Cross-Cultural Understanding Between Mexicans and Americans Based on the Movie Spanglish

Diana Martinez

Abstract


This study demonstrates the cultural behaviours and patterns found among Mexican and American citizens when interacting with each other. To reach a successful interaction between people who not only differ in language but also in cultural background, it is necessary to turn to context and non-verbal communication cues. In order to show that feelings such as love and respect are conveyed in the same way across cultures, three dialogues from the movie Spanglish are transcribed and analysed according to four categories: cultural aspects, non-verbal communication, paralinguistic features, and linguistic issues. 


Keywords


intercultural communication, language, Mexican, American, non-verbal communication

Full Text:

PDF

References


States (2016). States and capitals. © 2016 Powered by Digital Properties, LLC. Retrieved from http://www.50states.com/

The American Heritage (2002). Idioms dictionary. The American Heritage ® idioms dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Brooks, J. L., Sakai, R. and Ansell, J. (P.P.), Brooks, J. L., (D.D.), (2004, December 17). Spanglish, The United States, Columbia Pictures and Gracie Films, the Unites States.

Butcher, J. (2010). Mexican solidarity: Citizen participation and volunteering. New York: Springer.

Commisceo Global Consultancy (2016). Mexico guide. © Commisceo Global Consultancy Ltd. Retrieved from http://www.commisceo-global.com/country-guides/mexico-guide

Davis International Centre (2013). American values. Princeton University © 2016 The Trustees of Princeton University. Retrieved from https://www.princeton.edu/intlctr/davis-ic-home/living-in-princeton/american-values/

Donoso, J. C. (2014). On religion, Mexicans are more Catholic and often more traditional than Mexican Americans. Copyright 2016 Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/08/on-religion-mexicans-are-more-catholic-and-often-more-traditional-than-mexican-americans/

EDiplomat (2016). Mexico. Copyright © 2016 eDiplomat. Retrieved from http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_mx.htm

Estudio Sampere (2014). The 20 most difficult words in the Spanish language for Americans. Retrieved from http://mividaen.sampere.com/

Friedman, A. (2015). America’s lacking language skills. The Atlantic. Copyright © 2016 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All Rights Reserved. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/05/filling-americas-language-education-potholes/392876/

Gudykunst, W. B, Ting-Toomey S., & Tsukasa N. (1996). Communication in personal relationships across cultures;.London: SAGE.

Hayes, G. (2012). Dreaming awake. 3 Jan 2012. Penguin.

Haynes, D., (2015). Fewer people consider themselves ‘extremely proud’ to be American than a decade ago. Copyright © 2016 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Retrieved from http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/07/03/Fewer-people-consider-themselves-extremely-proud-to-be-American-than-decade-ago/1711435952494/

The Human Instruction Manual. (2013, April 9). Secrets of body language [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY1K_IefjSA

Jandt, F. E. (2010). An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global community. Los Angeles, (Calif.); London: SAGE.

Kelm, O. (2011). Americans hate silence but they love words. Texas Enterprise, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.texasenterprise.utexas.edu/2011/04/15/workplace/americans-hate-silence-they-love-words

Kirshenbaum, S. (2011). The science of kissing: What our lips are telling us. Grand Central Publishing, Jan 5, 2011

Kolbert, E. (2012, July 2). Spoiled rotten. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/02/spoiled-rotten

Kuhnke, E. (2015). Body language for dummies. June 2015. John Wiley & Sons.

Kunin, A. (2011). The ugly – and deadly – side of tanning. © 2016 Harpo, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Retrieved from http://www.doctoroz.com/blog/audrey-kunin-md/ugly-and-deadly-side-tanning

Lacey, M. (2009, November 16). Money trickles north as Mexicans help relatives. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/world/americas/16mexico.html?_r=0

Lawlis, M. (2015, January 13). I say ‘I love you’ too much. Copyright © 2016 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/madina-lawlis/i-say-i-love-you-too-much_b_6458750.html

Liu, A. H. and Sokhey, A. E. (2014, June 18). When and why do U.S. states make English their official language? The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/18/when-and-why-do-u-s-states-make-english-their-official-language/

Martin, J. N. & Nakayama, T. K. (2005). Intercultural communication in contexts. 5th edition. 22 October 2005. McGraw Hill.

Oliveira, G. (2013, May 5). Caring for them all: Mexican migrant mothers and their children. The Globalist Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.theglobalist.com/caring-for-them-all-mexican-migrant-mothers-and-their-children/

Oxford Dictionaries (2016). Spanglish. Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/spanglish

Oxford Royale Academy (2014). From excellent to fluent: 9 ways to be mistaken for a native English speaker. Oxford Royale Academy. Retrieved from https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/become-fluent-english-speaker.html

Scollon, R.. (2001). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Smith, K. (2014). Silence: The Secret communication tool. World of Psychology. Copyright © 1995–2016 Psych Central. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/10/06/silence-the-secret-communication-tool/

Spencer-Oatey, H., & Franklin, P. (2009). Intercultural interaction: A multidisciplinary approach to intercultural communication. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ting-Toomey, S. (1991). Cross-cultural interpersonal communication. 31 January 1991. SAGE.

Ting-Toomey, S. & Leeva C. C. (2005). Understanding intercultural communication. Los Angeles, (Calif.): Roxbury Pub. Co.

Wiemann, M. O. (2009). Love you / hate you: Negotiating intimate relationships. ARESTA, Girona, Spain.

Wilson, Kayo Fujimura, (2015, June 22). A cross-cultural study of compliments and compliment responses in conversation. Retrieved from http://petit.lib.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/G0000006y2j2/metadata/C080049000004

Zheng, D. (2015). Education management and management science. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, Tianjin, China.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Print version: 1694-2620
Online version: 1694-2639