expected. 50 9%. 11 208%. 9. 170%. 6. H3%. a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know) 37. 4. 244 2二. χ. 100. 7. 0. 82. 54. 11 29 df=3 (01<p<05). Praise or complimenting is one ofthe rnost effective ways to encour‐. age people in America,and people usuany accept the praise or compli―. ment without any suspicion. In Japan,they always have a sense of `obligation'and they feelthis way,“ Itis natural to do so.''. Accordingly,. their responses for praise or compliments are found to be filled with. modest expressionso The table before treatinents shows that the number of'yes'is 27(50.9%`)。 This suggests that younger generation in ′. Japan is beconling more open in some respects. The table after treat― ments indicates a significant difference by the statistical analysis..

(13) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University Is silence uncornfortable in a social situation?. Table 3。 TABIJE 3. After Treatments(n=48). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Observed 19 19 Expocted 35 8% 358%. 12 227%. 3 57%. a(Yes) b(No) c(MaybO)d(I don't know). 24 172. 17 172. 4 109. 3 27. 2=7 102 df=3 (05<p<10). χ. We predicted that the number of`yes'would corrlinand an absolute majority,as Japan iS thought to be a country of high context culture,. which embraces the saying,`Silence is golden'. However,against our expectation,the result before treatrrlents shows that the number of'yes'. and `no' is split evenly.. We feel that the question itself was too. ambiguous for them to answer.. Table 4&Table 10. QueStiOn 4。 If you disagree with someone's opinion, TABI」. E4. QueStiOn 4 1f you disagree with someonc's opinion,sh()uld you keep quiet?. After Treatments(n=48). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Obscrved Expected Chi―. 2 38%. 42 792%. 8 150%. 1 19%. a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe) d(l don't know). 2 18. 41 380. 4. 1. 72. 09. square. QueStiOn 10。. If someone gets a new position,should you congratilate. him/her? Japanese skillfuny handle the two words,'Honne'(to disClose his real intention)and'Tatemae'(a principle,or a policy)。. ′. They tend to.

(14) Sociolinguistics in the WOrkplace. think that they arejust anonymous menbers in society,and they should. not be independent or unique. They must not disturb the harinony. According to these ways of thinking,even if they disagree with some‐ one,they try not to talk and keep quiet. Both of the results before and after treatrrlents of(auestion 4。. against our expectation,indicate that. the number of`no'is very higho We acknowledge the fact that an ofthe subjects were students and they rnight not understand the reality of the. world. TABLE10. a(Yes)b(N())c(MaybO)d(I don't kn()w). Observcd. 44. 0. 7. Expectcd. 83 0%. 0%. 132%. Chi―. a(YOs) b(N()) c(Maybc)d(I don't knOw). 2. 46. 38%. 398. 0. Z二. squarc. χ. 18. 49 df=3. Question lo seeⅡ ls to be also concerned with'Honne'and'Tatemae'. Japanese people are not very open and sensitive to this kind of situation.. They usuaHy try notto talk and keep quiet. However,the results before and after treatinents show that the number of'yes'is overwhellningly high。. ′ here is no significant difference consequently. 「. Table 5,Table 6,Table 7 and Table 8 Question 5。 Are PoHteness and cornfort lnore important than truth and. honesty? Question 6. If you don't understand what someone is saying,should you. smile and pretend that you do? Question 7.If you wantto leave a business meeting,do you shake hands with all the people in the roorrl?.

