A Cross-cultural Study On Demonstration And Evaluation Of Attentiveness–Based On The Research Among Chinese And British University Students

Attentiveness in Pragmatics means a demonstrator does something voluntarilyfor a beneficiary without or before being asked, having inferred the need of a potentialbeneficiary before request. When and how often one would demonstrate attentivenessmay vary according to factors such as culture, societal environment, age, etc. Thepresent study takes a cross-cultural perspective and sets out to investigate thedemonstration and evaluation of attentiveness by Chinese and British collegestudents.The research employs a questionnaire instrument developed by Professor SaekoFukushima, which is based on six real-life situations.93Chinese college students and70native British college students participated in the survey.The results reveal three major findings. Firstly, there is significant differencebetween the Chinese and British participants in one situation where the powerrelationship is unequal, which can be attributed to different power distances the twocultures endorse. Chinese participants’ more collectivistic tendency also results intheir emphasis on reimbursement of attentiveness and more indirect request strategiesfor attentiveness. Secondly, degree of imposition is negatively correlated withdemonstration of attentiveness. The higher the imposition, the lower the willingnessto demonstrate attentiveness. However, according to the research results, degree ofimposition does not display apparent direct influence on the evaluation ofattentiveness. Thirdly, with regard to the correlation betweendemonstrator-beneficiary relationship and attentiveness, closedemonstrator-beneficiary relationships tend to promote demonstration of attentiveness,but lower the evaluation of attentiveness. Unfamiliar relationships tend to improve theevaluation of attentiveness, but have no explicit impact on demonstration ofattentiveness.The present study has practical implication regarding the proper expectation forattentiveness under different cultural tendencies. It provides some insights on the demonstration and evaluation of attentiveness and politeness in cross-culturalcommunication and helps to enhance awareness of the differences. One finding ofparticular original value of the present study is that reciprocal exchange andreimbursement of attentiveness are likely to exerts negative influence on theevaluation of attentiveness.