Summary The article analyses German-Lithuanian business negotiations in the English language, focusing on questions of the dynamics of power and solidarity (Tannen, 1993, 1995), realized through various politeness strategies (Brown & Levinson, 1987). In the evaluation of the audio material and the determination of the type of conversation as “business negotiation”, it has been assumed that this is a communication situation in which the participants want to make an agreement based on different or identical objectives (Wagner, 1995). In the first phase of the analysis, the excerpts of the discussions were selected to determine which goal is being pursued by the participants. In the next phase, the politeness strategies used by the participants are explained to determine how the dynamics of power and solidarity arise locally and which intentions are thereby realized by the participants or what special purpose the local dynamics serve against the background of the general discussion goal. The exemplary analysis refers to the theoretical-methodological approaches of Gumperz, Brown, and Levinson as well as Tannen, whereby special importance is given to the studies that deal with the politeness strategies with regard to the generation of the dynamics of power and solidarity in institutional interaction, especially from the point of view of conversational analysis (Kulbayeva, 2020; Zhuang & Huang, 2020). The results of the analysis could be helpful for learners and teachers of a foreign language, especially if they are interested in intercultural business communication and teaching language for specific purposes and want to deal with authentic material.
Summary The ability to communicate in several foreign languages, recognize and understand cultural differences and effectively interact in a multicultural environment has become vital in the modern world that faces intense globalization processes. Linguistic and intercultural competences are essential not only for establishing personal relationships with foreigners but also for developing successful business relationships. At the Institute of Foreign Languages at Vytautas Magnus University (hereafter - VMU IFL), Spanish and German languages remain in the top five of the most popular languages among 30 languages available to students. These languages are chosen not only by Lithuanian students but also by foreign students who come to study in Lithuania. Most exchange students who come to study at VMU choose to study the Lithuanian language as well. In addition to the development of language skills in a learning process, the new concept of language teaching / learning, market trends and the great interest of students and the public in languages lead to the development of topics related to culture and intercultural communication and efforts to reveal peculiarities of the new culture in the common European and native country context. Based on the theories of different authors on the connection between culture and language and intercultural differences, the article discusses the possibilities of using commercials (video recordings of advertisements) to get acquainted with the culture in foreign language lectures. A comparative analysis of examples selected from commercials available online and revealing certain cultural aspects of the three countries (Spain, Lithuania and Germany) that allow to understand the target culture better is presented in this article. The aim is to reveal how a teacher, knowing the theories of cultural differences, can use commercials for the development of students’ linguistic and also cultural and intercultural competences.
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