(15) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University TABLE5. After Treatments(n=48). BefOre Treatrnents(n=53). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Observed. 1. Expected. 35. 19%. 9. 660%. a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). 8. 3. 151%. 09. 170%. 34. 317. 9. 82. 72. χ2=891 df=3 (01<p<05). Chi― square. Before Treatments(n=53). After Treatments(n=48). a(Yes)b(No)c(Maybe)d(I don't know). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Observed. 2. Expected. 38%. 38. 717%. 10. 188%. 3. 2. 57%. 1 8. 42 34 4. 3. 90. 27. χ2=677 df=3 (05<p<10). Chi― square. QueStiOn 7 1f you want to leave a business meeting,do you shake hands with all the people in the room?. BefOre Treatments(n=53). After Treatments(n=48). a(Yes)b(No)c(Maybe)d(I don't know) Observed. 2. 46. Expected. 38%. 868%. 2 38%. 3. a(Yes)b(No)c(Maybe)d(I don't know) 6. 56%. 18. 35. 417. 3. 18. 27. χ2=136 df=3 (p<01). Chi― square. Question 8.When you wantto leave a lneeting,do you announce"I have to leave"and walk out? In an ordered or controlled society such as that of Japan,people tend to think too lnuch about social courtesy or they tend to be rnuch. too serious about their counterpartso. We prepared these questions. keeping the above idea in nlindo As for Question 5 and QuestiOn 6, alinost an subjects in both results after treatrnents gave the answer of'.

(16) SocioHnguistics in the Workplace no'。. Probably they are rnuch more open than we expected or they are. not wen matured sOcianyo we can not decipher the reason for these results.. However, about 30 percent of the subjects chose the other. answerso Both results after treatrrlents indicate a significant difference although it is subtle. TABLE8. Before Treatments(n=53). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe) d(I don't know). Observed. 28. Expected. 52 8%. Chi―. 11 207%. 12 227%. a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). 2. 26. 38%. 250. 17. 99. 5. 109. 0. 18. χ2=932 df=3 (01<p<05). square. QuestiOn 7 is concerned with the habit of`handshaking'. Japanese usuany greet by`bowing'instead of`handshaking',but in this case it is very naturalthat most subjects chose the answer`no'(86。 8%). It would be impossible for therrl to shake hands if there is a large number of people at the rrleetinge As for Question 8,it is rude to leave a rneeting. place without saying anything. However,in the results before and after treatinents,the results are variedo Statistic analysis finany indicates a significant difference instead of the expected answer.. Table 9&Table ll. QuestiOn 9。 When someone offers you food or drink at a business party,. should you accept or say“ no thank you"? QuestiOn ll. If you go for a job interview,should you ask questions? Japan iS high context culture,so there are so rrlany eupheΠ. lisms or. indirect expressionso JapaneSe can not use`yes'and`no'very easily because of this reasono The result of Question 9,however,is completely.

(17) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 35. opposite of what we expectedo We concluded that young JapaneSe women of today can indicate their intentions clearly, especiany in regard to food。 TABLE9 QueStiOn 9 when sOmeone offer you food or drink thank you"? Before Treatments(n=53). After Treatments(n=48). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). a(Yes)b(No)c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Observed. 36. Expected. 67 9%. 13 246%. 4 75%. 0 0%. 28. 13. 326. 11 8. 37. 2=0 79 df=3 (ns). χ. TABLEll. Before Treatments(n=53). After Treatments(n=48). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Observed. 32. 6. Expected. 60 4%. 113%. Chi―. 75%. 208%. 38. 3. 5. 290. 54. 36. 2. 100. χ2=108 df=3 (01<p<05). square. QuestiOn ll also has something to do with a high context culture. Japanese dislike being asked in a detailed way about anything. In a job. interview,they would not try to ask about payment,working hours or a day off.And accordingly about 40 percent ofthe subjects had negative answers before treatrrlents, but the result after treatrnents shows a significant difference.. Table 12&Table 15, QueStiOn 12.Do you first introduce a man to a worrlan? QuestiOn 15. If a customer makes a complaint about your company,is it your personal responsibility?.

