Different Communication Styles between Japanese and Westerners
Japanese-style conversations develop quite differently from Western-style conversations. And the difference isn't only in the languages.
A Western-style conversation between two people is like a game of tennis. If I introduce a topic, a conversational ball, I expect you to hit it back. If you agree with me, I don't expect you simply to agree and do nothing more. I expect you to add something -- a reason for agreeing, another example, or an elaboration to carry the idea further. But I don't expect you always to agree. I am just as happy if you question me, or challenge me, or completely disagree with me. Whether you agree or disagree, your response will return the ball to me.
And then it is my turn again. I don't serve a new ball from my original starting line. I hit your ball back again from where it has bounced. I carry your idea further, or answer your questions or objections, or challenge or question you. And so the ball goes back and forth, with each of us doing our best to give it a new twist, an original spin, or a powerful smash.
A Japanese-style conversation, however, is not at all like tennis. It's like bowling. You wait for your turn. And you always know your place in line. It depends on such things as whether you are older or younger, a close friend or a relative stranger to the previous speaker, in a senior or junior position, and so on.
When your turn comes, you step up to the starting line with your bowling ball and carefully bowl it. Everyone else stands back and watches politely, murmuring encouragement. Everyone waits until the ball has reached the end of the alley, and watches to see if it knocks down all the pins, or only some of them, or none of them. There is a pause, while everyone registers your score.
Then, after everyone is sure that you have completely finished your turn, the next person in line steps up to the same starting line, with a different ball. Your ball is not returned. There is no back and forth at all. All the balls run parallel. And there is always a suitable pause between turns.
--Now answer these questions. Answers are marked with three asterisks like this: ***
1. In this talk, what is the speaker most concerned with?
(A) Indoor sports
(B) Cultural expectations
(C) Topics of conversation
(D) Japanese psychology***
2. According to the speaker, what is the goal of a Western-style conversation?
(A) An extended exchange of opinions***
(B) A polite expression of support
(C) The defeat of one's partner
(D) A practical solution to a problem
3. What does the speaker compare a Japanese-style conversation to?
(A) Tennis
(B) Bowling***
(C) A tournament
(D) A challenge
4. In a Japanese-style conversation, what does a speaker's turn to speak depend on?
(A) How much one has to say
(B) How eloquently one speaks
(C) One's relative status***
(D) One's topic of conversation
5. What is more likely to occur in a Western-style conversation than in a Japanese-style conversation?
(A) Encouragement
(B) Agreement
(C) A pause
***(D) An interruption
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APIEL -- Advanced Placement International English Language
--The College Board, 1997.
Permission to reproduce granted by Copyright.
Excerpt--Sample Question