Case

Randolf Carrothers emerged from the Tube (subway) at London’s Charing Cross Station, made his way outside into the dripping dull day, opened his umbrella, and walked to his right down Strand in search of Britannia Centre. The sidewalk was congested with the many pedestrians and their opened umbrellas darting back and forth. After a walk of about three minutes, Mr. Carrothers turned right onto another street and walked about 25 yards to the entrance of the Britannia Centre. "Boy, these Brits sure are poor spellers; almost every grade schooler knows that center is spelled er, not re, on the end," he mumbled to himself. He stopped for a second to adjust his tie in the reflection of the glass-fronted building before entering the revolving door, stepping to the side, closing his umbrella, and getting his bearings. Already he was feeling a little wilted from his overnight flight, and it was only early afternoon GMT, the local time. Soon he spied the reception desk in the lobby of the building and confidently approached the mature woman working there.

"Good afternoon, sir. How may I assist you, sir?" she inflected in the plumy tones associated with the Queen’s English.

"I’m Randolph–I’m Randy–Carrothers. I have an appointment with a Ms. Buttersworth at 2 p.m., I believe."

The receptionist sniggered as she turned away, her face turning bright red at the same time. After carefully checking the alphabetical listing of all of those regularly employed in the building, she turned back toward Mr. Carrothers and replied, "Sir, I’m very sorry, sir, but I don’t find that a Ms. Buttersworth works in this building. There is a Mr. Buttersworth, sir, but I don’t think that is the person you want since he is a male. Are you sure you have the correct address, sir?"

"This is 662 Britannia Centre, isn’t it?"

"Yes, this is double six two Britannia Centre, sir."

"The lady’s name is Laurie Buttersworth, and her E-mail said that I should ask for her at the reception desk at 662 Britannia Centre. This is the reception desk, isn’t it?"

"Certainly, sir, and at that address. Please pardon me while I check again."

About fifteen seconds later the lady sheepishly replied, "I think there is a problem–and an answer--here. There is a Mr. Buttersworth. His given name initial is L., which could stand for Laurie, which is a man’s given name in Britain. Do you think there is any chance, sir, that you are mistaken about the gender?"

"I don’t think so–at least I didn’t think so until you said that Laurie is a man’s name here. Down home Laurie is always a woman’s name. You know, I could be wrong about the gender now that you’ve called it into question. I’ve received only a few brief E-mail messages from Buttersworth, and I may have just assumed that she was a lady when I saw the name Laurie. It didn’t even cross my mind that Laurie could be a man’s name."

"Well, that may solve the mystery, sir. Would you like for me to ring his office to see if he is back from lunch, sir?"

"Certainly. I’m eager to talk business with her–I mean him. Tell him Randy Carrothers is here from the good ole U. S. of A. to see him. I’m fresh off my flight from Dallas and rearing to go. I’m ready to talk business now."

"I’ll ring Mr. Buttersworth’s office, sir. It shan’t take a minute, sir. Pardon me while I ring him. (Pause) This is Mrs. Gleason-Price at the reception desk ringing. There is a gentleman from the United States, a Mr. Carrothers, I believe, who says he has a meeting scheduled [pronounced shed' yooled] with Mr. Buttersworth at 14.00. (Pause) Oh, I understand, there seems to be a problem. Mr. Buttersworth is scheduled [pronounced shed' yooled] for a conference with the M. D. and others for the remainder of the afternoon. Yes–that would be very kind of you to check with the gentleman to see if he might come down to the reception desk and have a brief word with his international visitor. Yes, I’ll hold while you check. (Pause) Splendid, absolutely splendid! Yes, I’ll inform the visitor that Mr. Buttersworth will be down shortly to have a word with him. Thank you; thank you very much indeed."

Quickly Mrs. Gleason-Price turned back to Mr. Carrothers. "Mr. Buttersworth’s secretary says that Mr. Buttersworth will be down shortly to have a word with you. He can’t stay long as he is scheduled [pronounced shed' yooled] to be in conference with the managing director and other top company officials in five minutes. Please be seated in one of the chairs over there. Would you like a cuppa–or perhaps a coffee?"