(18) Sociolinguistics in the Workplace. 36. TABLE12. Observed 23. 7. 5. 18. Expectod. 132%. 94%. 340%. 43 4%. 24 208. 19 63. 3. 45. 2. 163. 2=39 14 df=3 (p<01). χ. TABIJE15. a(Yos) b(No) c(ヽ laybo) d(I don't know) Obscrved Expoctcd. 7 13 2%. 34 642%. 75%. Chi― square. 151%. 63. 202. 2=1782 df=3 χ. 36. (p<01). In general,itis hard for Japanese to introduce a second person to a third person. If the second person were a female subordinate,and the third person were a client,this tendency would appear lnore strongly. The second person would usuany bein gnoredo Japan is a lnale centered society,and also a group oriented society.An individual would not exist. without a group in Japan,While a group would not exist without an individual in America.According to this idea,in the Japanese society,. an individual empoloyee's responsibility is thought to be a whole company's responsibility.. The result of question 12 before treatinents indicates that the. number of`yes'is comparat市 ely small(43.4%),which reflects the above ideao While the result of question 15 before treatrrlents shows that. the number of'no'is rather high of than we expectedo We could find that there was a significant difference in each result after treatrrlents..

(19) MIaidy Giber Kiji Konan Worrlen's University. 37. Table 13&Table 14. QuestiOn 13. Do you first introduce an employee to the boss? QuestiOn 14.If you ineet someone you know in a public place,must you say“ Heno"and lnake small talk? TABI」 E13. After Treatments(n=48). a(Yos) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Observed 27 11 Expected 50 9% 208%. 5 94%. 10 189%. a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). 29 244. 16 100. 1 45. 2 91. 2=12 73 df=3 (p<01). Chi― square. χ. TABLE14. After Treatments(n=48). Beforo Treatments(n=53). a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). Observed 33 8 Expected 62 3% 151%. 12 226%. 0 0%. a(Yes) b(No) c(Maybe)d(I don't know). 27 299. 13 72. 8 108. 0 0. 2=567 df=3 (ns). χ. A hierachical system exists in a company in both America and ′. Japan.It iS natural for an employee to be introduced to the boss. 「 he number of`yes'of QuestiOn 13 before treatments is 27(50。 1%),which is. less than we expected. However we found a significant difference. QuestiOn 14 is slightly ambiguous,so the result of the question indicates no significant difference.. Table 16。. Interpretation of cross― cultural situations. The results of ll questions out of 15 questions indicate statistically significant differences. This lneans the treatrrlents are effective and the.

(20) Sociolinguistics in the Workplace. subjects have learned some cross¨ cultural knowledgeo After this,wё have added a dialog comprehension to our experilnent to rrleasure how this knowledge is actuany reflected. Table 16 shows the result of this experilnento The number of subiectS in the Pre‐ the Post¨ test numbered 23。. test was 26,and those in. Each evaluation of the dialog composition. shows three categories;American View,Neutral(Misunderstanding) and Japanese Viewo Statistical analysis of this result shows a significant difference。. Pre― Test(n=26). (Misunderstandin. Expected. 423%. Chi― square. 192%. 2=22 80 df=2 (p<01). χ. Conclusion This experilnent has enabled us to explore the place of sociolingui‐. stic competence in a second language curriculum.. ′ he 「. students have. been exposed to“ rules"of cross‐ cultural coΠ linunication by means of a quastionnaire,discussion and dialog compositiono We have been able to uphold our initial prenlise that we inust instruct students in sociolingui‐. stic attitudes as a part of language instruction. As Wolfson (1989)has noted,sociolinguistics is a growing field and efforts such as ours are only the beginningo We lnust turn again to Canale and Swain(1980)for the answer that sociolinguistic competence along with linguistic and strategic competence forrns coΠ Hnunicative competence. As language teachers,our goalis to further our students'capacity in corrlrrlunicative.

