Intercultural communication styles between two Indonesian domestic workers and their taiwanese employers in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Jeanny, 陳秦女
• Other Authors: Chen Su-chiao
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/62911366852818250018

碩士 === 國立嘉義大學 === 外國語文學系研究所(Graduate Institute of Foreign La === 98 === This study explores the turn-taking rules used between two Indonesian domestic workers in Taiwan and their Taiwanese employers in order to examine the effectiveness of communication between them. Data for the study were collected by observing the daily conversations of six participants, namely two Indonesian domestic workers (i.e., who have worked in Taiwan for two years and nine years, respectively) and four Taiwanese employers in two families (i.e., one parent and one child in each family) in their homes. The turn-taking rules are analyzed in terms of taking the turn, holding the turn, yielding the turn, and backchannelling, classified by Strenstrom’s (1994). A theoretical framework drawing from the literature on intercultural communication, politeness, and sources of misunderstanding are developed to guide the interpretation of the findings. Results indicate that the turn-taking rules used by the workers vary with their Chinese proficiency and intention for participating in the conversation. The less Chinese proficiency or the more reluctant they are to speak up, the more backchanneling strategy they use as indicators of participating in the interaction without having to speak up. In this situation, the more encouragement the employers give the workers to speak up, the better it is. The turn-taking rules used by Taiwanese employers vary with the workers’ intention to speak with them. The better Chinese proficiency or the more eager the workers are to speak up, the more various turn-taking rules occur in the conversation. These findings show that the language proficiency of the domestic workers and their ability to adapt to the local culture help to communicate with their Taiwanese employers. In other words, the understanding of cross cultural differences can help the participants to conduct effective communication. Keywords: Intercultural communication, Turn-taking.