On Thursday nights I teach an adult English conversation class in Hitachi to about six Japanese adults. They range in age from late 20s to 40s and work in various companies in and around Hitachi. We started meeting together back in August and I really enjoy this group. Everyone is genuinely interested in learning English and curious about other cultures. They have all become very dear friends and while I may be their English teacher (which is a little strange since I’m the youngest one) they have taught me so much about Japanese culture and helped me with my life here. For instance, one of the members, Midori, climbed Mt. Fuji the weekend before I did and lent me her raingear and headlamp! After class one night the group also helped me buy a suica card for the train so I could breeze through the gates without having to buy a ticket each time. Kayo and Midori are also taking ikebana classes (Japanese flower arrangement) and printed me articles on ikebana because they knew I was interested in it. Most classes consist of casual conversation with some speaking activities that I plan. Many times someone will ask me for the correct pronunciation of a word or how to use it correctly in a sentence. Last week I printed an article titled ‘Facial Expressions Are Not Universal’ for discussion. Below is the article:
The reading of facial expressions may not be universal. This is the conclusion of researchers from Glasgow University in Scotland. They report that people from different cultures read facial expressions differently. In particular, they said there were big differences between the way Westerners and East Asians interpret facial expressions. The study suggests East Asians focus mostly on people’s eyes to read an emotion, but Europeans and Americans scan the whole face. Researcher Rachael Jack said: ''We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions.'' She added: "Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, whereas Easterners favour the eyes and neglect the mouth."
Ms. Jack suggested there are similarities in interpreting facial expressions and the use of emoticons. She said East Asians use the eyes in emoticons to show emotion, for example ^_^ means happy and ;_; is sad. Westerners, however, use the mouth. For example :) is for happy and :( is for sad. She added: “Interestingly, there are clear cultural differences in the formations of these icons. Emoticons are used to convey different emotions in cyberspace as they are the iconic representation of facial expressions.” The researchers said their findings showed intercultural communication is more complicated than we thought. They said: "When it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation." Author: Sean Banville
We had a really interesting discussion about how Westerners and Asians interpret facial expressions. When I asked people in the group what the most expressive part of the face was, everyone responded ‘the eyes’. This was interesting because I tend to scan a person’s entire face and focus more on the mouth than eyes. This prompted another question I had about eye contact. I had read about how when speaking to Japanese people you should not stare directly at them. I asked the group if this was true and they said this was a more ‘old fashioned’ way of thinking. One member explained that during the Edo period people were not suppose to give direct eye contact to shogun, instead looking at neck area after bowing for respect. Keeping eye contact is becoming more the norm. Another member shared that she did not like when people did not keep eye contact with her during a conversation and I agreed with her!
In the second paragraph of the article it talks about how these differences can even be seen in text messages and emails. Soon after I got my Japanese cell phone I was receiving fancy texts with backgrounds and all kinds of emoticons I had never seen before! It is so true that the Japanese use the eyes more than mouth for icons in text messages. I am so use to using my =) and =( but am seeing more of ^_^ everyday. There is a whole list of Japanese emoticons to choose from on my phone, so I may find myself switching over! A funny moment during the class was when I had to show the group how to read :) and :( because all they saw was a colon and parenthesis!
Some food for thought =) or is it ^_^
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