Oral communication teaching materials for Japanese learners of English on the basis of a comparative study of Japanese and American communication patterns

• Main Author: Izawa, Hiroyuki
• Other Authors: Stahlke, Herbert F.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: English language > Study and teaching > Japanese speakers.; Sociolinguistics.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/182761; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/222872

This paper presents a general comparison of Japanese and American communication patterns and includes 30 dialogue lessons which focus on differences in communication patterns between the two nations to be used as oral communication teaching materials for Japanese learners of English.There are four striking contrasts in common personality and cultural norms between Japan and the United States, namely, introversion vs. extroversion, hierarchism vs. egalitarianism, collectivism vs. individualism, and nonverbalism vs. verbalism. The differences in common personality and cultural norms effect behavioral and psychological differences, which in turn cause differences in communication patterns between the two nations. A comparative study of communication patterns, then, makes it possible to speculate on the probable occurrence of misunderstanding and miscommunication in cross-cultural communicative interactions, and finally, provides a firm basis for the development of oral communication teaching materials with attention to cultural relativism for Japanese learners of English.