Language & Intercultural Communication
Editor: Dr John Corbett (University of Glasgow)
Associate Editor: Robert Crawshaw (Lancaster University)
Reviews and Criticism Editor: Dr Fiona J. Doloughan (University of Surrey)
Editorial Board: Gavin Jack (University of Stirling)
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Volume: 1 Number: 2 Page: 135–150
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Conversational Management and Involvement in Chinese-English Business Talk
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Li Wei, Zhu Hua and Li Yue
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Culturally-based differences in conversational style often result in miscommunication in intercultural transactions. Such miscommunication becomes more acute in professional contexts (e.g. business negotiations)
when the interacting parties are using the same linguistic code but not the same cultural style. Using the analytic framework provided by Conversation Analysis (CA), this paper examines one sequence of
interaction during the closing stage of a business negotiation in English amongst four speakers – three of them are native Mandarin Chinese speakers who also speak fluent English and one native British
English speaker – and attempts to reveal how their cultural beliefs and values inform their conversational styles. The notion of 'involvement' and its implications for conversational management and
intercultural business communication are discussed.
© Multilingual Matters 2001
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