Poteet, S; Patel, P; Giammanco, C; Whiteley, I; Xue, P; Kao, A; (2008) Words Are Mightier Than Swords … & Yet Miscommunication Costs Lives! In: Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of the International Technology Alliance. : London UK,.

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Abstract

As part of an exploratory study into linguistic sources of coalition miscommunication, we have interviewed a number of UK and US military and civilian staff. Initial analysis of the data has shown that there are various types of linguistic variations and cultural differences manifested by the US and UK groups. American English and British English differ in complex ways not only in terms of lexical differences but also, perhaps more importantly, in terms of language use due to cultural differences. While this study and analysis are preliminary, the results provide support for our initial hypotheses. Importantly, the current analysis suggests that many relevant issues are largely pragmatic in nature, not just involving lexical and grammatical differences but indicating differences in the way the two cultures use the “common” language.

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