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Intercultural communication and communicative genres 131

ever, for the Indian speakers, this falling intonation was their conventional way
of asking questions in service encounters and did not imply any sign of rudeness
or indifference.
Differences in the use of communicative genres and patterns on the internal
6
level also include non-verbal elements (gaze, mimics, gesture, etc.), lexico-
7
semantic elements, phonological devices, and syntactical patterning as well as
the selection of specific linguistic varieties. There may be differences in idio-
8
matic expressions, proverbial sayings, routine formulas, etc. – especially dif-
ferences in the rules governing their incorporation into larger communicative
genres. Communicative genres may also vary in their discursive organization: 9
Tyler and Davies’ (1990) study of interactions between Korean teaching assis-
tants and American students shows what they call differences in the organiz-
ational pattern of argumentation. When American students approached Korean
teaching assistants and asked ‘How come I got such a low grade?’, Korean
teaching assistants used an ‘inductive/collaborative approach’. They did not
start by providing an overall statement but listed various errors, beginning with
relatively minor procedural points. This strategy is considered by the Korean
participants to be ‘less threatening and more face-saving’ to the student. The
American students, however, expecting a general statement of the problem, in-
terpreted the strategy as a sign of incompetence. As Tyler and Davies (1990:
402) point out:

(…) what from the Korean Teaching Assistant’s perspective is a less confrontational
discourse strategy, in this particular context, provides the framework for increased
confrontation. The interlocutors appear to be operating from two different sets of ex-
pectations as to how the argument should progress. Each of the participants experi-
ences the other’s responses as jarring and irritating. As the exchange progresses, the
discordant strategies, in concert with other mismatches, contribute to a reciprocal
sense of non-cooperation.

Cultural differences on the internal level of genres can also affect stylistic con-
ventions: In their study of the courtroom testimony of Native Americans, Gum-
perz (2001) and Underwood and Gumperz’ (1988) show that in answering an at-
torney’s question, the Native American witnesses generally produce a narrative
“which begins with a reference to how the knowledge was acquired and by
whom the witness was told, as if the speaker needed to cite authority for each
statement. Those parts of the answer that contain material relevant to the ques-
tion that was asked are embedded in the narrative, as if responsibility for the
answer were not the individual’s but the group’s” (Underwood and Gumperz
1988: 6–7). As the authors point out, narrative forms here serve as a verbal strat-
egy to conform to Native American norms in producing statements that reflect
the authority of the group. The speaker foregrounds the fact that what is said
reflects the tribe’s position, not any one person’s belief or opinion. Gumperz