Page 132 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

110 Nathalie van Meurs and Helen Spencer-Oatey

Van Meurs (2003) suggests that the role of Uncertainty Avoidance needs to
be researched further, as Germanic clusters have been found to be more uncer-
tainty avoidant than Anglo clusters (Ashkanasy, Trevor-Roberts and Earnshaw
2002; House et al. 2002) and this could affect, these groups’ preferences for
avoiding conflict. Unfortunately, to date, Uncertainty Avoidance is not ad-
equately represented by individual-level value measures.

4.2. Conflict, culture and context
One of the weaknesses of this macro level research is that it ignores a lot of con-
textual variation. Although there may be differences (such as between Ameri-
cans and Chinese) in preferred styles for managing conflict, such generaliz-
ations can gloss over the rich complexity and variation that exists in real-life
situations. Davidheiser’s (2005) study of mediation practices in southwestern
Gambia illustrates this point very vividly. He observed and recorded 121 live
conflict mediation events, conducted 54 ethnographic interviews and 39 semi-
structured interviews, and held panel sessions with Gambian mediation experts.
He draws the following conclusions:
Shared values have a profound effect both on how mediation is practiced and on the
nature of the process itself. However, this impact is multi-dimensional and resists
easy generalization. … Whilst it is true that there appear to be meta-level normative
differences in orientations to mediation in the West and elsewhere, there is also great
heterogeneity in both of these areas. Dichotomizing mediation praxis according to
whether the practitioners are Western or non-Western, traditional or modern, high- or
low-context communicators, glosses over the multiplicity of practice found outside
the realm of theory and dramatically over-simplifies a complex picture.
Mediation practices can be described as ‘embedded’, or linked to macro- and micro-
level influences and varying according to the specific context and characteristics of
each case. Peacemaker behaviour was influenced by numerous factors, including the
sociocultural perspectives of the participants and situational variables such as the
type of dispute in question, the nature of the social relations between the parties, and
the participants’ personalities.
Davidheiser 2005: 736–7

If we are to gain an in-depth understanding, therefore, of intercultural conflict in
real-life situations, it is vital to consider contextual variability. In fact, as Bond,
ˇ
Zegarac and Spencer-Oatey (2000) point out, culture can be manifested in a var-
iety of ways, in addition to cultural values, including perception of contextual
variables. Spencer-Oatey’s (2005) rapport management framework identifies
some features that can be subject to cultural variation yet that are also contex-
tually sensitive. These include (but are not limited to) the behavioural norms,
conventions and protocols of given communicative events (e.g., how formal they
‘should’ be), the ‘scripts’ as to how given communicative events should be en-