Wednesday, March 11, 2009
week 7: Question 2
In Vietnamese society, respect is conveyed by the use of special terms of address and certain stylistic devices. But respect is also expressed by nonverbal behavior. A Vietnamese student who sits quietly and listens attentively to the teacher wants to express respect for his teacher. The behavior has been misinterpreted by the American teacher as passivity and non-responsiveness. It is also out of respect that the Vietnamese student avoids eye contact with the teacher when speaking or being spoken to. By American standards, a person acting in this way would appear suspicious, unreliable or mischievous. In Vietnamese culture, looking into somebody's eyes, especially when this person is of a higher status (in age or social or family hierarchy) or of a different gender, usually means a challenge or an expression of deep passion. The proper respectful behavior is to avoid eye contact in talking to someone who is not an equal or the same sex.
i enjoyed reading your post. i mentioned the same non verbal behaviors in my post although my point of reference was not vietnam. i think it's always important to take into account cultural relevancy in regards to non verbal communication. i don't necessarily subscribe to the america love it or leave it motto in regards to taking into account the cultural background of whomever one is communicating with in understanding what their non verbal communication might mean. just because we live in the us doesn't mean other people don't have different cultural norms they bring to communication. i'm very much aware that not all cultures appreciate direct eye contact and that it means different things within different cultures. i think that type of sensitivity and awareness is absolutley necessary.
ReplyDeleteHello haivanna! You seem versed in both American and Vietnamese culture. Have you ever run into a situation personally, where something was misinterpreted in either culture? If so, what was the outcome?
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