Page 41 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

26 Reading Between the Signs

Domains of Intercultural Communication
The field of intercultural communication now includes proxemics
(the study of social and personal space); paralinguistics (the study
of the way something is said, including intonation, speech rate,
and the use of silence); and kinesics (the study of body motions
such as gestures, eye gaze, and facial expression). A basic tenet is
that all these channels carry messages, whether intended or unin-
tended. Underlying the study of the specific manifestations of any
culture is the recognition that each culture has its own set of val-
ues that color its perceptions and behaviors. Our values pertain to
everything from our connection to family and friends, our ideas
about nature, our beliefs about the roles of the sexes, and our
relationship to authority to our views on the meaning of life.

Proxemics
Just as animals aggressively defend their territory against perceived
intruders, so do we bristle and hiss when we feel our personal
space is being violated. Tailgaters make us agitated and lead some
to display bumper stickers declaring “If you can read this you’re
too close!” We feel strangely homeless when someone takes “our
seat” in a class we have been attending. On a crowded elevator
we try to hold ourselves in and become extremely uncomfortable
if a stranger touches us. We feel incensed when our seatmate on
an airline flight takes possession of “our” armrest. And these in-
vasions are perpetrated by people with whom we share a com-
mon culture!
Suppose you find yourself the only passenger on a bus. After
riding for a while, you notice a new rider getting on board. What
could be more unnerving than seeing him pick, of all the possible
seats, the one right next to you? Yet this behavior would seem
perfectly appropriate to most Arabs. In contrast to American pat-
terns of personal space, where we try to maintain a bubble of
space around us, Arabs prefer to position themselves close to oth-
ers. “For Arabs the space which is comfortable for ordinary social
conversation is approximately the same as that which Westerners
reserve for intimate conversation” (Nydell 1996, 51). Part of the
Arab preference for standing close to conversational partners stems
from their desire to be able to smell each other’s breath. To the
Arab, “To smell one’s friend is not only nice but desirable, for to
deny him your breath is to act ashamed” (Hall 1966, 160).

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