Everybody Does It: The Pragmatics and Perceptions of International Chinese Graduate Students and Their American Peers Regarding Gossip

Autor/inn/en	Ebsworth, Miriam Eisenstein; Ebsworth, Timothy John; Cai, Chencen
Titel	Everybody Does It: The Pragmatics and Perceptions of International Chinese Graduate Students and Their American Peers Regarding Gossip
Quelle	In: Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 11 (2021), S.9-34, Artikel 3 (28 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2153-4799
Schlagwörter	Pragmatics; Foreign Students; Graduate Students; Social Values; Private Colleges; Sociolinguistics; Comparative Analysis; Decision Making; Bilingualism; Biculturalism; Asians; Student Attitudes; Peer Relationship; Cultural Differences; North Americans; Intercultural Communication + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Pragmalinguistik; Graduate Study; Student; Students; Aufbaustudium; Graduiertenstudium; Hauptstudium; Studentin; Sozialer Wert; Privathochschule; Soziolinguistik; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Bilingualismus; Bikulturalität; Asian; Asiat; Asiatin; Asiaten; Asiate; Schülerverhalten; Peer-Beziehungen; Kultureller Unterschied; Interkulturelle Kommunikation
Abstract	Integrating natural observation, interviews, and quantitative analysis, we used a mixed design to compare the socio-linguistic judgments of international Chinese students at a private University on the East Coast of the United States (US) with those of their native English-speaking peers regarding a critical incident involving gossip. Ninety-two participants evaluated alternative sociolinguistic strategies offered in addressing the incident on semantic differential scales. Judgments by each group regarding four alternative responses were surveyed and compared. Twenty participants, ten from each group, participated in semistructured interviews. Themes were developed through a recursive process: interpretations were validated by a bilingual bicultural expert. Several distinctions in judgments emerged. The most preferred alternative to dealing with a group gossiping about a friend for Americans was to say honestly that it made them uncomfortable while Chinese participants preferred requesting a change in topic. Such contrasts were found to be representative of underlying sociocultural values for each group. Intercultural pragmatic distinctions such as these could lead to pragmatic failure and have the potential to interfere with the development of intercultural friendship among the members of the two groups. Implications for pedagogy and developing cross-cultural insight are offered. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	New York State Association for Bilingual Education. 726 Broadway 5th Floor, New York, NY 10003. Tel: 718-817-5875; e-mail: jmer@fordham.edu; Web site: https://fordham.bepress.com/jmer/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2022/4/11