Asian Cultural Backgrounds for International Technical Communication
著者 Yoshihiro Otsuka
雑誌名 dialogos
号 5
ページ 41‑48
発行年 2005‑03
URL http://id.nii.ac.jp/1060/00005006/
Creative Commons : 表示 ‑ 非営利 ‑ 改変禁止 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‑nc‑nd/3.0/deed.ja
41
Asian Cultural Backgrounds for International
Technical Communication
Yoshihiro Otsuka
Pmblem：
In the field of technical communication as well as in other uses of Ianguage，
human ideas seldoln fit together in the same way from language to language．
Chinese， Koreans， Philippines， and Japanese tend to arrange their ideas on the same subject in quite different ways vvithin a paragraph． These differences exist because each culture has its own special way of thinking、 And how a writer thinks largely detennines how he or she writes． Technical writers living outside of the English speaking countries， however， are aware that learning the most effective rheto亘cal pattems of technical English can help them to acquire an intemational technical communication ability that is not native to them， although there are many customs，
rules of behavior， and etiquette in their countries． The important thing is to shake themselves loose廿om conventional ideas．
Investigation：
The presenter seeks to reveal the deep stuctUre of thinkjng and behavior among the people in Asian countries， mainly China， Korea and Japan， using an internet questionnaire as is shown in the appendix， and face to face interviews．
Findings：
Q1：You do not speak to the other person before he or she speaks to you，
do you？
42 Yoshihiro Olsuka
＊Chinese people think they speak to the others directly．
＊PeoPle living outside Japan think the Japanese do not speak to the others positively．
＊Both Korean and Japanese peoples think they do not speak to the others pos－
itively．
Q2：Do you say“Yes”or “No”definitely？
＊Chinese people usually give a straight‘’Yes”or‘‘No．”All respondents，
Chinese＆non－Chinese alike， agreed with this assessment．
＊Korean people think Koreans do not always give a straighピ‘No”． But peo－
ple outside Korea think Koreans usually give a straight answer．
＊Japanese people do not give a straight“No”． All respondents， Japanese＆
non－Japanese alike， agreed with Ihis assessment．
［Reference］
For instance， you go somewhere to setl your company’s products、 Even if the other party has judged the product to be of little value， he will most likely say some－
thing iike，‘Thisis a great product， but our company has dealings with another com－
pany． so we cannot make any other business deals right now．”After hearing this，
you may expect they will do business with you at some time in near future， but in actuality， you wi11 probably never hear from them again．（Rules ofthe lapanese by K．Hasegawa， YAC PIanning， Inc． Tokyo， pp，43－44）
Q3：Do you take time to consider everything before making new transactions？
＊Chinese people think they take time to consider everything．
＊Many of the Korean people say they do not always take time to consider．
＊Japanese people always take time to consider everything． All respondent⑨，
Japanese＆non－Japanese alike， agreed with this assessment．
Q4：Do you put emphasis on the PROCESS rather than the RESULT？
Asian Cultural Backgrounds for lntemational Technical Communication
43
＊It is clearly shown that Chinese people put emphasis on the RESULT，
＊Many of the Korean people put emphasis on the RESULT， but not all．
＊Japanese people say they put emphasis on the PROCESS．
Q5：Do you usually write the most important topic at the end of a business letter？
＊50％of Chinese people and the same percent of Korean people write the most importan“opic at the end．
＊It is clearly shown that most of the Japanese people write the most impor－
tant topic at the end．
（Here are shown five questions and the conclusions drawn from their answers．
which are out of ten， since the transaction of statistics in questionnaire is yet to
be done． The overall questionnaire and their final answers w川be discussed in greater detail in the Proceedings of the 2005 Annual Meeting of Society f｛）r
Technical Communication．）
Conclusion：
A major difference between rhetorical discourse in Japanese and English lies in the order in which information presented． In order to simplifプ， people in Europe and America prefer to present information in a deductive manner． It begins with ageneralization and then goes on to particulars． They are positive or rather aggres－
sive in the business negotiation． On the other hand， Japanese， as a typical exam－
ple of Asian communication styles， prefer to present information in an inductive manner． They present specifics first and then state the generalization at the end， in which style， subdivisions come first and then gradually appears the conclusion． This is a typical example of climax style．
