Communication Strategies for Building and Maintaining Collaborative Relations: A Sino-American Case Study of Rapport and ‘Politeness’

Helen Spencer-Oatey; Jiayi Wang

doi:10.53941/sala.2026.100003

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine the communication strategies used to build and maintain collaborative relations: to identify which strategies were perceived to be rapport-enhancing, which were perceived to be rapport-undermining, and how participants responded to the latter in order to maintain rapport. The data for the study were collected during a three-week visit to the USA by a delegation of senior Chinese government officials who wanted to enhance their links and positive relations with their counterpart organisation in the USA. Various types of data were collected, the main ones being video/audio recordings of the official meetings and metapragmatic comments made by the Chinese delegates at daily evening meetings when they discussed their daytime experiences. It was found that the delegates were extremely conscious of any progress or undermining of their key goal for the visit, regularly commenting on this. They were very appreciative of the US hosts’ relaxed interaction style and for the ways in which they built common ground. Their main complaints related to the interpreter’s behaviour. The findings are discussed in relation to pragmatic research into (im)politeness, rapport management and the impact of context. Delegates seemed unaware of possible differences in interlocutors’ normative expectations associated with communicative events, especially speaking procedures and role responsibilities. The article ends by making some professional development recommendations in relation to this.

References

1.
Alison, L., Alison, E., Shortland, N., & Surmon-Böhr, F. (2020). ORBIT. The Science of Rapport-based Interviewing for Law Enforcement, Security, and Military. Oxford University Press.
2.
Allwood, J. (2000). An activity approach to pragmatics. In H. Bunt & W. Black (Eds.), Abduction, Belief and Context in Dialogue: Studies in Computational Pragmatics (pp. 47–80). John Benjamins.
3.
Allwood, J. (2007). Activity based studies of linguistic interaction. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/hprints-00460511/document.
4.
Babai Shishavan, H., & Sharifian, F. (2016). The refusal speech act in a cross-cultural perspective: A study of Iranian English-language learners and Anglo-Australian speakers. Language and Communication, 47, 75–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2016.1001.1001.
5.
Boxer, D. (1993). Social distance and speech behavior: The case of indirect complaints. Journal of Pragmatics, 19, 103–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(93)90084-3.
6.
Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the Spoken Language. CUP.
7.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press.
8.
California Healthcare Interpreting Association. (2002). California Standards for Healthcare Interpreters. https://chiaonline.org/CHIA-Standards.
9.
Chang, W.-L. M., & Haugh, M. (2011). Evaluations of im/politeness of an intercultural apology. Intercultural Pragmatics, 8(3), 411–442. https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2011.019.
10.
Chen, R. (1993). Responding to compliments. A contrastive study of politeness strategies between American English and Chinese speakers. Journal of Pragmatics, 20, 49–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(93)90106-Y.
11.
Chen, X. (2022). Exploring Identity Work in Chinese Communication. Bloomsbury.
12.
Crawford, T., Roger, P., & Candlin, S. (2017). Tracing the discursive development of rapport in intercultural nurse–patient interactions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 27, 636–650. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12166.
13.
Davies, B. L. (2018). Evaluating evaluations: What different types of metapragmatic behaviour can tell us about participants’ understandings of the moral order. Journal of Politeness Research, 14(1), 121–151. https://doi.org/110.1515/pr-2017-0037.
14.
Eelen, G. (2001). A Critique of Politeness Theories. St Jerome.
15.
FitzGerald, H. (2003). How Different are We? Spoken Discourse in Intercultural Communication. Multilingual Matters.
16.
Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction Ritual. Essays on Face-to-Face Behaviour. Pantheon.
17.
Günthner, S. (2008). Negotiating rapport in German-Chinese conversation. In H. Spencer-Oatey (Ed.), Culturally Speaking. Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory (pp. 207–226). Continuum.
18.
Haugh, M. (2013). Im/politeness, social practice and the participation order. Journal of Pragmatics, 58, 52–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.1007.1003.
19.
Haugh, M., & Chang, W.-l. M. (2019). “The apology seemed (in)sincere”: Variations in the perceptions of (im)politeness. Journal of Pragmatics, 142, 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.11.022.
20.
Haugh, M., & Watanabe, Y. (2009). Analysing Japanese ‘face-in-interaction’: Insights from intercultural business meetings. In F. Bargiela-Chiappini & M. Haugh (Eds.), Face, Communication and Social Interaction (pp. 78–95). Equinox.
21.
Holmes, J., & Marra, M. (2002). Having a laugh at work: How humour contributes to workplace culture. Journal of Pragmatics, 34, 1683–1710. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00032-2.
22.
Holmes, J., Marra, M., & Vine, B. (2012). Politeness and impoliteness in ethnic varieties of New Zealand English. Journal of Pragmatics, 44, 1063–1076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.11.006.
23.
Ide, S. (1989). Formal forms and discernment: Two neglected aspects of universals of linguistic politeness. Multilingua, 8(2/3), 223–248. https://doi.org/10.1515/mult.1989.8.2-3.223.
24.
Kádár, D. Z., & Haugh, M. (2013). Understanding Politeness. Cambridge University Press.
25.
Kelly, C. E., Miller, J. C., Redlich, A. D., & Kleinman, S. M. (2013). A taxonomy of interrogation methods. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 19(2), 165–178.
26.
Kinjo, H. (1987). Oral refusals of invitations and requests in English and Japanese. Journal of Asian Culture, 11, 83–106.
27.
