From the findings of study, we can see that the Australian tend to use touching behavior in communication more comfortable than the Vietnamese does.
Within families and close circles of friends, women will often greet other members with a kiss on the cheek and men will often greet each other by shaking hands.
Australian men generally do not openly display strong affection for male friends. It is not common to see Australian men showing affection towards each other in public even if they are very close friends. The exception to this might be while playing sport, and at family gatherings, or between homosexual men. Signs of affection between males and females are more common and it is quite normal to see couples holding hands, and sometimes same-sex couples, holding hands, walking arm-in-arm or kissing in public. Their concerns about physical contact depend on a great extent on the gender and sexual orientation of the parties involved. Australian people seem not care much about their touching behavior if both are of the same gender, but something is different with two of opposite-sex. If the recipient is male, and the female is making the contact, he normally does not complain of feeling violated or otherwise attacked when receiving a hug from a female counselor or doctor. Of course, that does not mean that it will never happen. Nevertheless, some examples of tactile communication strongly appreciate. Handshaking, for example, is widely practiced in Australia. It is common when meeting or greeting in a wide variety of situations. The duration of a handshake could influence its acceptability.
However, Australian people do not usually touch each other than to shake hands at the first meeting. Out of the handshake, hugging is a common way to greet good friends in Australia. Kissing for greeting between two female is more popular than that between two male or a male and a female. The younger do not bother to see two men or two friends of different sexes kiss each other in public, whereas the older consider it socially unacceptable.
The following is a list of touching behavior and its communicating purpose in Australia:
Touching behavior Meaning in the Australian culture Shaking hands To greet someone at the first meeting and for
friendly greeting between two males Kissing on cheeks Usual greeting between two females Holding hands, hugging shoulder,
linking/locking arms of a person of the same sex
To express friendship and intimacy
Holding hands, hugging shoulder, linking/locking arms of a person of the same sex
To show love of a couple
Patting a person's back Disrespect
Kissing a person of the same sex An expression of affection between two females, but homosexuality between two males
To sum up, the thesis concluded that the Vietnamese belongs to the low- contact culture and the Australian belongs to the moderate-contact cultures. This conclusion is in consistence with the report of Grundwald (2008) that Vietnam is one of the least haptically active regions on earth and touching degree is moderate in Australia.
Part C: CONCLUSION
1. Summary
There are always internal cultural differences in interpretation of messages via touches in communication. The frequency of touch and for what purposes touching behavior are used varies significantly between different cultures due to their own perceptions and cultural values.
Overall, this research paper performs as a fairly comprehension study on haptics communication between the Vietnamese and the Australian. Some similarities and differences between the Vietnamese and the Australian cultures of touching revealed through analyzing collected data. Both Vietnamese and Australian people share some similar perceptions of haptics in communication. For example, they often touch each other freely with their relatives and close friends and they express their intimacy in these relationships via various touches such as holding hands, linking/locking arms, hugging shoulder, hugging waist, etc.; with someone they do not know much of or meet at the first time, only hand- shaking is acceptable. In addition, Vietnamese as well as Australian people feel more pleasant to touch or get touched by others of the same sex more than those of the different sex.
Besides, the study also denotes some differences in touching norms of the Vietnamese and the Australian. Australian people seem to be more comfortable to touch each other in communication. They do not pay much attention to sex difference in touching with their relatives or close friends, which is contrary to Vietnamese people whose touching behavior, even with their relatives or closed friends, tends to be influenced by sex distinction. They normally touch their relatives or closed friends of the same sex more freely than those of the opposite sex.
2. Suggestions for more effective intercultural communication
How much touching goes on during conversation is often a cultural trait.
People from a high-contact culture tend to be comfortable with hugs and kisses on the cheek when greeting and departing. During conversations touching on the arm, shoulders, hands, elbows, leg, etc. is very common. In contrast, people from a “keep your hands to yourself”, I mean the low-contact culture, are comfortable with little or no touching when greeting and departing. During their conversations, they tend to try to control and limit their touch at least as they could. The importance and complexity of haptics communication in a variety of interpersonal contexts is underscored in the nonverbal communication literature. However, whether touch produces positive or negative effects on interpersonal relationships may depend upon the perceptions or norms of haptics in each culture.
