Mutual Intercultural Perception: How Does It Affect Technical Communication? Some Data from China, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy

INTRODUCTION To date, technical communication has been strongly related to written forms of communication. However, articles in past issues of Technical communication have revealed that oral modes of communicating technological, scientific, and business information (including technical presentations and business negotiations) have increasingly become an essential part of professional technical communication practices. Moreover, the importance of oral communication is not a uniquely American professional development, for several relatively recent publications indicate that it has also become an important aspect of international business and communication practices (see Barclay and others 1991; Sullivan 1991; Carliner 1992; Gilbert 1992; Kohl and others 1993; Leonard 1993; Boiarski and others 1995; and Southard and Reaves 1995). The question then becomes “What happens when individuals from different cultures attempt to share or to exchange ideas?” In many cases, different cultural expectations and practices can affect the way in which individuals from different cultures both present and interpret spoken or written information. Thus, if professional communicators wish to achieve effective intercultural communication, they first need to understand how these cultural factors can affect professional interactions if effective intercultural communication is to be achieved. This article attempts to provide insight into these cultural communication factors by presenting the results of an experiment involving how individuals from China, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy perceived a videotaped example of intercultural business negotiations. By comparing cultural perceptions of the same event, the researchers hoped to better understand how culture affects the way individuals from different international backgrounds perceive the same professional communication situations.