The Role of Ethnocentrism and Cultural Schema in Cross-Cultural Communication : examples of critical incidents between Japanese and English speakers

摘要

The thesis of this research is that much of the information we use to communicate exists as dynamic sets of schema continually built-up through exposure to a limited number of groups that makeup our cultural norms and values. In cross-cultural contexts， this knowledge is used to make consequential decisions in all fields affecting both cross-cultural participants in an unintended way. To select，organize and interpret the vast amount of information available to us，we need to simplify and apply schema based on past experiences so that we can make sense of the events around us occurring every second ofevery day. This simplification process can also be labeled a form ethnocentrism or stereotyping. It is argued that recognizing and trying to understand the process of stereotyping is a fundamental step to becoming more mindful of our previously unrecognized communication habits that can have a disruptive effect in cross- cultural communication contexts.Severalexample conversations that may appear perfectly normal to the native Japanese speaker but abnormal to the native English speaker and vice versa will be analyzed for ethnocentric tendencies. Hopefully this will prompt readers to be mindful of their own cultural norms and how they can influence perception. The goal of analyzing these short conversations is to highlight the background cultural knowledge that can results in people from different cultures experiencing the same conversation but having a different culture-based interpretation of it. The research is in the preliminary stages and on-going.