Lakoff, R. (1973). The logic of politeness; or, minding your p’s and q’s. In Papers from the Ninth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society (pp. 292–305). Chicago Linguistic Society. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/cls/pcls/1973/00000009/00000001/art00000027#.
28.
Leech, G. (1983). Principles of Pragmatics. Longman.
29.
Levinson, S. C. (1979). Activity types and language. Linguistics, 17, 365–399. https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.1979.17.5-6.365.
30.
LinkedIn. (2025). LinkedIn skills on the rise 2025: The 15 fastest-growing skills in the UK. https://lnkd.in/epizyYsZ.
31.
Locher, M. A., & Watts, R. J. (2005). Politeness theory and relational work. Journal of Politeness Research, 1(1), 9–33. https://doi.org/10.1515/jplr.2005.1.1.9.
32.
Mann, S. (2011). A critical review of qualitative interviews in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 32(1), 6–24. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amq043.
33.
Mapson, R., & Major, G. (2021). Interpreters, rapport, and the role of familiarity. Journal of Pragmatics, 176, 63–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.01.020.
34.
Marsden, E. (2020). “Music for your breakfast” relational work in a sole trader’s intercultural business emails. In D. Archer, K. Grainger, & P. Jagodziński (Eds.), Politeness in Professional Contexts (pp. 225–248). John Benjamins.
35.
Mason, I., & Ren, W. (2012). Power in face-to-face interpreting events. Translation and Interpreting Studies, 7(2), 233–252. https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.7.2.08mas.
36.
Mickel, A. E. (2024). Positive communication practices for enhancing collaboration. International Journal of Business Communication, 61(4), 876–902. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294884241263552.
37.
Mirivel, J. C. (2014). The Art of Positive Communication. Theory and Practice. Peter Lang.
38.
Mirivel, J. C., & Lyon, A. (2023). Positive Communication for Leaders. Rowlman & Littlefield.
39.
Nam, K.-A., & Condon, J. (2010). The DIE is cast: The continuing evolution of intercultural communication’s favorite classroom exercise. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 34, 81–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2009.09.001.
40.
National Register of Public Service Interpreters. (2016). Code of professional conduct. https://www.nrpsi.org.uk/for-clients-of-interpreters/code-of-professional-conduct.html.
41.
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shapes. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Studies of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis (pp. 57–103). Cambridge University Press.
42.
Saville-Troike, M. (1997). The ethnographic analysis of communicative events. In N. Coupland & A. Jaworski (Eds.), Sociolinguistics. A Reader and Coursebook (pp. 126–144). Macmillan.
43.
Spencer-Oatey, H. (2008). Face, (im)politeness and rapport. In H. Spencer-Oatey (Ed.), Culturally speaking. Culture, commun-ication and politeness theory (pp. 11–47). Continuum.
44.
Spencer-Oatey, H., Franklin, P., & Lazidou, D. (2022). Global fitness for global people: How to manage and leverage cultural diversity at work. Castledown.
45.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Kádár, D. Z. (2021). Intercultural politeness: Managing relations across cultures. Cambridge University Press.
46.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Lazidou, D. (2024). Making Working Relationships Work. The TRIPS Toolkit for handling relationship challenges and promoting rapport. Castledown.
47.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & McConachy, T. (2024). Cultural schemas, evaluation and the socio-moral order. In A. Korangy (Ed.), Handbook of Cultural Linguistics (pp. 91–107). Springer.
48.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Wang, J. (2025). Relating to others and (not) getting along: What triggers evaluative reactions? Journal of Pragmatics, 243, 6–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2025.05.002.
49.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Xing, J. (1998). Relational management in Chinese-British business meetings. In S. Hunston (Ed.), Language at Work (pp. 31–46). Multilingual Matters.
50.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Xing, J. (2004). Rapport management problems in Chinese–British business interactions: A case study In J. House & J. Rehbein (Eds.), Multilingual Communication (pp. 197–221). Benjamins.
51.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Xing, J. (2008). Issues of face in a Chinese business visit to Britain. In H. Spencer-Oatey (Ed.), Culturally speaking: Culture, communication and politeness theory (pp. 258–273). Continuum.
52.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Xing, J. (2019). Interdisciplinary perspectives on interpersonal relations and the evaluation process: Culture, norms and the moral order. Journal of Pragmatics, 151, 141–154. https://doi.org/110.1016/j.pragma.2019.1002.1015.
53.
Taylor, E. W. (1994). Intercultural competency: A transformative learning process. Adult Education Quarterly, 44(3), 154–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/074171369404400303.
54.
Theys, L., Krystallidoua, D., Salaetsa, H., Wermutha, C., & Pypeb, P. (2020). Emotion work in interpreter-mediated consultati-ons: A systematic literature review. Patient Education and Counseling, 103(1), 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2019.08.006.
55.
Ting-Toomey, S., & Chung, L. C. (2005). Understanding intercultural communication. Roxbury Publishing Company.
56.
Ting-Toomey, S., & Oetzel, J. G. (2013). Culture-based situational conflict model: An update and expansion. In J. G. Oetzel & S. Ting-Toomey (Eds.), The Sage handbook of conflict communication (2nd ed., pp. 763–790). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452281988.n33.
57.
Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J. B., & Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of Human Communication. A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies, and Paradoxes. Norton.
58.
Yum, Y.-o., & Hara, K. (2006). Computer-mediated relationship development: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11, 133–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.tb00307.x.

Scilight Press

Author Information

Abstract

Keywords

References

About Scilight

Journals

Publishing Policies

Contact Us