Lebanese conversational style and cultural values

Sasha G. Louis; Rana N. Khoudary

doi:10.1515/ip-2021-5001

Article

Lebanese conversational style and cultural values

Sasha G. Louis
Sasha G. Louis is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Language Sciences of Paris Nanterre University’s Doctoral School of Knowledge, Language, and Modeling and the Department of Literature and Linguistics of the Lebanese University’s Doctoral School of Letters, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Her areas of interest include sociolinguistics, (mis)communication, conversational style, language and culture, gender, and humor.
and Rana N. Khoudary
Rana N. Khoudary is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Lebanese University. She obtained her PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her current research area involves critical discourse analysis of political, media and gender discourse. Other research interests include stylistics, pragmatics and sociolinguistics.

Published/Copyright: October 21, 2021

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From the journal Intercultural Pragmatics Volume 18 Issue 5

Abstract

This paper investigates the Lebanese conversational style in relation to Lebanese cultural values. The study adopts a discourse analysis approach based on interactional sociolinguistic methodology for the analysis of audio-recordings and semi-structured interviews involving Lebanese nationals (multi-active culture) and members of linear-active cultures, in addition to participant observation. Four distinctive linguistic features characterizing the Lebanese conversational style are identified: topic (focus on personal topics and abrupt topic shift), pacing (overlap and fast pace), expressive phonology and intonation, and formulaic language. The findings of this study reveal that the Lebanese have a high-involvement conversational style as a result of their cultural values which reflect those of high-context, multi-active and collectivist cultures. Furthermore, a connection is made between cultural and communicative differences which can account for instances of stereotyping and misunderstandings between members of the two cultural groups.

Keywords: conversational style; cultural values; interactional sociolinguistics; intercultural (mis)communication; Lebanon

Corresponding author: Sasha G. Louis, Paris Nanterre University, Paris, France, E-mail: sacha.elghazal@parisnanterre.fr

About the authors

Sasha G. Louis

Sasha G. Louis is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Language Sciences of Paris Nanterre University’s Doctoral School of Knowledge, Language, and Modeling and the Department of Literature and Linguistics of the Lebanese University’s Doctoral School of Letters, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Her areas of interest include sociolinguistics, (mis)communication, conversational style, language and culture, gender, and humor.

Rana N. Khoudary

Rana N. Khoudary is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Lebanese University. She obtained her PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK. Her current research area involves critical discourse analysis of political, media and gender discourse. Other research interests include stylistics, pragmatics and sociolinguistics.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the participants who agreed to take part in this research as well as the reviewers who contributed significant suggestions for the revision of the original manuscript.

Appendix A: An inventory of transcript symbols

. . noticeable pause or break in rhythm (less than half second)

. . . . full-second pause

⌜marks high pitch on phrase, continuing until punctuation (or ⌝ for Arabic)

? marks yes-no question rising intonation

- marks a glottal stop, or abrupt cutting off of sound, as in “uh-oh”

: indicates lengthened vowel sound (extra colons indicate greater lengthening)

→ arrow at left of line indicates sentence continues without break in rhythm (in this case, arrow at right of line for Arabic ←)

musical notation is used for amplitude and appears under the line:

f forte (spoken loudly)

acc spoken quickly

The above notations continue until punctuation, unless otherwise noted

/?/ indicates transcription impossible

/words/ within slashes indicate uncertain transcription

[brackets] are used for comments on quality of speech and nonverbal contributions such as

[laughter]

N.B. The symbols change direction based on the language used

Appendix B: Semi-structured interview questions

How long have you lived in Lebanon/other country?
When you first met Lebanese/non-Lebanese people, what impressions did they leave on you while conversing with them? What stood out to you the most in a conversation?
What impressions/stereotypes did these conversations allow you to have about Lebanese/non-Lebanese speakers?
What differences in communication have you noticed between Lebanese/non-Lebanese speakers and yours?
What reasons do you think are behind these differences in communication styles?
How do you think culture plays a role in those differences in communication styles?
Did you notice any changes you have incorporated in your communication style while communicating with Lebanese/non-Lebanese speakers?
Now that you have been in Lebanon for a while/have met several non-Lebanese, have your impressions/stereotypes changed?

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Published Online: 2021-10-21

Published in Print: 2021-11-25

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https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2021-5001

Keywords for this article

conversational style; cultural values; interactional sociolinguistics; intercultural (mis)communication; Lebanon