Communication in a Multilingual Society: Some Missed Opportunities

Book Reviews

“…Perception of their low status prompts their culturally-different interlocutors not to work as hard at repair as they might do when interacting with highe r status individuals. Singh et al, 1988 point out that, where there is sufficient cultural sensitivity or pay-off for all parties to an interactional encounter (such as when communicating with wealthy foreign busine ssmen ), cultural differences do not lead inevitably t o m i s co m m un i ca t i o n . In s uch circumstances even mark ed cultural differences may not become salient and, e v en i f t he y d o , i n t e rl o cu t o r s a re prepared to engage in extensive repair work.…”

Lessons from the interpretation/misinterpretation of John Ogbu’s scholarship

“…Even when the notion of language mismatch is expanded to include culturally dependent ways of speaking (Gumperz, 1982a, b;Heath, 1983;Hymes, 1962), both Garcia (1996) and Erickson (1987) point out that it is still misleading singularly to blame communication gaps based on language difference or culturally distinctive ways of speaking for limited achievement by certain groups of students-essentializing this form of diversity at the expense of not recognizing any others. Singh et al (1988) further problematize the identification of communication mismatches as explanations for student failure because such explanations ignore the substantial power differences that frequently undergird and maintain communication gaps and mismatches. One can adapt the original point, however, and say that communication mismatches, exacerbated and perhaps maintained by power differentials, are part of the explanation for some groups of students' poor performance at school.…”

Awareness in Intercultural Communication

“…As the Duc de La Rochefoucauld said: 'Everyone complains of his memory, but nobody of his judgement' (Les Maximes, 1959: 89). The discourses of racism, emotional blockages to empathy and the principle of charity (Singh et al, 1988) are all elements to be engaged with in an intercultural awareness programme. It is common for some participants on awareness programmes to deny any responsibility to reflect on their own practice and the link between social perceptions, feelings and judgements.…”