Why Sports Analogies?

Bowling represents "high considerate" characteristics (term coined by Deborah Tannen) as found in Japan, Korea and other Asian cultures. As in the game of bowling, turn taking, polite watching and waiting, single player on the floor, are major features of "high considerate" style.

Rugby represents "high involvement" characteristics (Deborah Tannen) as found in Latin American, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, African, Eastern European and other cultures. Features such as interruption, overlapping, constant change of topic, variety in pitch and volume, and exaggerated use of body language appear in these cultures, corresponding to the intensity of the sport of rugby.

Basketball represents a hybrid of the above two styles, partly "considerate" and partly "involvement". Modern American English reflects such a hybrid, where interruption is tolerated (stealing the ball) and dribbling (hesitating), shooting for the hoop (making your point) and passing the ball to another player (including others in a conversation) are regular features.

The sports analogies help language learners to concretely grasp deep underlying patterns of communication across cultures. The use of sports provides a visual anchor to train viewers in 'code-switching' (adopting a new communication pattern) based upon the cultural setting they find themselves in.