Talking to a stranger: Linguistic and non-linguistic behavior of Russian immigrants during 2010 US Census Ludmila Isurin * , Michael Furman, Kate White The Ohio State University, USA keywords: Cross-cultural communication Linguistically distant populations Russian immigrants Interaction between an immigrant and a government official Linguistic behavior Non-linguistic behavior conversational closings phatic communion abstract During the 2010 US Census enumeration the linguistic and non-linguistic behavior of Russian immigrants with little or no fluency in English was examined and contrasted with data from English language participants. The qualitative analysis of linguistic behavior (phatic communion and conversational closings) revealed similar patterns of interaction for both groups. The quantitative analysis of the non-linguistic behavior (the respondents’ observed comfort level throughout the interview and the interview setting) showed a significant increase in comfort level throughout the interviews and movement into a more intimate setting contributed positively to that increase, suggesting that deviations from the strictly scripted protocol provided by the Census Bureau may positively affect the outcome and success of a government initiated activity among linguistically distant populations. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Communication breakdown often leads to broken relationships, hurt feelings, culture shock, and diplomatic failure. When people visit a foreign country and find it difficult to understand the natives, they often blame this disconnect on a lack of sufficient linguistic knowledge. When foreigners immigrate to a new country it is expected that they will behave in the manner prescribed by the host society and culture. The failure to do so may result in poor integration with and assimilation to the host culture. In addition, a failure to integrate may disrupt the immigrants’ ability to function in society, as they are expected to be good citizens, to participate adequately in society, and to embrace any government functions that may be required. The present paper analyzes the linguistic and non-linguistic behavior of Russian immigrants during the 2010 US Census enumeration and attempts to address cross-cultural differences that were critical to the success or failure of the enumeration process. The study was solicited by the US Federal Government and involved seven of the biggest linguistic groups residing in the US: Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Portuguese, and Russian. 1 The goal was to identify any specific cultural and linguistic issues that may account for the breakdown in communication during enumeration or the reluctance of im- migrants to participate in the Census. The overarching goal of the project was based on the assumption that every face-to-face encounter between a Census enumerator and a non-English speaking respondent is simultaneously a linguistically-mediated communicative event as well as a culturally-mediated social interaction (Gumperz, 1982; Hymes, 1972a,b; Schegloff, 2002; * Corresponding author. E-mail address: isurin.1@osu.edu (L. Isurin). 1 The full report on the Russian portion of the study can be found at: http://www.census.gov/srd/papers/pdf/ssm2014-01.pdf. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Language & Communication journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/langcom http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2014.11.003 0271-5309/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Language & Communication 40 (2015) 38–51