Communicative Strategies and Tactics of Speech Manipulation in Intercultural Business

Elena A. Ivanova

Moscow State University

John Smith

John Hopkins University

COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGIES AND TACTICS OF SPEECH MANIPULATION IN INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS DISCOURSE

The article considers lingua-pragmatic features of communicative strategies and tactics of linguistic manipulation, and explores communicative strategies implemented by the representatives of professional communities speaking two national varieties of English: British and American. The aim of the paper is to identify the content and functional-pragmatic characteristics of communicative strategies implemented in the framework of intercultural business communication in general, and in the framework of its two specific genres in particular, which are presentations and business interviews. The authors also intend to provide generalised analysis of some gender aspects of speech behaviour typical of men and women participating in intercultural business communication. The study is conducted within the scope of lingua-pragmatic and socio-cultural lines of research, further supplemented by the gender analysis of the obtained findings. Evaluation and analysis of data is backed by quantitative methods of research. Material of research is represented by texts of business discourse registered with American and British male and female respondents. The authors make inferences about the manipulative nature of communication, single out some of its key features, and present an outline of gender-based differences encountered in the professional discourse. The study ultimately holds that gender-based parameters of communication can be described as flexible, which is essentially due to a rather extensive scope of contextual settings to be considered.

KEYWORDS: communicative strategy, communicative tactics, linguistic manipulation, intercultural business discourse, gender peculiarities of communication, business interview, presentations.

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, business activity is considered one of the most significant spheres of social life. Communication in business sphere is aimed at strengthening international relations thus becoming the most important social and cultural factor. Efficient communication affects a variety of business tasks and solutions and is based on direct interpersonal interaction in various situations.

Today, scholars pay special attention to professional communication. In the process of inefficient intercultural business communication within the general sociocultural domain, communicative problems in oral intercultural business discourse are associated with the differences in cultures as well as the usage of non-native language by business partners (Lewis, 2015, p. 134).

Communicative and sociocultural incompetence indicates difficulties that have to do with the informative and social functions of intercultural business discourse as well as its national and cultural specificity (Chaney & Martin, 2014). In the context of modern economic and social conditions, communicative competence of today’s specialists has to break new ground…

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