한국언어과학회

This study aims to track the cultural aspects that may lead to different conversation styles between Korean and Dutch speakers. A survey, conducted through questionnaires, involved 134 speakers from each country to detect differences in the perceived importance of conversational constraints (Kim, 1994). To explore the cultural background influencing these differences, Hofstede's Cultural Dimension Theory (2010) was applied. The results reveal that Korean respondents consider both clarity and feeling of hearers more important than their Dutch counterparts. This discrepancy is explained by several cultural aspects of Korean culture, characterized by higher levels of uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and collectivism. In other words, these cultural dimensions in Korean society may contribute to the higher perceived importance of clarity and feeling of hearers. This suggests that examining speakers' multidimensional cultural background, which shapes their thought processes, will be a practical approach to understanding the question, 'Why does he/she say A instead of B?'