Unit 2.

Improving communication

BREAKDOWNS IN COMMUNICATION

Breakdown (n) –a) the failure of a system or

relationships, a situation

in which something has

failed or is beginning to

fail.

TEXT 1. This text shows how people perceive information.

Read the story and answer the questions:

1. Did people in the conversation really understand each other? Why? Why not?

2. What did they mean by saying “empty-handed wife?”

3. What should you keep in your mind working with Western partners?

Several years ago, at a reception which followed a long day of negotiations, a vice-president of an American oil company and its Russian counterpart were having an informal conversation. The Russian said: “My wife spends so much time shopping, but she comes home empty-handed just every time (referring to the empty shelves and long lines in the then Soviet stores). The American nodded: “My wife is exactly the same way. She spends hours going to all kinds of stores without buying a single thing”. They smiled, for here were two men who really “understand” one another.

Improve your vocabulary. Translate the following words into the Russian language.

Wordlist.

1)while ………………………………………………………………….

2) worst (the worst kind) ………………………………………………..

3) to occur ……………………………………………………………….

4) to fail to understand ………………………………………………….

5) to damage …………………………………………………………..

damaging ………………………………………………………….

6) to convince …………………………………………………………..

to be convinced …………………………………………………

7) to be apart ……………………………………………………………

8) to reach an agreement ………………………………………………..

9) events …………………………………………………………………

10) to involve ……………………………………………………………

11) delay (n)……………………………………………………………..

‘inexplicable’ delay ……………………………………………….

12) total failure …………………………………………………………..

13) representative …………………………………………………………….

14) to observe ………………………………………………………………..

15) to exist ……………………………………………………………………

16) amusing …………………………………………………………………..

17) costly ……………………………………………………………………..

18) result in …………………………………………………………………..

19) total failure ………………………………………………………………

20) undertaking ……………………………………………………………….

Communication is important in every business. While most of us think that the worst kind of breakdown occurs when people fail to understand each other’s words or actions there exists a more dramatic and potentially damaging kind of communication breakdown – when people are convinced that they understand each other and are moving towards reaching an agreement, but are in fact miles (if not light-years) apart.

This is precisely the kind of communication breakdown that is observed repeatedly during negotiations, meetings, seminars and other formal and informal events involving representatives of different cultures. While some of the numerous examples are amusing, others are not only costly but often result in “:inexplicable” delays in negotiations, frustration with the future partners, and. in many cases total failure of an undertaking.