Cross-Cultural Markings Of Communication In Modern Times

The original concept of cross-cultural communication

The first definitions of the term implied the ideal goal of a person in his strive to adapt to the world around as efficient as possible. Such a definition was first formulated in 1954 in the work of Treiger and Hall named “Culture and Communication. Analysis Model". The theoretical development of the concept has advanced far enough since then.

Up-to-date definitions of cross-cultural communication

Cross-cultural investigations have been performed both in American and Russian linguistic fields. Apart from identification of its most peculiar features the world’s linguistic scholars give a number of definitions. Particularly, the American researchers Samovar and Porter define cross-cultural communication on the basis of its cultural distinctiveness, i.e., the success or failure of communication is mainly dependent on the knowledge of cultural differences between the interlocutors (Eremin & Nevzorov, 2013). Meanwhile, the Russian scholar Geikhman defines cross-cultural communication through the perception of social phenomena. The linguist states that cross-cultural communication “should be understood via cultural variations by which the speaker percepts social phenomena around” (Geikhman, 2003, p. 140).

Necessity of cross-cultural education

Insufficient knowledge of a foreign language which is being taught apart from the culture of a foreign country generally gives rise to the problem of misunderstanding which is the main issue among other tproblems of communication. Therefore, a strictly linguistic communicative channel is not sufficient to establish a high level of understanding between interlocutors. The successful extraction of the given verbal message definitely requires the knowledge of extra-linguistic factors which form the cultural context of the language.

Formation of the world’s view

The language code is one of the culture components. It forms the world’s view which is an emotionally coloured system of a person’s outlook (Karasik & Sternin, 2005). As far as its dynamic system capture fragments and aspects of objective and subjective reality, the polygamy of the world’s perception causes historical, geographical and ethno-psychological differences of the peoples in the world.

The basis of cross-cultural communication

Every culture is presented by its language which is specific by its national forms and symbols. Meanwhile, there exist universal concepts which create the basis for cross-cultural communication. without them, intercultural understanding would be impossible.

Investigations of the background knowledge

In order to obtain the perception of the background knowledge of a modern culture, a series of investigations are to be performed with regards to the present state of mass communities that serve as the carriers of one national culture.

Communication as the establishment of certain rules

Communication provides individuals with the necessary information presented in verbal, graphic or gesture signs. The establishment of generally valid sets of communication rules can be regarded as one of the prospective purposes of the current study. The establishment of a certain set of generally accepted rules is a condition for effective interaction in the process of communication.

Theory and practice separation

It has become customary to separate theoretical basis and practical appliance of cross-cultural communication. Most researchers tend to differentiate the concepts of communication and information exchange on this basis. The studying notion of the present work is cross-cultural communication which comprises both informative as well as emotional components. Therefore, the study of cross-cultural communication is meant to be based on the linguistic and extra-linguistic data that are transmitted at emotional and audible levels.

Culturally marked vocabulary

The term “ was introduced by the Russian linguists Merkish and Avarianova According to the researchers, the vocabulary of any foreign language can be divided into stylistically marked and stylistically unmarked one. The unmarked vocabulary isn’t relevant for any particular communication style, therefore it can be equally applied to all forms and situations of communication, regardless of the purpose of the statement. Meanwhile, the marked vocabulary is limited in its application. It shows its relevance to a certain culture spread among designated groups of people. Culturally-marked units are understood as words that possess some extralinguistic background which serves as a source of socio-cultural information about the country of the language being studied (Nordquist, 2019).

There exist various approaches of defining the notion of culturally marked language units. Markovina and Sorokin determine nationally-specific components in the vocabulary of certain culture as follows:

1) stable elements of culture that comprise traditions, customs and rituals performing the function of unconscious inclusion in the dominant system of a given culture;

2) traditional household sphere;

3) everyday habits of representatives of a certain culture also include certain norms of communication established in the society, its mimic and pantomimic codes represented in the behaviour of a particular linguo-cultural community;

4) national world’s view that reflects the peculiarities of the world’s perception achieved by representatives of a certain culture;

5) artistic culture that comprises the cultural traditions of one ethnic group (Markovina & Sorokin, 2010).

Types of culturally marked language units

Researchers define three groups of culturally marked language units:

• connotative vocabulary comprise words with dual semantics that can be referred both the material and emotional spheres. For example, the Russian name of a fish “roach” possesses its equivalent on the emotional level with regards to the characteristic of a female appearance. When the Russians call a woman using the word “roach’, they mean her thin, unfleshy composition which fail to attract the male attention (Metelskaya, 2012).
• non-equivalent vocabulary include lexical units that do not have direct equivalents in the target language. This group of lexical units is made of words and speech patterns that reflect the realities of the the community’s history, their specific way of life, socially-oriented concepts and names of objects. For example, the English word “lockdown” doesn’t have its equivalent in Russian or Chinese. In such cases it is necessary to pick up one similar language word that is mostly identical to the notion.
• background vocabulary include designations of objects and phenomena that possess lexical equivalents in the compared languages but also comprise some national meaningful features. Particularly, the Chinese word "敌人" refers to its English equivalent as "enemy", but regarding to the Chinese culture, it assumes someone who opposes the current political system in China.

The purpose of cross-cultural knowledge in communication

Knowledge of cross-cultural semantics comprised in the marked vocabulary units of a certain lingua-culture provides an opportunity for the speaker to immerse into a foreign culture smoothly and fluently. The semantics of cross-cultural communication is generally obtained at the level of sensation which is based on the subconscious level, or at the level of nationally stereotyped behaviour. Cross-cultural communication is a field of scientific research devoted to the study of people’s mutual understanding alongside their national, geographical, ethnic, professional, class, gender, dialogue and cultural interaction.

Knowing cross-cultural background of a language is indispensable during the process of communication. As a matter of fact, the perception of a foreign language statement is accompanied by the delimitation of culturally marked units among the unmarked ones. This mental procedure serves for the purpose of better understanding of the committed foreign language discourse, correct interpretation and use of vocabulary in speech activity, proper combination of submitted linguistic and extralinguistic components of communication.