Andersen and Leibowitz (1978) found that communication apprehension was positively correlated to touch avoidance. The degree of touch avoidance people may sense varies by culture (Hall, 1966; Remland & Jones, 1988). Hall (1966) designated societies based on how much they avoid touching. At least in terms of public touch, Hall designated both the Vietnamese and the Australian as being touch-avoidant cultures. Raising an awareness of touch taboos of each culture help us avoid misunderstandings when interacting across cultures.
Misunderstandings occur in all communication of both verbal and nonverbal languages, even between people from the same cultural and linguistic background.
We cannot expect to get everything right all of the time when interacting with people from different cultures. Raising an awareness of cultural difference is the key solution and learning how to respond when a misunderstanding occurs and learning from our mistakes. It is important to be aware that our own nonverbal behavior might be insulting to others. The first step in developing skills to communicate with people from other cultures is to develop an appreciation of the rules of communication in our own culture. Similarly, an awareness of the most
common barriers to effective intercultural communication is the next step to overcome them. It also means that we will not be less likely to judge a person from another culture by our own cultural values. When we are learning a new language, we need to learn the language as well as have an awareness of the culture. It is important of will have to learn new meanings and new ways of behaving.
We sometimes communicate via a great deal of touching behavior unintentionally, so it is necessary to be careful when using them with a person you meet at the first time. We need try to learn various messages from various touching behavior across cultures in the world.
3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study
It is important to maintain that “…not all people in a particular culture engage in the same nonverbal actions, so interpretations of nonverbal communication must be carefully evaluated before generalizations can be made. ” (Samovar et al., 2008: 200). What I have presented in this minor thesis so far is really far short of an adequate understanding of the Vietnamese and the Australian cultures of haptics communication due to the limited time, the small scope of the study, and the limited knowledge of the researcher. Moreover, culture is dynamic and multidimensional so one person‟s observation will never be enough to cover the whole possible variation within one culture. Hence, this study should be considered as the point to start the journey on intercultural study. Further studies need carrying out to study on intercultural differences not only between the Vietnamese and an English speaking culture but also other non- English speaking cultures as Larry (1987) indicated that we are now using English in intercultural context, but there is little attention given to intercultural communication between non-native English cultures.
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APPENDIX 1
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR AUSTRALIANS
Interviewer: I am from Faculty of Postgraduate Studies of ULIS. I am conducting a research with title: “A Vietnamese- Australian study on Haptics in Communication”. I would like to understand more about the Australian culture of haptic communication.
Could you please help me by answering some questions about your touching behavior in communication?
Interviewee information:
Name:
Age:
Occupation:
Have you ever interacted with Vietnamese people? How do you feel about Vietnamese people?
1. Are you a person who naturally touches others to communicate? What do you often do?
2. According to your culture, what parts of body can be freely touched to express something you want to say? Why?
3. Is there any difference in your touching behavior with a male and with a female?
Why?
4. According to your opinion, what regions of body are considered to be rude to touch and get touched? Why?
5. If you meet someone at the first time, what touching behavior could you practice?
Why?
6. How would you feel if someone you don‟t know hug/slap your shoulder, touch your hands/arms or thighs while communicating? Why?
7. What do you think if you see 2 women, 2 men or a man and a woman kiss each other on lips/cheeks in public? Why?
8. Do you have any experience with accidental touches in bus, elevators or in crowd?
If yes, what was your reaction?
Thank you so much for your help!
APPENDIX 2
CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN NGƯỜI VIỆT
Chào anh(chị), tôi là Học viên cao học ngành Tiếng Anh tại trường ĐHNN-ĐHQGHN.
Chúng tôi đang tiến hành một nghiên cứu liên văn hóa Việt-Úc về các hành vi động chạm trong giao tiếp. Tôi tiến hành nghiên cứu này với mục đích tìm hểu và so sánh hai nền văn hóa Việt-Úc về các hành vi động chạm trong giao tiếp nhằm tránh những hiểu làm không đáng có khi giao tiếp liên văn hóa. Tôi rất mong được anh (chị) giúp đỡ trả lời giúp chúng tôi một số câu hỏi về quan niệm văn hóa của người Việt về các hành vi động chạm trong giao tiếp. Tôi sẽ phải ghi âm lại cuộc nói chuyện này để làm tư liệu phân tích cho nghiên cứu. Tôi rất mong anh (chị) giúp đỡ.
Thông tin về người được phỏng vấn:
Tên:……….
Tuổi:………
Nghề nghiệp:………..
