Perceived Rudeness in a Second Language

[Recusant]

Not being particularly proficient in any language other than English, my own experience in this realm is very limited. I do speak some French though. It's not as if the French are known for being polite to English speakers, but when travelling in France it didn't seem to me that I encountered more rudeness than average. Maybe I was just lucky. On the other hand the study is about people living in a place where their second language is spoken. Maybe if I spent more than a few weeks in France . . .

It would be interesting to hear what our neuroscientist PhD has to say on the topic after having lived in the US for a while.

"Trying your best in a second language? Here's why native speakers seem so rude" | The Conversation

Rudeness, whether real or perceived, can deeply affect cooperation, trust, and workplace culture. But judgements of what we consider rude aren't confined to specific disrespectful words or phrases – they are shaped by the listener's emotional processing, attention to non-verbal cues, and underlying moral stance.

In multilingual settings this complexity is compounded, as misunderstandings don't just arise from vocabulary gaps or grammar mistakes. In fact, they often have more to do with ourselves – our own emotional and moral judgements of what others say and do – than the words being uttered.

If you frequently communicate in your second language, you'll have encountered this regularly. Someone might speak to you calmly, clearly and without a hint of ill will, but still leave you with an uneasy thought: "they didn't say anything wrong... but it felt rude".

Our research sheds light on this phenomenon by looking at the intersection of pragmatics (how language is used in context), emotion research, bilingualism, and moral psychology.

[. . .]

Our study revealed two major patterns.

First of all, second language speakers are more sensitive to rudeness. Spanish speakers using English as their L2 tended to rate the same interactions as more impolite than L1 English speakers did. Importantly, this does not mean they misunderstood the language.

One explanation is that L2 users may overestimate offensiveness, a pattern previously observed with taboo or emotionally loaded language in L2 contexts. Some clips also included swearing or tense exchanges, presenting a possible "red flag" for L2 viewers in situations that L1 speakers were able to interpret with more nuance.

Another explanation lies in attention: because processing speech in an L2 involves greater cognitive effort, participants may have relied more on facial expressions and gestures. Reading these cues as signs of tension or conflict may have led to higher impoliteness ratings.

It is also possible that L2 speakers may be more sensitive to cues they interpret as impolite and more alert to potential disrespect, perhaps due to underlying uncertainty about cultural or pragmatic norms.

The second finding was that emotional reactions are surprisingly similar across groups. Despite differences in perceived impoliteness, both groups reported similar emotional reactions to behaviour they saw as impolite.

[Continues . . .]

The paper appears to be open access. If the link doesn't work, try clicking through from the link in the original article.

"Emotion and moral stance in evaluations of impoliteness in L1 and L2 from video clips of workplace interactions" | Lingua

Abstract:

This study investigates how emotions and moral stance influence evaluations of impoliteness between first language (L1) and second language (L2) English users, from an interdisciplinary perspective combining pragmatics, bilingualism, emotion research, and moral psychology. The study widens previous impoliteness research by focusing on both L1 and L2 users and analyses moral stance and emotions following a mixed methods approach. The study was preregistered prior to data collection and analysis.

Fifty-five L1 English participants and 45 Spanish-speaking participants with L2 English watched video clips of workplace interactions and assessed the level of impoliteness in these videos. Moreover, the participants indicated the emotions they experienced after watching the video clips and completed the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. The results revealed that L2 users perceived higher levels of impoliteness. By contrast, emotional reactions to impoliteness did not significantly differ between L1 and L2 English users.

Qualitative analysis of the participants' emotions showed that these alluded to notions of moral order, with moral emotions being prevalent. The moral foundation of harm/care appeared to be the most prominent within impoliteness evaluations. In light of the above findings, this study suggests L2 (pragmatics) teaching should raise L2 learners' awareness of the personal and psychological factors involved in impoliteness events, provide input on inferences from gesture, and draw on workplace interactions as a useful context for discussions on infelicitous interactions.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Having traveled to more than 30 countries and having a workable knowledge of Italian, and rudimentary knowledge of Spanish and French, I can say that I find Americans to be the rudest of all. Russians may be second, but they live under a dictatorship. Germans may be third, but they are just more blunt.

[Recusant]

Having traveled to more than 30 countries and having a workable knowledge of Italian, and rudimentary knowledge of Spanish and French, I can say that I find Americans to be the rudest of all. Russians may be second, but they live under a dictatorship. Germans may be third, but they are just more blunt.

You won't get disagreement from me on those observations. Mostly because you've got more data than I. The only Russian I knew personally was a rather suave gentleman, not rude in the slightest, but you're talking about an overall impression of behavior. Also, I assume you're talking about interactions with the people in their own country.

