LECTURER AT THE DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

University of Applied Sciences, Munich

Linguistic Differences between German and Vietnamese and their Impact on Collaborations of German and Vietnamese Speakers

Prevalent habits in German versus Vietnamese conversation can be contrasted in various ways, such as abstract versus practical, structured versus detailed, issue-driven versus relation-driven, or quintessence-focused versus chronological narration. In my opinion, these differences often lead to misunderstandings or even to conflicts in the co-operation between speakers of German and Vietnamese.

On the basis of a number of examples for inter-cultural co-operation from a scientific and from a consulting background, this presentation asks how such differences in usage are handled by the respective actors and what kind of power differentials lie behind such interactive patterns. This is done from a theoretical standpoint informed by the work of Michel Foucault and Silvia Staub-Bernasconi.