Page 61 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

44 Chapter 2

Dialect may also cause misunderstandings. Dialect entails regional and social
Dialect variations in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar of a language. Because dialect
A regional variation influences perceptions of a speaker’s intelligence and competence, it can seriously
in the pronunciation, affect employability and performance, as well as credibility. Most countries, includ-
87
vocabulary, and/or
grammar of a ing the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Japan, have regional and social
language. class language deviations to the “standard” dialect. We tend to stereotype individuals
with nonstandard dialects. People who use dees and dose instead of these and those are
identified as lower-status speakers and accorded lower credibility ratings. Speakers of
the general American dialect are rated higher than Appalachians and Bostonians on
sociointellectual status, dynamism, and being pleasant to listen to. Those who speak a
French-Canadian dialect are rated as poor and ignorant in comparison with those
who speak an English-Canadian dialect. Teachers tend to rate students who use dia-
lects other than general American as less confident and more ignorant. It is important
to be aware of judgment errors that result from such perceptions.

Time Cues Time cues, as all nonverbal cues, are highly ambiguous and dependent
on culture for meaning. Americans think of time as a commodity to be spent or saved.
People in Western cultures tend to regulate their activities by the clock, but people in
many other cultures act according to inner biological needs or natural events.
In the fast-paced culture of the American business world, being considerate of
group members’ time is important; Americans usually will allow only about a five-
minute leeway before they expect an apology. People who come late to meetings
88
(except because of absolutely unavoidable circumstances) are judged to be inconsider-
ate, undisciplined, and selfish. Likewise, it is considered improper to leave a meeting
before the announced ending time, unless some prior arrangement or explanation has
been made. Forcing others to keep to your time schedule is the prerogative of high-
status individuals. It implies that your time is more important than that of the other
89
members, and marks you as inconsiderate and arrogant.
Let’s take a closer look at time and culture to understand better why individu-
als from different cultures may treat time differently. Hall describes the Spanish
culture of New Mexico as polychronic, whereas the Anglo culture is monochronic.
90
The Spanish do several things at a time; the Anglos tend to do one thing at a time.
The Spanish are casual about clocks and schedules; they are frequently late for
appointments and meetings; in fact, showing up on time messes up the schedule!.
Anglos are offended by such behavior. The cultures of Latin America, the Middle
East, Japan, and France are polychronic, whereas the cultures of northern Europe,
North America, and Germany are monochronic. In these cultures, time is treated
91
as a tangible thing that can be spent, killed, and wasted; time is perceived as more
relational in communal cultures, which integrate task and social needs and hold
more fluid attitudes about time.
Time also is a commodity in the group’s interaction (i.e., “air time”). People can
abuse this resource by talking too much or too little. Harper et al. found that persons
who talked somewhat more than average were viewed favorably on leadership charac-
teristics. Those who talked an average amount were the most liked. Extremely

gal37018_ch02_021_050.indd 44 3/30/18 11:13 AM