Introduction

Researchers in the area of cross-cultural communication have long recognized the crucial role that norms and their violations play in contributing to understanding and misunderstanding across groups. Indeed, Hall (1959) argued cogently that socially determined norms (or rules), and misinterpretations of rule violations by members of outgroups, are the most important cause of prejudice. Hall pointed out that people tend to see their own norms as natural and as having moral force. He suggested that cross-cultural misunderstandings could be greatly reduced if people were sensitized to the norms of their own and other cultures; many crosscultural training programs have been developed from his ideas.

Over the intervening years, other explanations of prejudice and hostility between ethnic and cultural groups have overshadowed to some extent the part played by norms in misunderstanding between ethnic groups [see Kim and Gudykunst (1988) for a recent review of some relevant theories]. Speech accommodation theory (SAT), for one, has been employed extensively to analyze cross-ethnic and cross-cultural communication. Research directed by this theory points to important issues addressed in cross-cultural training packages. Among the more obvious considerations are the status of the interactant from the other culture, the nature of the contact (formal, informal), and the attributions gener ated about speakers due to their use of particular accommodative strategies.

Even though SAT has included a role for norms, it is only recently that the need for researchers in this area to deal explicitly with them has been fully acknowledged.