When thinking about the intercultural communication, the
first thing comes up into my mind is how to answer the Yes /No questions in
different cultures. I myself have made
many mistakes with just Yes/No and often express myself to the opposite side. You
may not believe I can make some mistakes on Yes/No question because the answer
should be quite straight forward. Here shows a dialogue between an English
speaker and a Chinese Speaker. Maybe you will also get lost in the end.
A: Did you anything?
B: No
A: So you did not eat anything.
B: Yes
A: Did you eat?
B: No
A: So you did not eat
B: Yes
A:……????......
Actually this misunderstanding is caused by the different
way to answer the type of question ‘don’t you do xxxx?’ or ‘Aren’t you xxxx?’ For Chinese, the complete answer for ‘So you did
not eat anything’ should be ‘Yes, I did not eat anything.’ However, for English
speakers, the answer will be “No, I did not eat anything.’ When only answering Yes/No in short, the
meaning is just opposite. This
intercultural communication problem sometimes can lead to some serious results
because it is the opposite understanding of what one wants to express. Both the parties think they express themselves
and understanding the other quite well, however, misunderstanding comes about
without any sign.
I think effect intercultural communication is not only about
knowing the other cultures, it is also about putting yourself into that
culture. For example, when I learned English
many years ago, I knew the above different answers. However, I still cannot
answer it correctly because I still use my own way. Although it is quite hard to think in a
different way, I believe it is quite possible after some practicing.
This is a rather hilarious yet often encountered scenario. I personally have encountered many similar cases where a simple yes/no reply can lead to miscommunication. However prior to your post,I wasn't aware that there was a cultural reason behind this basic misunderstanding. I've been always of the opinion that it just naturally occurs, so this does come across as surprising. Any particular reasons then for this phenomenon?
ReplyDeleteFor your example, I personally would go the second way 'No, I did not eat anything'. Saying yes instead would seem like you're acknowledging the question before answering it. 'No' just answers the question straight. I still can't tie this to differences between cultures though. Interesting, very interesting, maybe the rest might have a better idea!
Hi, Guo Chen!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the really cute post (: Like Vinod, I was unaware of the cultural (Chinese/Non-Chinese) reason behind certain peoples' answers to such Yes/No questions.
It seems to be suggested that a Chinese person will usually agree with the other party (out of respect/courtesy?)in answering a Yes/No question. Hence resulting in answers like, "Yes, I did not do it". Which, under logical analysis, may seem a tad contradictory.
Does this behaviour arise because traditional Chinese do not want to sound/appear negative? So they always respond to a question with a positive/affirmative, before going on to their actual message (which may actually be 'negative' in nature)?
Haha! Woah, the confusion.
Hi, Vinod and Yuen May
ReplyDeleteThanks for your commend. I think you two already get lost in this Yes/No. Maybe I need to elaborate more. Both of you think the answer 'No, i didn't eat' is correct because you are English-speakers. You find it strange to answer 'yes, I didn't'. However, in China, we really answer this way. This is not because yuen may's guess of Chinese do not want to sound negative.
I think the real reason is that Chinese answer yes in response to the question itself, not the truth of eating or not eating. If you ask, didn't you eat? For Chinese understanding, You already guess correctly as 'You didn't eat'. So the Chinese answer Yes to mean your guess is correct, but not yes to mean we eat.
For another example, if I have eaten and you ask, Didn't you eat? We you answer 'No, I ate'
The No is for your wrong guess of 'you didn't eat', followed by 'I ate' to tell you the real situation.
I guess very few westerns or English-speakers know about this and that is the reason why misunderstanding happens quite often.
Hi Guo Chen,
ReplyDeleteI think your sentences can be improved, for example, "When I ponder about intercultural communication, the first thing that would pop into my mind is how to answer yes or no questions in different cultures." and "I've made many mistakes answering these simple questions and expressed myself wrongly."
A mistake in the conversation; "A: Did you eat anything?"
Your post reminded me of a similar situation I faced a long time ago. Since then, I've put in more effort to minimize any miscommunications on my part:)
Wyhow
Hi Guo Chen,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. Your observation about the Yes/No question is quite commonly misunderstood in many non-English spoken countries. However, I think as you stayed in an English speaking community like Singapore, it would be quite easy to adapt to this language structure. Nevertheless, I think this kind of structure is quite rarely used by Singaporean. Singaporeans use more of like "eat already a?" than "Haven't you eaten?" It sounds alien to us somehow.
Anyways, your post is quite concisely explained. Nevertheless, there are a few grammatical problem which could effect the clarity of the essay. Just to name a few:
1. I myself have made many mistakes with just Yes/No and often express myself to the opposite side. >>> I have made .... often expressed ... (This is a balancing for verbs between "and")
2. ’ or ‘Aren’t you xxxx? >>> "aren't you xxxx?"
3. serious results because it is the opposite understanding of what one wants to express. >>> because the opposite meaning of the answer. (This would be more succinct.)
4. I think effect intercultural communication >>> effective??
Other than that, the organization of paragraph is quite well-done. The development is also quite fully-explained. Well-done.
Cheers,
Billet
This is a fascinating post, Guo Chen, on the nature of the conceptual differences relating to the way seemingly simple yes/no questions should be answered across cultures/languages. I especially appreciate your elaboration for Vinod and May in the "comment" box. That makes the issue clearer for me as well!
ReplyDeleteWhen you conclude this post by stating that even with a knowledge of the way these sorts of questions should be answered in English, you maintain your own "way" (i.e., thinking), I can only smile. It shows us just how powerful the predilection created by our own cultural/linguistic background really is.
Thanks for the effort here!
WOW, Guo Chen!!
ReplyDeleteI actually read your post prior to this, and kinda understood it, just that I didn't know how to analyze it. But to explain it the way you did, I am really impressed, but had to get really lost in the process before that priceless enlightenment came!:)
In this case, from the interaction with my Chinese friends, I have come to realize it's not so much about the words I interpret, but the body language they express their answer with. Thus, this point that you brought up made me question how much impaired my communication channels would be if I had lost my sight, or the ability to read others' actions and behaviour.
Oh well..this is such a delicate issue, because I am now reminded of my Indian tuition student. When I ask if she understood my explanation, she would shake her head, and say yes, much against the common convention of nodding! This is where common convention isn't really universally conventional anymore!