Americans have earned their reputation no doubt. There's a reason some of Americans try to pass themselves off as Canadians when they travel. 

The phenomenon the paper is describing is intriguing. I think a similar study of for instance Spanish L1 and L2 speakers in a Spanish-speaking context could begin to show whether it's specific to a US setting* or more widely relevant.

*The study participants watched clips from a US reality television show (Below Deck).

[xSilverPhinx]

I find this fascinating though admittedly I don't know that much on the neuroscience aspect of perceived rudeness across different cultures. 

During my 6-month stay in Houston (pre-ICE/Trump rampages, in 2023) I actually found the people there to be very polite, and the southern hospitality I got was certainly a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately things have most probably changed since.

Undoubtedly I must have been seen as the unintentionaly rude one in quite a few interactions.    Like this one time I bought a few 5L bottles of drinking water from Costco and left them at the foot of the stairs so that I could take them up to my apartment 2 by 2, and a passerby (biker-like guy, older man, long beard, lots of tattoos) just scooped up four bottles without saying anything. My first thought was that he was going to steal them so I...erm, sort of nervously shouted that they were mine. He was trying to help me bring them up the stairs. I didn't know where to hide my face after I thanked him profusely.

In terms of languages, I think the way different ones are structured in pragmatic terms may be a major reason for perceived rudeness. For instance, in Brazil when asking for something people are way more direct, which can easily be seen as impolite or even forceful in other countries. Here it is perfectly normal to say "I want so and so", or "give me so and so" when ordering something at a restaurant or asking for something at a hotel. It's not considered rude. Not much "can I have" or "could you please" in such cases. 

Also, people don't have the same sense of personal space. It is certainly interesting to see how far people stand apart when talking to each other in different countries. A person standing too close can obviously be perceived as rudeness to someone who feels uncomfortable in those situations. 

[Recusant]

  I know your particular focus of study doesn't involve language/perceived rudeness per se, xSilverPhinx. It was specifically your experience living in an Anglophone nation that interested me. Your fluency in English and inquiry into idioms probably would make you an outlier in regard to the phenomenon described in the paper, but still I was curious about your perspective on it. Thank you!

Speaking of the paper, I waded through some, skimmed some. A lot of talk before they finally get around to describing the study itself.

As for the helpful fellow, I think your reaction was warranted. In a case like that, being thoughtful includes using your words to convey your good intentions rather than expecting your beneficiary to just guess what you're up to.

The personal space thing varies even in the US. When I was a youngster I met a young woman from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. I thought she stood close because she was attracted to me, but later I realized that it was actually just a variation in culture. 

[Icarus]

We have some instantly recognizable differences in locution right here in the U.S. Not merely accent, but manners of speaking.

Way back in the day, this Florida kid was assigned to military duty in Connecticut.  When I arrived there I connected with some of the local citizens, particularly motorcycle riders. Damn !!. My first impression was that every one I met was angry. Their tone of voice along with a tendency toward bluntness was a put off for me. Over time I learned that these people were not angry and had no intention of insulting someone without cause. It was simply their manner of speaking.

Over time I learned that these folks mean to be friendly, helpful, and kind. The way they speak does not sound friendly until you begin to understand them. I made some lifelong friends there in  Merry Olde New England. Matter of fact I married one of those damned Yankees and never ever regretted  that choice.

 

[xSilverPhinx]

  I know your particular focus of study doesn't involve language/perceived rudeness per se, xSilverPhinx. It was specifically your experience living in an Anglophone nation that interested me. Your fluency in English and inquiry into idioms probably would make you an outlier in regard to the phenomenon described in the paper, but still I was curious about your perspective on it. Thank you!

Speaking of the paper, I waded through some, skimmed some. A lot of talk before they finally get around to describing the study itself.

As for the helpful fellow, I think your reaction was warranted. In a case like that, being thoughtful includes using your words to convey your good intentions rather than expecting your beneficiary to just guess what you're up to.

The personal space thing varies even in the US. When I was a youngster I met a young woman from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. I thought she stood close because she was attracted to me, but later I realized that it was actually just a variation in culture. 

Heh I have quite a few culture shock stories from my time in Houston. Like when I would have to walk somewhere and cross someone on the street they would almost always say "hello" as they passed me. The first time a random stranger did that surprised me, but soon I was also greeting random strangers on the street as I walked past them. 

Brazil, like the US, is a big country and there are variations in politeness and culture here as well, but that sort of thing is not something I've experienced in different regions here.

As for the biker guy, he didn't serm to be the talkative type. Just responded with "ma'am" and went on his way. 

In general I thought people there were very polite, which contrasts with the stereotypical image of Americans here. But that's probably mostly due to bratty, entitled tourists.