Power Distance and Persuasion

A Study of Cultural Influences on Rhetorical Variation in EFL Essays

Bibliographic Data

ID19224176
AuthorsAndrew Schenck (0000-0002-3864-6267, American University of Sharjah, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume26
Issue3
Pages1-13
Publication date2026-06-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Intercultural Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1404-1634 • E-ISSN: 1404-1634
PublisherInternational Collaboration for Research and Publications (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.36923/jicc.v26i3.1506
OpenAlexW7164340092
LanguageEN
References cited41

The prevalence of power distance in Confucian heritage contexts has been well documented, yet the impact of this cultural value on rhetoric has not been extensively explored. To address the gap in our current understanding of cultural influences on rhetoric, language to assert authority or make a proposition (modals and epistemic stances) and pronouns to express an author’s relationship with their reader (pronoun deixis) were tallied and statistically compared in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) essays from six different Confucian heritage contexts. Essays were obtained from 1,288 participants included in the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE). Results of Pearson’s correlation suggest that high-authority modals and first-person singular pronouns are used significantly differently in high- and low-power-distance contexts. Low power distance learners tended to use “I” and obligatory modals to engage the reader in a more direct fashion. Albeit insignificant, high power distance learners also appeared to use more epistemic stances of certainty (e.g., certainly and definitely) to increase the intensity of general and noncontroversial arguments. These writers may have chosen stronger stances with uncontroversial claims to reduce conflict or avoid offending the reader, which mirrors Confucian collective beliefs that value authority and harmony. The study suggests that cultural beliefs may have some impact on rhetoric. These influences should be investigated to develop targeted EFL curricula that enhance intercultural communication in global workplaces

Certainty · Grammaticality · Modal verb · Power (physics) · Proposition · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Truth value · Value (mathematics) · Variation (astronomy) · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Second Language Acquisition and Learning

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