(21) M[aidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 39. competenceo This is the ability to achieve conllnunication by employing language,attitudes and strategies together. References Allen,E.D.and Ro M.Valette。. sf Foπ なηιαη遜んηづ警αgθ s σπθ (1972)。 CJα sSttο π Tθ ε. οηαLα ηgπ αgθ o New York:Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, s αSθ θ sん α απαEηgι づ Inc.. Althen,G。. (1988).ス πθπεαη ИZα ys.Yarmouth,Maine:Intercultural Press.. Andersen,J.F.and Ro Powen.(1991).Intercultural Comlnunication and the づ οπo Samovar,L.A.and R.E.Porter εα″ ″ zπ ιCο η %π πづ θγ θπι classroom,in fη ι z′. (Eds.).BelmOnt,California:Wadsworth. sづ ηJα ηgzα r sα ι υθγ Brown,P.and S.C.Levinson。 (1987)。 PoJづ惚πθSs,sο πθZπ づ asαy.Carrlbridge:Oxford. Canale,M。. University Press.. (1983).Form communicat市 e competence to communicat市 e. lan―. づ οη.Richards,Jo C.and Ro W. εα′ guage pedagogy,in Lα ηgπ αgθ απα COttπ zπ づ. Singapore:Longman.. Schnlidt(Eds.)。. Chaudron,C。. οηα Lα ηgπ αgθ Cι αssroο (1988)。 Sθ ε. s. New York:Carrlbridge `“. University Press.. Dubin,F.and Eo Olshtain.(1986)。. Cο π. θDθ sag“ 。. New York:Carrlbridge. `応. University Press.. Dunnett,S.C.,Dubin,F. and A. Lezberg。. (1981). English language teaching. from an intercultural perspective,in Valdes,Jo M (Ed。. ″ π ).Cπ ι. Bο πηα .. `″. New York:Cambridge University Press. ttπ J Ferraro,G.P。 (1990).Tん θCπ ι. πsづ οη Dづ πθ. α″ づ οηαιβπsづ πθss.Engle‐ o/ル惚鰯ι. wood Cliffs,New Jersey:Prentice Han. Fishman,J.(1971)。. οηo απε′ グ s″ づ cs fス β万のF」腕拓ο SOε づ οJグ ηgπ づ. Rowley,MA:New‐. bury House. Guilford,J.Poand B.Fruchter.(1978).Fπ παα鰯 πttzJ ,θ. S滋. ″s″ εsづ πPsyε んOJogy αηα. Eα πε α″οη.Tokyo:MIcGraw― Hill.. Harvet,R.G。 (1987).Cross― Cultural Awarenessin Fiber Luce,L.and E.C.Smith づ sπ .New York:Newbury House. (Eds.).Toω α,df笏 ″ηzα ″οπαι. Hatch,E。 (1992).Dづ scο πrsθ αηα Lα ηgπ αl堅夕Eα zε α″οηo. New York:Cambridge. University Press.. Hughes,G.H。. (1986)。. An argument for culture analysis in the second language. classroom,in Valdes,J.M。. (Ed。 )。. Cπ J′ π `″. βοπηα.New. York:Cambridge.

