500 English Sentences

500 ENGLISH SENTENCES

Issue(s) of Contention

Mr Honda: Fear of losing face

Japanese culture is known for its highly collectivistic nature. They always visualize themselves as part of a group and interactions are supposed to be group vs. group and never individual vs. individual. They are perceptive of their position in the society in relation to acting differently or independently. One of their greatest fears is being detested by the society. In this particular instance, it is Mr. Honda losing face not only with the education board but also with the Nishi High school staff. As a consequence, Mr. Honda has had to pressurize Scott to endorsing the revised version of the book Ð'ÐŽÐ'§500 English SentencesÐ'ÐŽÐ'Ё

Ð'„Ð'« Scott: Compromise on Values, Integrity

Scott comes from an individualist culture. He has made commendable efforts in adjusting himself to the Japanese culture and way of life. In addition, he also has to weigh his own values and beliefs while contemplating such a compromise on his integrity. He has already

Reasons for the conflict

(Non)Conformance

Japanese adhere to strict conformance in all their actions. More specifically in this instance, it was conformance to Mr. HondaÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s approach to teaching. Scott was definitely a non-conformer to this. Consequently, Mr. HondaÐ'ÐŽÐ'¦s position with the education board and Nishi High did make him insecure. Maybe, the case could have been different if Scott was more sensitive towards the Japanese culture of Mr. Honda was more open to new ideas and approaches.

High Context vs. Low Context

Mr. Honda was polite in his communication and would present vague reasons to justify his arguments expecting to be asked for clarifications. It was difficult for Scott to understand this as he was used to he direct and precise way of communication.

Consensus vs. Hierarchical

It is a case highlighting