Sociolinguistic inference and intercultural coorientation

A Bayesian model of communicative competence in intercultural interaction

Bibliographic Data

ID2269877
AuthorsG Blake Armstrong, Sa Kaplowitz (Michigan State University)
Year2001
Volume27
Issue3
Pages350-381
Publication date2001-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Communication Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0360-3989 • E-ISSN: 1468-2958
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-2958.2001.tb00785.x
OpenAlexW1504638470
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited62

We present a model that examines the effects of cultural differences on coorientation (the ability of communicators to accurately encode and interpret the referential and relational meanings of messages). Intercultural coorientation is made problematic by the absence of certain shared communication system knowledge, which in same-culture interactions is used in the dynamic sociolinguistic negotiation of relational rights and obligations. We propose that the process of sociolinguistic negotiation of meanings relies fundamentally on probabilistic inference and have constructed a model based on Bayes' theorem. The model predicts the effects of the communication situation, communicator stereotypes and prejudice, and some other-culture speaker errors on conclusions the receiver draws about the message. Using the model, we distinguish between the ethnocentric error of interpreting a communication in terms of one's own culture and the error of not seeing the communication as diagnostic. Among our predictions are: (a) the less diagnostic the communication, the more impact cultural stereotypes will have on attributions; (b) although evidence of sociolinguistic incompetence sometimes causes misunderstanding, it sometimes prevents misunderstanding; (c) multiple consistent features make intentions clearer than would a single cue, but multiple features violating co-occurrence norms often lead to the attribution of incompetence

Attribution · Cognitive psychology · Comprehension · Epistemology · Ethnocentrism · Inference · Intercultural communication · Interpersonal communication · Linguistics · Negotiation · Prejudice (legal term · Sociology · Communication · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Psychology · Social Psychology

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