A Comparative Study of Perceived Politeness in Chi

AComparativeStudyofPerceivedPolitenessinChineseandJapaneseVerbalCommunicationBEAConfidential.|2contentIntroduction1Conclusion4Discussion3Methodologyandresults21.IntroductionWithadramaticincreaseintheextentofculturalexchangesandbusinesscooperationbetweentheChineseandJapaneseinthepastthreedecades,itisnecessarytoclarifythesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthecultureswithregardtotraditionalideas,values,beliefs,andbehaviorinordertopreventmisunderstandingsfromarising.HowmanydifferencesbetweetChineseandJapaneseinculture?Red:safe,happy,courage,loyaltyWhite:kind,gentle,pure,vitalityPeony:Splendor(rich)Cherry:LoveandWish199219932006,2007,2008,2009,20101996Ide,Hill,Carnes,OginoandKawasakiwroteabouttheconceptofpolitenessinanempiricalstudyofAmericanEnglishandJapanese.HermannsandYamashitahaveresearchedconceptsforevaluatingcommunicativebehaviorinGerman。Marui,Nishijima,Noro,Reinelt&YamashitaproposedthattheyareconceptstowhichmembersofasocietyreferinevaluatingthesocialbehaviorofothersaswellasthemselvesManypeoplealsohavedonecomparativeresearchinthisfield.ThedevelopmentsoftheconceptsofcommunicativevirtuesBEAConfidential.|7However,therehasbeenlittlestudyonanumberofimportantquestions:HowdoChineseandJapanesedifferinperceivingimpolitebehavior?WhatdifferencesaretherebetweenChineseandJapaneseregardingsituationsinwhichapersonusespolitenesslanguagebut,infact,isnottrulybeingpolite?WhatdoChineseandJapanesethinkaboutsituationsinwhichapersonusesimpolitelanguagebut,infact,isbeingpolite?Politenessisviewedasarational,rule-governed,pragmaticaspectofspeechthatisrootedinthehumanneedtomaintainrelationshipsandavoidconflicts.Whatispoliteness?Theunderlyingrational,motivational,andfunctionalfoundationsofpolitenessareassumedtobe,tosomeextent,universal,andareassumedtoinfluence,andbereflectedin,variousmodesofspeechinmanydi-fferentlanguagesandcultures.(Brown&Levinson,1987)Whatarethefoundationsofpoliteness?Differentculturalandlinguisticgroupsexpresspolitenessindifferentways.“youlimao”“teinei”welcometousethesePowerPointtemplates,NewContentdesign,10yearsexperiencewhenoneappliesthemaximanddefinitionofpoliteness,onehastotakeintoaccounttheconventionsandnormsofpoliteness,too;otherwiseonemightarriveatthewrongresults.Forexample,unlessoneknowstheexistenceoftheespectivenorm,onewillnotunderstandthatitisimpoliteinsomeculturestostartacommonmealwithouthavingwishedeachothertoenjoythemeal,andthatitisimpoliteinotherculturesnottogivethanksforthelastmealonehashadwithsomeonewhenoneencountersthatpersonagain.NotesPerceivedimpolitenessisaninterestingresearchthemeinthestudyofinterculturalcommunication,sociolinguistics,psychology,psycholinguistics,appliedlinguistics,andpragmatics.Heisuneducatedorill-bredHeislackingincommonsenseYouarestupid！Toelucidatethedifferencesintheperceptionofimpolitebehaviorbetweenthetwocultures,astudyemployinga28-questionquestionnairewascarriedoutonbasicfeaturesofpolitenessconceptsforcommunicationbehavior.Thispaperreportssomeofthefindings.ResearchinthisfieldisneededtobreakdowncommunicationbarriersbetweenChineseandJapanesewhocomeintodailycontactwitheachother.BEAConfidential.|13Althoughpolitenessmaybeexpressedbothverballyandnon-verbally,thisstudyfocusedonpoliteandimpoliteverbalcommunication,thatis,ontheuseofwordstoexpresspolitenessandimpoliteness.However,wealsoconsidertheinfluenceofpersonalpsychologyininterculturalcommunications.Basedontheresults,thesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweentheconceptofimpolitenessinChineseandJapaneseverbalcommunicationareexamined.Thisstudyprovidesinsightsintothetraditionalmoralvaluesonwhichpolitebehaviorisbasedinbothcountriesandalsoanalyzestheresultsfromthestandpointofgender.ThespecificpurposeofthisstudywastodiscoverhowChineseandJapanesedifferinperceivingimpolitebehavior.Part2MethodologyandresultsMethodologyParticipants150Chinesestudent(50males,100females)wereenrolledatuniversitiesinBeijing(March2009)150Japanesestudents(50males,100females)wereenrolledatuniversitiesinTokyo(November2008),andToyamaandKanazawa(May2009).Theagesoftheparticipantsrangedfrom17to28years.MethodologyMaterialsandProcedureChineseandJapaneseversionsofthequestionnairewrittenquestionnairesTheJapanesequestionnairesurveyedcurrentconceptualizationsofwhatconstitutesteinei.TheChinesequestionnairesurveyedcurrentconceptualizationsofwhatconstituteslimao.Inordertoavoidthedistortionsofdirecttranslation,bilingualandbiculturalspeakersdiscussedthetranslationandverifiedtheaccuracyofthefinalform.ChineseandJapaneseversionsofthequestionnairewereallprepared.MethodologyQuestion1:Whatwouldyouthinkifapersondidnotusepolitelanguagewhentalkingtoyou?BEAConfidential.|17Thispaperconcernsfindingsbasedonfiveofthe28questionsQuestion2:Arethereanysituationsinwhichapersonusespolitelanguagebut,infact,isnottrulybeingpolite?Question3:Canyouthinkofanyexamples?Question4:Arethereanysituationsinwhichapersondoesnotusepolitelanguagebut,infact,isbeingpolite?Question5:Canyouthinkofanyexamples?MethodologyHowthestudygettheresults.BEAConfidential.|18Theanalysisofthedataobtainedfromthewrittenquestionnaireinv