Verbal Communication In Chinese Culture

Verbal Communication in Chinese Culture

This part of the writing will outline some Chinese communication practice with an analysis of the theories, characteristics, and values that embody it.

Most of the analysis in this section will be based on the social science approach. The social science approach assumptions are that there is a describable external reality, human behavior is predictable, and culture is a measurable variable; and this approach attempts to identify and explains cultural communication to predict future communication (Martin and Nakayama 54). Using this approach allows the analysis to use two important theories that can provide an overview of Chinese verbal communication: face negotiation theory and conversational constraint

This theory refers to the view that cultural groups vary in their fundamental concerns regarding how to construct a conversational message (Martin and Nakayama 56). As a collectivistic culture, it is likely that Chinese verbal communication practice concerns about hurting other’s feelings and minimizing imposition.

Chinese verbal communication have five categories that reinforce the assumptions of these social science theories: (1) han xu or implicit communication, (2) ting hua or listening centeredness, (3) ke qi or politeness, (4) zi ji or a focus on insiders, and (5) mian zi or face directed communication strategies (Gao 163).

Han xu or implicit communication refers to the preferred method in Chinese verbal communication: indirect style. Using an indirect style, verbal message is crafted to camouflage the speaker’s true intention, needs, wants, and desires (Martin and Nakayama 233). The indeterminacy that arises from the indirect message will provide opportunities to protect and serve their own purposes, while integrating the needs of self with those of the society (Chang 535). In practice, the implicit communication favors the importance of nonverbal cues and lack of verbal expressiveness. As an example, Bo Yang (cited in Gao 171) argued that a hungry Chinese with a rumbling stomach may answer to a question, such as “have you had dinner?”, by a “yes”. Thus, the key of han

Chinese communication is characterized as implicit communication (han xu). A Chinese is more likely to use the indirect style, while an American is more likely to use the direct style. For instance, the word ‘yes’’ means agreement and affirmation to North Americans, while, it may convey multiple layers of meanings such as ”I’m listening” and “That’s possible” to Chinese (Gao 163). Chinese are generally less expressive. Compared to North Americans, Chinese tend to display more reserved and less overt facial expressions (Gao