(22) SocioHnguistics in the Workplace University Press. Ish五 ,S.and. T.Bruneau。. (1991)。 Silence and Silence in Cross― cultural Perspec―. tive:Japan and the United States,in Samovar,L.A.and R.Eo Porter(Eds.). Iη ′ θ%θ zι ″ zttα ιCο η 2,π. πηグ εαι グ οη. Bellnont,California:Wadsworth.. ETCi A Cο 箔ゅθたηCノー 3α sθ α Lグsた ηづ ηg/Spθ αたづ ηg. Kirn,E。 (1989a)。. Bο οた ,イ. f. ππηづ θ αι グ Oη o New York:Randorrl House。. Cγ ο ss― Cπ ι ′ zγ α J Cο `“. Kirn,E。 (1989b)。 gπ α gθ. ETCrス. cο πpθ ttη cン βαsθ αLづ sι θ ηづ ηg/Spθ αたグ ηg. αηα Cπ ι ιπ づ ηD￠ p′ ん。 New “. Levine,Do Ro and M.Bo Adelman。 Cο ′ππηづ θ α′ づ οη/Oγ Eη gι グ sん. βοοた,5f Lα η―. York;Randorrl House. (1982).Bθ ノοηα Lα ηgπ αgθ. f fη. たπ)zι ′ πttα ι. αs αSθ θοηα Lα ηgπ αgθ o Englewood Cliffs,NJ:. “. Prentice Han Regents. Levinson,S.C。 (1983).Pttg“ α′ づ εs.Carrlbridge:Cambridge University Press. βπsグ ηθss ttι θ,り θι グ οηs.Englewood. Matthews,C.(1987)。. Cliffs,New」 ersey:. Prentice Han。. Nunan, D。. (1991)。. Communicative Tasks and the Language Curriculum,. 27SOL Oπ αγι θγ tt V01.25#2,Summer. Porter Ladousse,G。. θP′ αy (1987)。 Rο ι. Richards,J.C。 (1990).Tん θLα ηgπ αgθ. Oxford:Oxford University Press. Tθ αε カグ ηg Maι ttχ o. New York:Cambridge. University Press. Richard,」。Co and Ro Wo SchΠ. lidt。. (1983)。. Conversational Analysis in Richards,. ε α′ づ οη.Singapore: Jo C.and Ro Wo Schnlidt(Eds.).Lα ηgπ αgθ αηαCθ ′πzη づ “. Longman.. Ruben,B.D。 (1987).Guidelines for Cross― Cultural Communication Effective― ness in Fiber Luce,L.and Eo Co Smith(Eds。 ).Tο ωαだ. Iη 彪勧 α ″ づ οηαι づ sπ. o New. York:Newbury House. Seeyle,Ho N。 (1992).Tθ αεんづ ηg Cπ J′ ππ.Lincolnwood,11linois:NTC Publishing. ι ππ ιCο πzπ ηづ Singer,M.R。 (1987).動ただπι εα″ づ οηf五」 %κ の ′ Zα ι∠ppttα ε ん。. Englewood Cliffs,NJ:PrentiCe Han Regents. Spitzberg,B.H。 (1991).Intercultural Conlrrlunication Competence in Samovar, L.A.and Ro Eo Porter(Eds)。れただπι ι ππ J. Cο. πππηグ θ αι グ οη.Belmont,Califor¨. nia:Wadsworth. Stewart,E.C.(1987)。 American Assumptions and Values:Orientation to Action in Fiber Luce,L.and EoC.and Srrlith(Eds.).Tο. ωαだ. Iη た観 α ′ づ οηαι づ sπ. o New. York:Newbury House. Tarvin,W.L.and A.Yo Al―. Arishi。 (1991)。. Rethinking Corrlmunicative Lan….

(23) MIaidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 41. guage Teaching:Reflection and the EFL Classroom,in TESOL O%α. y, γttγ ι. Vol.25#1,Spring。 Tillit,B.and M.Newton Bruder。わπ後. "Jη. (1989)。. π ηgハ物ι Spθ αたづ. Jι. `協. ノ.ハワω yo,セ. r Cα π―. SS. づ υθ零づ ″ fレタ. van Lier, L。. んθLαηgaαgθ Lθ αttθ tt Singapore: (1988). Tん θCι αss%ο θπ αηα ′. Longman. づ θηαJ (1992).Iη た観 α′. Victor,Do A。. 2.New York:Harper. εα′ づ ο ss Cθ ππ%η づ Bπ sづ ηθ. Collins.. Wiley,To Go and Ho Spruck Wigley.(1987).Cο. んθRθ αι づ ηgづ ηι ε αι ,%笏;π ηづ. Englewood.Cliffs,New」 ersey:Prentice Hall. Wolfson,N。 (Ed。 )。. (1987)。. Compliments in cross― cultural perspective,in J.M.Valdes. ππ BOttη αo Caι ι. Wolfson,N。. New York:Cambridge University Press.. θs αηα TESOLo θι づ ηgzづ s′ づ ′ づ υθsr Sο εづ (1989)。ル rspθ ε. New York:New―. bury House. QueStiOnnaire Circle your choice for each question. 1。. Is it rude to interrupt someone who is talking?. a) Yes. b) No √aybe c) 〕. d) I don't know 2. Do you say"thank you"when someone gives you a compliment?. a) Yes. b) No c) R/1aybe. d) I don't know 3. Is silence uncorrlfortable in a social situation?. a) Yes. b) No c) L4aybe d) I don't know 4。. If you disagree with someone's opinion,should you keep quiet?. a) Yes. b) No. ι α ογ. "ζ. ..

