Reflection of Cultural Differences in US English and German Industrial Manuals

Abstract

As is commonly known, differences exist between any two cultures. They are one of the contextual aspects that shape the meaning of a communicative strategy. This case study investigated pragmatic differences of industrial manuals in American English and German that reflect cultural differences. According to previously done research, the German culture was defined to have a higher index of uncertainty avoidance than the US culture (Hofstede, 2014). Also, Germans communicate using an explicit strategy that is content-oriented, whereas Americans use an implicit communication style with focus on the addressee (House, 2006). There are specific indicators for this communication strategy: For example, in the English language generally more epistemic modal markers are used than in the German language. Additionally, the organization of content as well as the extent of details plays an important factor to support this strategy. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze four industrial manuals, two in US English and two in German. The data showed evidence that support these previous findings – even in a genre such as industrial manuals that are usually very technical, and written in a straightforward, direct manner. These results are meant to be a starting point for further research in this genre.