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Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication of New Zealand

Verbal and non-verbal communication of New Zealand

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Mashka Hnatyuk
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57 views12 pages

Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication of New Zealand

Verbal and non-verbal communication of New Zealand

Uploaded by

Mashka Hnatyuk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Verbal and non-verbal

communication of New Zealand


Verbal Communication
 New Zealanders are relatively indirect communicators;

they do their best not to create conflict and take

careful measures to remain polite throughout

discussion. This usually involves making hints that

vaguely communicate their message without ‘rocking

the boat’. Nevertheless, communication is not so

indirect that one has to decipher it. New Zealanders

tend to speak openly enough that the intention and

meaning of their words are easily apparent.


Self-Deprecation
 New Zealanders are quite

self-deprecating in
conversation in an effort to
come across as humble,
honest and relaxed about
themselves. Feel free to join
in with the joking by
criticizing yourself in a
similar manner. That being
said, avoid finding such
jokes too funny or
adamantly agreeing to these
self-deprecating comments.
This can become insulting.
Swearing
 Swearing is more common in New

Zealand than in many other


cultures, so it is normal to hear
people cuss at some point during a
conversation. Television
programmes are less censored as
well, thus mainstream society is
largely desensitized to many words
that foreigners may find vulgar.
Silence
 New Zealanders sometimes grow

uncomfortable when social chat is


punctuated with long periods of
pause or silence and may try to
fill the gap with conversation. On
the other hand, Māori tend to be
quite comfortable with it and feel
less of a need to create filler
conversation.
Non-verbal communication

Eye Contact
 Eye contact should be maintained

directly and intermittently


broken. People often make
enough eye contact to show their
sincerity, but do not hold it for
long a duration as this can seem
scrutinizing. However, be aware
that for some older Pacific
Islanders and Māori, direct eye
contact can be considered
disrespectful and confrontational.
Therefore, if you notice that they
are diverting eye contact with
you, take it as a signal that you
should do the same.
Physical Contact
 Māori (descendants of the native tribes)

have whole different examples of non-verbal

communication. Their standard greeting

among themselves is the hongi, where

people touch their noses and foreheads; in

their culture, it represents the sharing of

breath, and symbolizes the nature that

created all men. The hongi is reserved for

those who are Māori but it is also

acceptable to share a hongi with those

foreigners who are considered friends to the

Māori people. It is used at traditional

meetings among Māori people and on major

ceremonies and serves a similar purpose to

a formal handshake in modern western

culture, and indeed a hongi is often used in

conjunction with one.


Head
 The head is

considered tapu (sacred) in Māori


culture and should not be touched.
For example, affectionately patting
someone’s head can be interpreted
as disrespectful.
 Most of the inhabitants of New

Zealand, the ethnical group


known as Kiwi, are descendants
of the European colonizers,
especially from the British
islands, and their cultural habits
reflect that inheritance: many of
their communication quirks,
either verbal or non-verbal, are
similar or even identical to the
ones found in the United
Kingdom. As an example, we
have the inverted “V” (a gesture
that involves showing somebody
the back of your hand with the
index and middle fingers pointing
up), which is very offensive for
them.
For the Kiwi people, it is considered rude to:

 Talk to a person without looking at his or her eyes; it is a sign


that the speaker does not think the listener worthy of attention.
 Yawning without covering your mouth.
 Calling someone’s attention without the proper (verbal)
collocations (for example, tugging on their clothes or whistling)
 Attempting excessive body contact without first getting intimate
with the person (Kiwi generally greet by nodding their heads;
even handshakes are usually reserved for people you’ve met at
least twice).
 Using the car’s horn is frowned upon in New Zealand society,
and thus should be only used in emergencies. In the same manner,
people strongly dislike being disturbed in their own home by their
neighbours’ loud music or voices.
Social customs and manners
 On the surface, Kiwis are friendly and outgoing. But they are also quite private. Although it is easy to

start a conversation with them, they do not like sharing a lot of personal information. Topics to avoid

include how much people earn, why they do not have any children or are not married, their weight -

anything personal.

 It is OK to ask people what they did on the weekend or how their children are. Sport and weather are

also safe topics.

 They come from a land of wide open spaces so they do not like having people stand too close to us.

They walk on the left side of the footpath and smile at each other a lot.

 Some of the customs in New Zealand come from Māori culture. For example, you are often expected to

take your shoes off indoors and it is important not to sit on tables or pillows. Māori people will often

say a prayer (karakia) to bless food before eating it, and they may greet you with a kiss on the cheek.

 Some Māori have tribal tattoos on their faces, arms, calves, etc. These have cultural significance

and do not hold negative connotations (i.e. prison sentences) as they do in some western cultures.

All traditional Māori tribal tattoos are unique to the tribal group.
New Zealanders (also known as Kiwis - named
after the kiwi bird not the fruit) are very
friendly.
With New Zealand being an isolated island
nation, travel is a very popular topic. Any
conversations about your home country, the
landscape, weather, animals etc will be well
received.
New Zealanders are also very proud of their
country and tourism. They will be happy to
discuss popular, and not so popular, tourist
spots and activities around the country.

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