"Cuppa? What’s a cuppa? No, thanks. I’ll have a coffee."

"Sorry. Cuppa is how we British refer to a cup of tea. Do you want your coffee white or black?"

"White? Black will be fine."

"I’ll bring it over in just a moment, sir. Please sit down and wait for Mr. Buttersworth, sir."

Teaching notes

Background

Creating good first impressions is important, especially in new business relationships in other countries. Being culturally fluent requires both knowledge about another culture and skill in applying that knowledge in culturally sensitive ways so that the exhibited behaviors are typically similar to if not identical to the behaviors of savvy natives. But achieving cultural fluency through the successful bridging of cultural differences can be challenging even if the individual is generally quite fluent in the core language. As the accompanying scenario and role plays point out, Americans and Britons can find themselves divided by their common language–English–unless they accept the fact that profound differences exist among English speakers around the world and then do their homework to learn about those differences before attempting to interact with members of other English-speaking cultures.

Objectives

Participants should learn that:

• Successfully crossing cultural boundaries can be challenging even if both cultures use the same core language.
• British and American cultures and subcultures are fundamentally different in terms of many of their beliefs, values, and assumptions.
• British English and American English are sometimes different in terms of such factors as spelling, pronunciation, and meaning.

Basic Preparation

• Time: Approximately 30 to 60 minutes of class time will be required to work through, role play, and discuss all of the related activities. Additional time outside of class–perhaps two to four hours–will be required for the coordinated follow-up activity depending on the extent of the library and interview work.
• Participants: Approximately 15 to 40 participants can be engaged in the related activities.

• Supplies: Resource materials about British culture; copies of the scenario for participants.

Instructions

1. Review concepts about cultural differences and needing to bridge the cultural gap.
2. Distribute the scenario "The Not So Good First Impressions" and ask each participant to read it.
3. Discuss the following questions:
   • What errors did Randolf Carrothers make as he tried to bridge the gap between the American and British business subcultures?
   • Why do you think Randolf Carrothers made so many cultural blunders during his first encounter with the British business subculture?
   • Why do you think Randolf Carrothers did or did not make good first impressions in London?

4. Using library and people resources, find out why Mrs. Gleason-Price sniggered and turned red when Randolf Carrothers introduced himself at the reception desk. Why is his informal name not socially acceptable in polite British circles?

5. Divide the participants into pairs with one male and one female and role play how Randolph Carrothers should have interacted with Mrs. Gleason-Price at the reception desk if he wanted to make good first impressions.

• How did you feel as you assumed your assigned cultural identity?
• What aspects of the culture of your assigned identity were easy and challenging to convey?
• What behaviors of your partner were challenging as you tried to assume your assigned cultural identity?
• If you could repeat the role play, what would you do differently this time? Why?
• What did you learn by participating in the role play? Why?

6. Select two males to role play the brief meeting between Randolph Carrothers and Laurie Buttersworth. Besides the information in the scenario, assume that Randolf Carrothers only airmailed his request for the appointment with Laurie Buttersworth last Wednesday and that it has not yet arrived in London. Mr. Buttersworth is fully scheduled for the next two days and cannot possibly meet with Mr. Carrothers until lunch time on Thursday. Mr. Buttersworth is not favorably impressed by either the lack of proper scheduling of an appointment by Mr. Carrothers or by his strong desire to transact business immediately.

• How did each of the role play participants feel as he assumed his assigned cultural identity?
• How well did each of the role play participants reflect his assigned cultural perspective?
• Why was the depiction authentic or nonauthentic?
• What developments during the role play were unexpected, and how well did the participants respond?
• If you were to participate in this role play, how would your performance be like and unlike the performance of one of the specified participants? Why?
• What did you learn from this role playing experience? Why?
  

Follow-up

Using library and people resources, identify a number of fundamental differences between (a) the general American and British cultures, (b) the American and British business subcultures, and (c) General American English and Received Pronunciation English (the reigning but threatened British English standard) and Estuary English (the likely British English standard sometime in the twenty-first century).