Rapport building strategies in institutional intercultural interactions

© 2011 Dr. Catriona FraserThe central aim of this research is to identify particular linguistic strategies that can be used to build rapport in institutional interactions. Traditionally, research into intercultural and cross-cultural communication has overwhelmingly focused on miscommunication and communication breakdown. Additionally, the concept of rapport has rarely been investigated in the field of linguistics. Yet, arguably, rapport is one of the most important conditions for successful communication. This study investigates how language is used to build rapport in institutional intercultural interactions. Specifically, the research looks at linguistic strategies used by Victorian Police Officers (VPOs) to build rapport with recent immigrants to Australia (RIs). Unlike much intercultural and cross-cultural research, the focus is not on uncovering instances of miscommunication but on describing instances of successful communication. Data were collected over two stages using two different qualitative methods: audio-recorded conversations between a VPO and a RI followed by semi-structured interviews with each participant. Participant interviews and qualitative discourse analysis found that 14 out of the 15 VPO participants successfully built rapport, and one VPO participant threatened rapport. This research used discourse analysis (DA) as the wider theoretical framework for analysing the data, and was particularly guided by the Rapport Management Framework (RMF). The main linguistics strategies used to build rapport were: volunteering information; empathising or sympathising; displaying solidarity; shifting topic; showing interest in difference; using compliments; using compliments of possibility; forgiving unintentional misunderstandings; using humour; and showing interest in the RI’s life and/or opinions. In all the rapport building interactions, the RI participants said that their opinions of the Victoria Police Force (as an institution) had become more positive as a result of the half hour interaction. The research demonstrates that successful interactions are a rich field for linguistic analysis