(24) 42. Sociolinguistics in the Workplace. c) Maybe d) I don't know 5。. Are politeness and corrlfort lnore important than truth and honesty?. a) Yes. b) No c) Maybe d) I don't know lf you don't understand what someone. is saying,should you sΠ lile and. pretend that you do?. a) Yes. b) No c) Maybe d) I don't know lf you want to leave a business lneeting.do you shake hands with an the people in the roorrl?. a)Yes b)No c) Maybe d) I don't know When you want to leave a rrleeting,do you announce"I have leave"and. walk out?. a) Yes. b)No c) Maybe d) I don't know When someone offers you food or drink at a business party,should you accept or say"no thank you"?. a) Yes. b)No c) Maybe d) I don't know lf someone gets a new position should you congratulate hiln//her?. a) Yes. b)No c) Maybe.

(25) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 43. d) I don't know lf you go for a job interview,should you ask questions?. a) Yes. b)No c)Maybe d) I don't know Do you firstintroduce a lnan to a woman?. a) Yes. b) No c) lИ aybe. d) I don't know Do you first introduce an employee to the boss?. a) Yes b) No c) Maybe d) I don't know 14. If you lneet someone you know in a public place,must you say"Heno"and. make sman talk?. a) Yes b) No c) Maybe d) I don't know 15. If a customer inakes a complaint about your company,is it your personal responsibility?. a) Yes b) No c) Maybe d) I don't know Cross‐ cultural. Communication Tasks. Please write a dialog of eight complete sentences― six words or rrlore in each. sentence for one of the following situations. Anslwer what you think an Arnerican would do in this situation,even though you are Japanese.Pretend that you are in America. Situation l You are JapaneSe and your business co―. worker is Arrlerican.She has.

(26) Sociolinguistics in the Workplace. some idea about company loyalty in Japano She feels that」 apanese are married to their company and they often neglect their farrlily.YOU DISA―. GREE.How do you ten her yOur opinion? Situation 2 You are Japanese and your business co― worker is AInericano She is. talking about a new sales promotion for stereo equipment. You do not understand her completelyo What do you do? Do you ten her that you do not understand her? Or do you remain silent in order to be polite? Situation l a l think,Japanese should rrlake rrluch of their fanlily. b As we rnake rnuch of our farnily,we work hard a But,Japanese have little spare tirne So the tilne Japanese spend or with farnily is little. b Certainly. If we have rnore than tilne,we don't know how to use. a ln America,Father play tennis with children and take to an amusement park on holiday. b lt's Japanese ideal.Japanese farrlily don't comunicate each other a lt's not good lt's necessary to take tirrle to comunicate each other.. b lthinkso.But alot ofJapanese women think better husband is good health and he is notin. Please write a dialog with your partner of eight complete sentences with six words at least in each sentence. Situation l You are Japanese and your co―. workeris American.You are. at a business lmeeting and you have an important thing to say. She is talking with someone elseo Can you interrupt her or do you have to remain. silent?What do you do? Situation 2 You are Japanese and your co―. workeris American.You see. her when you are walking out of the office.Do you stop and talk with her or do you just speak briefly and explain that you are in a hurry? Situation l. (A is talking to someone) (Japanese) B:Excuse rne.I'm sorry to interrupt you.. A:Yes,what? B:Ah― 。Why don't we sneak out thejob atlunch tirne?to see Prince.

(27) Maidy Giber Kiji Konan Women's University. 45. parade.. A:I don't understand what you saying?. B:I mean,You know,tomorrow we have wedding ofcrown princein 」apano We should celebrate them!It doesn't take long tilne to get there。. A:Oh,yeah why not!! B:I'1l meet you in front of irrlformation on the first floor at twelve o'clock。 ○.K.?. A:]Right Twelve o'clock,in front of inforination。. B:Sorry for interrupt you.. A:No,problem。.

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