Yes, I don't understand: Yes, no and European-Polynesian miscommunication in New Zealand

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Discussions by non-linguists of causes of miscommunication between New Zealanders of European and Polynesian origin have highlighted a number of apparent linguistic causes. The most frequently reiterated claims are that miscommunication arises from differences in the use of yes and no in response to questions of various kinds, especially questions containing negatives. These claims are evaluated with reference to conversational and courtroom data. The specific claims are not confirmed, although related phenomena are found to occur. Yes and no can be ambiguous following questions containing negatives, but the problematic question forms are negative declaratives and mixed-polarity complex forms. Such ambiguous yes's and no's are used by European native English speakers as well as Polynesian second-language speakers of English, and the problem is usually easily repaired. The main problem for Polynesian second-language speakers appearing in court was found to be a general one of difficulty comprehending the lawyer's questions. The main problem with yes and no is that they disguise misinterpretations and failures of comprehension. Whether or not the ‘negative question problem’ is a major cause of miscommunication, it is widely accepted as such in New Zealand, and can be considered to be a stereotype about European-Polynesian communication. Possible reasons for the development of this stereotype are put forward. Consideration is given to the more general question of how instances of European-Polynesian miscommunication can be explained, and it is argued that explanations need to go beyond a focus on systematic differences between first languages or between varieties of English. It is necessary to take into account the social and cultural context of communication, second language acquisition phenomena, performance factors, and psycholinguistic processes, particularly comprehension.