Asymmetrical Style of Communication in Mandarin Chinese Talk-in-Interaction: Pedagogical Implications for TCSOL Professionals

The paper gives a fine-grained examination of audio and video data collected from Mandarin Chinese talk-in-interaction providing empirical evidence of verbal and nonverbal asymmetries. Status, power distance, verbal and nonverbal dominance and asymmetrical style of talk-in-interaction between teachers and students who speak Mandarin Chinese are discussed. The paper summarizes the features of communication characteristic of high-context and low-context cultures and draws implications for Chinese language educational professionals