Anh (chị) đã từng giao tiếp với người Úc chưa? Nếu có, cảm nhận của anh (chị) về người Úc như thế nào?
1. Anh (chị) có thường có thường xuyên có những hành vi động chạm trong giao tiếp không? Những hành vi đó là gì?
2. Theo quan niệm của anh (chị), những bộ phận cơ thể nào có thể tự do động chạm thay cho điều anh (chị) muốn nói khi giao tiếp? Anh (chị) hãy giải thích lí do vì sao anh chị lại quan niệm như thế.
3. Quan niệm phân biệt giới tính nam-nữ của người Việt nam có ảnh hưởng đến quan niệm của anh (chị) về chuẩn mực của các hành vi động chạm trong giao tiếp không? Anh (chị) hãy giải thích lí do vì sao anh chị lại quan niệm như thế.
4. Theo quan niệm của anh (chị), những phần cơ thể nào khi có hành vi độnh chạm sẽ bị coi là thô thiển/mất lịch sự? Anh (chị) có thể giải thích lí do?
5. Với những người anh (chị) gặp lần đầu tiên, anh (chị) sẽ có những hành vi những hành vi động chạm nào? Anh (chị) hãy giải thích lí do vì sao anh chị lại quan niệm như thế.
6. Anh (chị) sẽ cảm thấy thế nào nếu một người anh (chị) không quen biết lắm có những hành vi như: khoác vai, vỗ vai, chạm vào tay, chạm vào đùi anh (chị) trong khi giao tiếp? Anh (chị) hãy giải thích lí do vì sao anh chị lại quan niệm như thế.
7. Anh (chị) sẽ nghĩ sao khi nhìn thấy 2 người phụ nữ, 2 người đần ông, hoặc một người đàn ông và một người phụ nữ (không yêu nhau) hôn vào môi hoặc vào má nhau ở nơi công cộng? Anh (chị) hãy giải thích lí do vì sao anh chị lại quan niệm như thế.
8. Anh (chị) đã từng vô tình bị động chạm ở trên xe buýt, trong thang máy hay ở trong đám đông chưa? Anh (chị) thường phản ứng thế nào trong những tình huống đó?
Cảm ơn rất nhiều về sự giúp đỡ của anh (chị)!
APPENDIX 3
SAMPLE INTERVIEW NOTE-TAKING
Interviewer: We are conducting a research with title: “A Vietnamese- Australian study on Haptics in Communication”. We would like to understand more about Australian culture of haptic communication. Could you please help us by answering some questions about your touching behavior in communication?
Interviewee: Yes, I‟m happy to take part in your interview.
Interviewer: Could you please introduce some information about yourself?
Interviewee: Mr R. Ebrahim.
46 year old Australian citizen.
7 times visitor to VN.
Residing & teaching ESL in HN for the past 3 years.
Interviewer: Have you ever interacted with Vietnamese people?
Interviewee: yes
Interviewer: How do you feel about Vietnamese people?
Interviewee: friendly and kind
Interviewer: yes, now come to our questions. Are you a person who naturally touches others to communicate?
Interviewee: - conscious about who I touch and where I touch them - careful to consider this person‟s culture, age and sex.
Interviewer: According to your culture, what parts of body can be freely touched to express something you want to say?
Interviewee: - above the wrists
- the back of the forearms
- a tap on the shoulder to get someone‟s attention
your relationship with the person you touch decides whether it‟s okay to touch them or not.
Interviewer: Is there any difference in your touching behavior with a male and with a female?
Interviewee: - no difference with closed friends and relatives - more relaxed with fellow male
Interviewer: What regions of body are considered to be rude to touch and get touched?
Why?
Interviewee: the same as in VN, it‟s the private parts of body such as face, chest, waist, bottoms, thighs
Interviewer: If you meet someone at the first time, what touching behavior can you practice?
Interviewee: only hand-shaking
Interviewer: How would you feel if someone you don‟t know very much touches untouchable parts of your body?
Interviewee: - In general no problems and depending on the circumstances - touching of the thigh is inappropriate
Interviewer: Is it generally socially acceptable in your country for 2 women or 2 men, or a man and a woman (not in love) to kiss on lips/cheeks in public?
Interviewee: - Absolutely nothing!
- Australia is a wonderfully tolerant, liberal, progressive, open and inclusive country and society -> openly express who you are and your affections in public without fear or shame