Chapter 3　Oral Communication

Learning Objectives

By the end of the chapter,you are supposed to understand the unique status of human language,the linguistic diversity,the classification of languages,informal languages,vocabulary equivalence,parables and proverbs,conversation taboos,translation and interpretation,paralanguage,and language and culture interaction.

Opening Case

An American manager of human resource in Philips lighting company talked with a Chinese employee with great potential.The American manager wanted to hear the views of the Chinese employee about his future with the company and his five-year career goal.But the Chinese employee did not answer the question directly,instead he only talked about the company’s future direction,promotion system and his current position.The employee talked for a long time,but did not give a definite and direct answer.The manager was puzzled and annoyed,because the same situation had occurred several times before.Later,the manager complained to another human resource manager,Mr.Jia,“I only wanted to know the employee’s working plan in the next five years and the position he wants to get in the company,but why cannot I get a clear answer?” The Chinese employee also complained to Mr.Jia,“Why are Americans so aggressive?” As the human resource manager in a multinational company,Mr.Jia knows that a different manner in communication brings about misunderstandings.So he did his best to explain to the two sides,but it is not easy to remove the obstacles between them.

Questions:

(1)Why did the Chinese employee not give a clear and definite answer?

(2)What stereotype did the Chinese employee form towards Americans?

(3)How can Mr.Jia effectively ease the awkward situation?

This is a case about oral communication differences between Chinese and westerners.Americans speak directly,but Chinese express their ideas indirectly.Here in this Chapter,we will focus on oral communication,which refers to communication in various languages.