Accuracy of Non-native Interpretation of Intra-cultural Emotional Communication

The consideration of accuracy of non-natives’ interpretation of the emotional cues that native speakers use when communicating with one another is essential to determining if cross-cultural differences exist between these two national groups in terms of emotional cue interpretation. The literature offers two suggestions for how accurate the non-native speakers interpretations will be. Ekman (???) and other’s (???) suggest that emotions and emotional cues are essentially universal, so there should be little difference in interpretations, while Mead (???) and other’s (???) expect that we will find striking differences. The data from this study offers two windows into the question of accuracy. The discussions of the focus groups provide one window into the accuracy of non-natives’ interpretations, while the notetaking worksheets provide another, and more traditional method of measuring the accuracy of non-native interpretations of any cross-cultural interpretive act.

i. focus group discussions

a. gut responses
b. vocabulary issues

i. translation questions
ii. word choice questions
iii. intensity questions

ii.worksheets

a. breadth of potential responses
b. potential standard (s)
c. accuracy stats

i. contradictory
ii. one clear one unclear
iii. character of ii

d. question of intensity

intro to chapter 4

Chapter Four – Discussion
This study set out to explore the cues we use for communicating emotion in detail and in a cross-cultural setting as well as the processes involved in interpreting those emotional cues. The specific research questions focus on four ideas: the accuracy of the non-native in interpreting the cues of another culture, the role of various communication channels (words, gestures, tone of voice, etc.) in that emotional communication both intra- and inter-culturally, the role of cognitive processes such as reliance on cultural scripts or cognitive appraisal in the interpretation of emotional cues, various social processes involved in negotiating that interpretation and how that might aid in cross-cultural understanding and education. To that end a focus group methodology supported by individual participants observational worksheets constituted the major data collection tools. The participants’ observational worksheets were analyzed and summarized using descriptive statistics, while the focus group transcripts were analyzed for vocabulary use and emergent themes of individual interpretation, as well as for patterns of negotiation amongst the participants. The discussion of this data has been grouped into five sections: the accuracy of North Americans interpretation of Koreans intra-cultural emotional communication, the language used to talk about emotions, the different mechanisms/channels the various groups use to describe their interpretation process, the themes that emerged out of their discussion regarding emotional communication, and how their negotiations provide inferences about the social construction of emotional communication.

• accuracy of non-native interpretation of intra-cultural emotional communication
• language used to talk about emotional communication
• different mechanisms/channels used in the interpretation process,
• emergent themes regarding emotional communication,
• inferences about the social construction of emotional communication.

[one page done. only 79 to go]

OK let start again with this outline for discussion:

Four data analysis procedures

• Data sheets
• Transcript analysis
o Words,
o Themes
o Negotiations


Produce five sections:

1. HOW WELL did Americans INTERPRET Koreans intra-cultural emotional communication?

2. What do the WORDS they used say about how we talk about emotions?

3. What do the different MECHANISMS and CHANNELS do the various groups referenced in describing how they interpreted emotions?

4. What THEMES emerged out of their discussion and what do those themes tell us about the communication of emotions?

5. How do their negotiations about interpreting emotional communication and display rules provide inferences about the SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION of emotional communication?

fourth data analysis:

the notetaking sheets

outline of writing work

task one:
the discussion section

three data analyses produce five sections:

what do the words they used say about how we talk about emotions?

what do the things they referenced in interpreting emotions say about how we interpret emotions?

what themes emerged out of their discussion and what do those themes tell us about the communication of emotions?

what can we tell for their negotiation about how emotions and display rules are socially constructed?

how well did they interpret foreign emotional communication?

OK start writing that tomorrow

task two:
revising methods section
three kinds of data analysis:
lexical
situational/behavioral/semantic
thematic

finish task one first then do this.

OK . . . start again.

like getting up after a hangover.
like forcing myself to the gym.
like going in for a "performance" review.
like beating back depression with a pot of coffee.
like dragging myself to a Saharan oasis.
[which would be successfully defending]