Copy Potential Mitigation for Coalition Miscommunication Multinational combined training prior to operations –The more people work together, the more they understand each other Cultural awareness and communication training –Encourage questions –Pay attention to the interlocutors context Standardized terminology … Only with limited use in certain situations Glossaries and other communication tools Background Diverse backgrounds of multinational teams have presented serious challenges in coalition communication Research Objective Effective and efficient communication is the key to success To investigate the linguistic aspects of the miscommunications To understand the relation between cultural differences and variations of language use, and its impact on miscommunication To focus on differences in use of English by UK and U.S. military forces –Especially the differences due to training and culture Hypotheses There will be linguistic differences at different levels of language use between British and American which lead to misunderstanding that could have significant impact on operations There are cultural differences between British & American which impact on language use and lead to misunderstanding that could have significant impact on operations Study aim:Examine and identify categories and patterns of miscommunication due to variations of language use Initial Findings Further validated by survey in Omni Fusion 08 UK Context Plays a Key Role in Communication Important to look at miscommunication in context Crucial to have a shared common understanding of the context In a network centric environment, language must take on a bigger role establishing and maintaining shared context or common ground Examples found in Omni Fusion Organizational structure differences Differences in doctrines and TTP (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) Differences in media used SO1 SO2 SO1 SO2 Idiots Guide Are you alright? You may well wish to… Dirt ball road Dummys guide …4 [1st digit 5 dropped in transmission] …4 [1st digit 5 dropped in transmission] US The reason the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines squabble among themselves is that they don't speak the same language. For example, take a simple phrase like, Secure the building… –The Army will put guards around the place –The Navy will turn out the lights and lock the doors –The Air Force will take out a 5-year lease with an option to buy –The Marines will kill everybody inside and make it a command post from: The reason the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines squabble among themselves is that they don't speak the same language. For example, take a simple phrase like, Secure the building… –The Army will put guards around the place –The Navy will turn out the lights and lock the doors –The Air Force will take out a 5-year lease with an option to buy –The Marines will kill everybody inside and make it a command post from: TA4 Project 10 Task 3 [Night vision equipment] Annual Conference of ITA ACITA 2009 Miscommunications and Context Awareness Stephen Poteet (Boeing), Cheryl Giammanco (ARL), Jitu Patel (Dstl), Anne Kao (Boeing), Ping Xue (Boeing), Iya Whiteley (SEA)