Theory and Applications of CrossCultural Communication and Sociolinguistics (lecture 10)

1.

LECTURE 10
Theory and Applications of CrossCultural Communication
and Sociolinguistics
Time: Linear, Flexible, or Cyclical?

2.

LINEAR, FLEXIBLE, CYCLICAL
What are the different approaches concerning
cultures and Time?
Linear – 1) consisting of one straight line;
2) involving ideas or events that are directly
connected and follow one after the other.
Flexible – 1) the ability to make changes or deal
with a situation that is changing; 2)the ability to
bend or move easily (rigid)
Cyclical – events happen again and again in the
same order and at the same times

3.

LINEAR TIME CULTURES
America, Switzerland, Austria, Britain,
Scandinavia and the Netherlands) place
a high emphasis on schedules. Their days are
structured and the focus is on the task at
hand, doing one thing at a time.
Their schedule looks like this:

4.

These cultures view time as a limited
resource. Time is money. They believe that
you become more successful if you get more
work done. Because of this time is strictly
controlled. They move forward as quickly as
possible with an action and task-orientated
mindset. Interruptions are not preferred and
taking a phone calls during a meeting is
considered rude. Punctuality, especially for the
Swiss and Germans, is very important and late
ness is not tolerated.

5.

TIME PERCEPTION
Linear vs cyclical
• There are 2 ways of seeing time, one is
LINEAR perception yesterday today and
tomorrow. You are born live and then die. This
is a common structure in stories: beginning,
middle, and end. This notion of time as
Aristoteles said presupposes that everything
has a purpose or telois we are heading towards
heaven in religions, perfection in art, absolute
knowledge in science. It’s goal-oriented we
have looking at time.

6.

The other perception of time is Cyclical. Life is a
circle, you are born as a person then you
turn into dust and generate into smth else so on.
Farmers regulate their lives based seasons.
Seasons are repeated every year, days are repeated
every week. A full circle is 360
degrees which closely corresponds to 365 days in
a yea. You are born you grow up and
then die someone’s else comes a long and does the
same thing. Linear perception has a
more self- centered approach.

7.

You are important, responsible while cyclical
notion of time, nature carries on with or
without you. Where are these perceptions
more prevalent?
Aristoteles often considered the father of
Western philosophy believed in linear time.
Progress is at the heart of western philosophy.
The idea that as time moves on things get
better nobody would ideally want to live in
the past. Future is full of hope and people are
determined to make things better.

8.

Linear time is also present in Middle Eastern
religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam, life
and then, after life there is a straight line you
can draw. Cyclialc view of time more
recognized in eastern philosophes such as
Hinduism and Buddhism. Reincarnation is
cyclical. Death is not the end, but begin
ning of another life forms as an animal or
even object. Eastern philosophes tend
to suggest a less progressive but more static
and fixed view of society .

9.

Caste system is one example. Cyclical notion of time
is also present in Sufism.
Cyclic notion of time suggests that one day is not
better than another. Buddhism appeals to some wes
terners because it emphasizes this moment
of here and now. The pressure and worry about future
can be exhausting for some people. Fundamentally
Western philosophes believe that human are in
charge of nature while in the East humans are part of
nature, not superior to other animals. West attempts
to reform the crooked world and eastern mentality is
more accepting one’s fate.

10.

In the west one Religion, one God, Ideology has to
defeat other ones, while in the east many Gods,
many religions and many views have more or less
coexisted for centuries.
Linear view promotes individualism one better than
the other while cyclical view promotes community,
we all are equally good and bad, like in ying-yang.
West is more masculine and male dominated,
while east tends to be more feminine less
focus on winning and aggressive. Women are
more aware of cycle based life because
their body is regulated that way.

11.

Western promotes risk taking and east promotes
safety.Of course in today’s world East and West
have converged. E has adapted the W industrial
methods focusing on the output more than the
process. Traditions that valued process more than
outcome are slowly fading away because in capital
ism speed and shortcuts are more important to make
more money because time is money. Outcome
driven economies are doing better but when it come
s to the happiness and meaning for life westerners
look to the east with these days for some more
cyclical wisdom, in physics entropy favors
disorganization and chaos (keios).

12.

They feel that the future is not entirely
unforeseeable. After all, they work hard in the
present on the tasks necessary to achieve their
future goals.

13.

CYCLIC
time cultures
Cyclic time cultures (most Asia and African
countries), view time as plentiful. They don’t
try to control time; they allow events to unfold
naturally.Time is viewed as repetitive: each day
the same routine happens, day in day out.
This view also shows in their way of doing
business.The decision making process in
Cyclical cultures can stretch over a long period
of time, every option is considered.

14.

From their perspective there is no rush,
time is plentiful. And since time goes
around in a circle, the same opportunities
will be presented again later, when they
have more knowledge.

15.

FLEXIBLE
time cultures
Then there are cultures which are
polychronic or flexible in nature.
They tend to work on several activities at a time.
Expressions used :
Mañana – Spain( tomorrow)
Bahalana – Finland ( Accept what comes)
Since the house is on fire, let us warn ourselves
– Italy Insha’allah – Arabic (Godwilling)

16.

What are the peculiarities of Linear
time, Flexible time and Cyclical
time?

17.

LINEAR
The Western culture perceives “time”
as linear or monochromatic, which has a
definite beginning and an end.
They tend to work around the concept of
“Time is Money”. For the Americans,
time is resource which is scarce
commodity and not to be wasted.

18.

They believe in scheduling tasks, doing one
thing at a time and frown upon people
who do not respect their time. They also focus
on the future and tend to forget what happened
in the past.
Expressions used :
A stitch in time saves nine – USA
Time is everything – Swiss Air
Lose an hour in the morning, chase it all day
long – Yiddish proverb

19.

CYCLICAL
In this culture, time manages the human and not
the other way round. Time is
neither linear nor event specific but repetitive
or cyclical. More importance is placed on
doing things right and maintaining harmony,
rather than worrying about getting things done
“on time.” The focus is long-term and more
about subscribing to the cyclical patterns of life.
Decisions are not made in a haste or
immediately, but with reflection

20.

Decisions are not made in a haste or immediate
ly, but with reflection and contemplation
before making any commitment. They do value
time, but forging relationships is more
important to achieve the required amount of
closeness while transacting deals. This culture
values past and trusts that there are several
links from the past to the present.

21.

Expressions used :
Wa- China (Harmony)
Ting – China(To list with ears,
ear and heart)
Nunchi – Korea ( A sense to
detect when others are pleased)

22.

Flexible time :
Emphasis on relationships, present and
don't measure time.
• Schedules are less important than human
feelings
• Communication is not regulated by a
clock
A focus on the present:
It’s not that they don’t value the past nor
believe in future; it’s just that they tend to
live very fully in the present

23.

Discussion questions:
• What proverbs do you know that express
a cultural orientation toward time in your
culture?
• What proverbs can reflect nation’s attitude
towards time in your language?
• How do you feel when someone keeps you
waiting for a long time?
Time is running out.
Business before pleasure.