The presenter believes that one effective means of narrowing this gap is the technica1 communication education at colleges and universities． A detailed expla－
nation of the technical language education at the higher education level will be given
44 Yoshihiro Otsuka
in near future under the title of lntegrating Technical Communication Skills into EFL C皿rses at Japanese Universities．
References：
Carol M． Barnum＆Saul Carliner， Techniques∫for Technical Communicator，
Allyn and Bacon， Boston，1993．
Dan Jones， Technical Writing Style， Allyn and Bacon， Boston，1998．
Lois Johnson Rew， lntroduction to Technical Writin8， St， Martin’s Press，1989．
Nobuyuki Honna， Asian Englishes， vol．1，no」（1998）to vol，6． no．2（2003）， Alc Press．
Susan Feinberg， Components ofTechnical Writing， Holt， Rineh頒and Winston，lnc．，
New York，1989．
電通総研編 世界60力国価値観データブック、2004
宮崎 正弘 中国のいま、3年後、5年後、10年後、並木書房、2004 山本 秀樹 世界諸言語の地理的・系統的語順分布とその変遷、渓水社、
2003
Appendix：
QUESTIONNAIRE Ladies and Gentlemen：
Would you please answer the following questions and help Mr． Otsuka with his research on cross－cultural communication？
If you agree to the following opinions， please answer“YES”and if not，
please answer “ NO”． If you do not have any ideas， you don’t have to answer．
Opinions：
1－1．Japanese people do not speak until spoken to． （ 1－2．Chinese peoPle do not speak until spoken to． （
） ）
Asian Cultural Backgrounds for lnternational Technical Communication 45
1－3，Korean people do not speak until spoken to．（ ） 1－4．You do not speak until spoken to．（ ）
2－1，Chinese people do not give a straight YES or NO．（ ） 2－2、Korean people do not give a straight YES or NO．（ ） 2－3．Japanese people do not give a straight YES or NO．（ ） 2－4．You do not give a straight YES or NO、（ ）
3－1．Korean people take time to consider everything before makjng any new trans－
actions．（ ）
3－2．Japanese people take time to consider everything before making any new transactions．（ ）
3－3．Chinese people take time to consider everything before making any new trans－
actions．（ ）
3－4．You take time to consider everything befbre making any new transactions．
（ ）
4－1．Japanese people make most deals without written contracts．（ ） 4－2．Chinese people make most deals without written contracts．（ ） 4－3．Korean people make most deals without written contracts．（ ） 4－4．You make most deals without wriuen contracts．（ ）
5－1．Chinese people put emphasis on the PROCESS rather than the RESULT．
（ ）
5－2．Korean people put emphasis on the PROCESS rather than the RESULT．
（ ）
5－3． Japanese people put emphasis on the PROCESS rather than RESULT．
（ ）
46 Yoshihiro Otsuka
5－4．You put emphasis on the PROCESS rather than the RESULT．（ ）
6－1．Korean people are unwilling to do anything new unless many people are doing it．（ ）
6－2．Japanese people are unwilling to do anything new unless many people are doing it． （ ）
6－3．Chinese people are unwilling to do anything new unless many people are doing it． （ ）
6－4，You are unwilling to do anything new unless many people are doing it．
（ ）
7－1．In writing a business letter， Japanese people usually write the most impor－
tant topic at the end． （ ）
7－2．In writing a business letter， Chinese people usually write the most impor－
tant topic at the end． （ ）
7－3．In wriling a business leロer， Korean people usually write the most impor－
tant topic at the end．
7－4．In writing a business letter， you usually write the most important topic at the end． （ ）
8－1．In writing a business letter， Chinese people usually begin with the season’s greetingS． （ ）
8－2．In writing a business letter， Korean people usually begin with the season‘s greetingS． （ ）
8－3．In writing a business letter、 Japanese people usually begin with the season’s greetingS． （ ）
8－4．In writing a business letter， you usually begin with the season’s greetings．
（ ）
Asian Cultural Backgrounds fbr Intemational Technica】Communication 47
9－1．Korean people do not compare their products to those of their rivals in adver－
tising． （ ）
9－2．Japanese people do not compare their products to those of their rivals in adver－
tising． （ ）
9－3．Chinese people do not compare their products to those of their rivals in adver－
tising． （ ）
9－4，You do not compare your products to those of your rivals in advertising．
（ ）
10－1 ．Japanese people make humility a virtue．（ ＞ 10－2．Chinese people make humility a virtue．（ ） 10－3．Korean people make humility a virtue．（ ） lO－4． You make humility a virtue．（ ）
Would you mind if 1 asked you to write your nationality， age， and sex（male or female）？
Nationality （ ）， Age （ ）， Sex （ ）
Thank you very much Ibr yo田cooperation・
If you have any comment， please drop me a line：
48 Yoshihiro Otsuka
Thank you again．
（On August l st， this paper was submitted as a proposal for STC Annual Meeting at Seattle，2005 and has been accepted for STC’s52nd Annual Conference which will take place on May 8－11，2005．）
（大塚 賀弘）
