Journal of Asian Pacific Communication - Volume 11, Issue 2, 2001

Definitions and contents of interpersonal communication have undergone significant change in modern Taiwan, as can be observed from the production of an ever-increasing number of translated books that purport to teach people how to communicate. Since skills taught in these foreign texts unavoidably reflect a Western cultural orientation, a counter-balancing force that elevates and highlights Chinese cultural traditions can be readily observed. In response to challenges from the West, books by Chinese natives call for readers’ appreciation of speaking skills employed by ancient Chinese philosophers, politicians, and others. Through such rhetorical efforts that revitalize the image of eloquent ancient Chinese speakers, these popular media redefine “the Chinese cultural traditions,” (1) as embracing articulate and eloquent speaking skills rather than merely emphasizing humbleness; (2) as a guide for the future rather than something to be discarded; and consequently, (3) as a solution to the seeming struggle between modernity and tradition. This paper traces the development of popular books during 1994–1998, analyzing selected popular books written by Chinese to examine how Chinese authors fashion their own unique discourse about communication to challenge and supplement extra-cultural ideas introduced by translated popular books.

The present study investigated the effects of assertiveness on compliance in Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. In contrast to what was expected, U. S. Americans overall were the least assertive. The study found that females in Japan and Taiwan were more assertive than their male counterparts. In addition, Americans were significantly more compliant with the request of a work supervisor than either Japanese or Taiwan-Chinese. In general, similar compliance was found between men and women. Participants offered more opposition to high imposition requests. While the discomfort factor of assertiveness accounted for significant variance for females in the equal status condition, situational factors such as imposition and status provided a better overall explanation for variance in behavior.

Previous studies of people’s perceptions of intergenerational communication in many countries around the Pacific Rim suggest that aspects of intergenerational communication in some East Asian nations may be more problematic than in some Western ones. This study extends the earlier work by considering similarities and differences between Taiwanese and American young adults’ perceptions of communication with same-age peers and adults 65 years of age and older. As well, in an attempt to discover how the acculturation process may affect intergenerational relations, the perceptions of young Chinese-Americans were also examined. Two-hundred and three participants (including 98 Taiwanese, 47 Euro-Americans, and 59 Chinese-Americans) completed a questionnaire that assessed their perceptions of accommodation and nonaccommodation from members of the two age groups. Also assessed was the extent to which the participants felt deferential towards and avoidant of communication with these two age groups, as well as the experience of positive emotions in these interactions. Consistent with earlier work, young adults were more positive with regards to communication with other younger adults than with older adults, and Euro-Americans generally perceived interactions more positively than people in Taiwan. The Chinese-Americans were similar to the Taiwanese in some respects and similar to the Euro-Americans in others.

Compliments are usually intended to have a positive effect on interpersonal relations, yet for the outcome actually to be positive, both the compliment and the compliment response need to be handled appropriately. This paper focuses on different types of compliment responses, and explores Chinese people’s evaluative judgements of these different types. Gao and Ting-Toomey (1998) argue that modesty is an important component of Chinese politeness, and that to blatantly accept a compliment is considered impolite. Several studies (e.g. Chen 1993, Yuan 1996 and Loh 1993) have indeed found that compliments are rejected more frequently in Chinese than in English, yet other evidence suggests that acceptance responses are also relatively common in Chinese. This paper explores a number of hypotheses associated with these issues. It reports a study carried out in Mainland China and Hong Kong, and discusses the notion of Chinese modesty in relation to the findings.

This study examined interview accounts of intergenerational communication from twenty younger adults (M age = 24.05; Age range: 19 to 33) and thirteen older adults (M age = 67.10; Age range: 62 to 72) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed into Chinese. Meaningful descriptions of intergenerational communication were then translated to English. Using an emergent theme analysis approach, we identified themes that fell into three broad areas: 1) positive intergenerational communication behaviors, 2) negative intergenerational behaviors, and 3) ideal intergenerational communication. The analysis also revealed that some themes of the two age groups were congruent (e.g., the mutual endorsement of filial piety), while others were incongruent with each other (e.g., disagreement on perceptions on equality and superiority). Themes are compared to descriptions of intergenerational communication found in research within Western cultures. Themes are also discussed in relation to cross-cultural intergenerational research, the Communication Predicament of Aging model, and the changing Chinese economic and political system.

This study measures languages attitudes of 82 college students in Shanghai and Guangzhou, where language planning has promoted Putonghua (PTH) over local varieties since 1956. Since the 1980s, industrialization, commercialization, and greater demographic mobility have changed what used to be homogeneous local variety speech communities, resulting in greater demand for PTH in cross-variety communication. Do language attitudes change with greater demand for PTH? A direct measurement shows that the Shanghainese and Cantonese are largely similar in language use but differ in language attitudes: instrumental motivation and impressions of stereotyped PTH speakers correlate differently with language use for these groups. An indirect measurement indicates that, because of low social distance, the Shanghainese and Cantonese as whole groups preferred neither PTH nor their respective local varieties, though the Shanghainese females significantly upgraded PTH on both social status and group solidarity, while the Shanghainese males upgraded Shanghainese. These findings do not conform well to the textbook-case dichotomy found in early studies between high and low varieties on the dimensions of social status and solidarity. The nonconforming language attitudes may represent attitude changes amid emerging patterns of language use in these two Pacific cities.

By way of relevant examples, this article introduces the problem of Chinese language modernization and the absorption of foreign and new technological words into Modern Chinese. It is suggested that the use of Pinyn in the People’s Republic of China has opened the door to the use of Roman letters in weird words which combine Chinese characters with Roman letters. As China moves further into the computer age, the paper speculates on the superior efficiency of phonetics scripts and the dilemma they will present to Chinese authorities in choosing between tradition and modern efficiency.

The purpose of this study is to examine how and why existing public relations theories, developed largely in the United States, work or do not work to the public relations function in South Korea with the consideration of differences in cultural and business systems. Qualitative interviews with CEOs and public relations executives in Korea revealed difficulties in applying Western models of public relations and cultural norms for communication to the Korean situation. Also most Korean public relations practitioners perform technical duties, yet they understand the function and importance of the manager role. Current trends suggest that Korean companies increasingly understand the value of public relations in this pluralistic and integrated society.

By means of the analytic method of critical linguistics, this study illustrates and discusses how Chinese nationalism manifests itself in the language of a newspaper text, what linguistic devices are employed for this purpose, and how the media production process in China shapes news texts. The study also analyzes how ideological positions can be reflected through lexical and grammatical choices.