Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Mixed ethnic pairs of Ss (French/English) and same ethnic pairs (French/French and English/English) performed an experimental task designed to assess communicational efficiency. Following the communication task Ss completed a questionnaire which assessed their bilingual skills and attitudes about communicating with a member of a different ethnic group. The Ss, unlike previous studies, were French and English Canadian factory workers who daily interact with members of the other ethnic group. The results demonstrated that cross-cultural communication can be as efficient as within group communication. This efficiency seems to result because of a reciprocal bilingualism where members of each group have some degree of fluency in the language of the other. For the communication task both French and English were used almost equally and positive attitudes about communication were evidenced.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Christian, C. C. The analysis of linguistic and cultural differences: A proposed model . In J. Alatis (Ed.) Georgetown monograph series on languages and linguistics. 1970, 22, 149-162.

Glucksberg, S. , Kraus, R. M. , & Weisberg, R. Referential communication in nursery school children: Method and some preliminary findings. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 1966, 3, 333-342.

Macnamara, J. Bilingualism and primary education. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1966.

Nostrand, H. L. Describing and teaching the sociocultural context of a foreign language and literature . In A. Valdman (Ed.) Trends in language teaching. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966, pp. 1-25.

Taylor, D. M. , & Gardner, R. C. Bicultural communication: A study of communicational efficiency and person perception. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 1970, 2, 67-81. (a)

Taylor, D. M. , & Gardner, R. C. The role of stereotypes in communication between ethnic groups in the Philippines. Social Forces. 1970, 49, 271-283. (b)

Tucker, G. R. , & Gedalof, H. Bilinguals as linguistic mediators. Psychonomic Science, 1970, 20, 369-370.

Whorf, B. L. Science and linguistics. In E. Maccoby , T. Newcomb , and E. Hartley (Eds.) Readings in social psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1958.

The Role of Bilingualism in Cross-Cultural Communication

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References