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Discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication. It describes the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally appear within an organization or social context made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. In this sense, it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate, and perceive the world around them.[1] Intercultural communication focuses on the recognition and respect of those with cultural differences. The goal is mutual adaptation between two or more distinct cultures which leads to biculturalism/multiculturalism rather than complete assimilation. It promotes the development of cultural sensitivity and allows for empathic understanding across different cultures.[2]
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Intercultural communication is the idea of knowing how to communicate in different parts of the world. Intercultural communication uses theories within groups of people to achieve a sense of cultural diversity. This is in the hopes of people being able to learn new things from different cultures. The theories used give people an enhanced perspective on when it is appropriate to act in situations without disrespecting the people within these cultures; it also enhances their perspective on achieving cultural diversity through the ideas of intercultural communication.
Many people in intercultural business communication argue that culture determines how individuals encode messages, what medium they choose for transmitting them, and the way messages are interpreted.[1] With regard to intercultural communication proper, it studies situations where people from different cultural backgrounds interact. Aside from language, intercultural communication focuses on social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people. It also involves understanding the different cultures, languages and customs of people from other countries.
Learning the tools to facilitate cross-cultural interaction is the subject of cultural agility, a term presently used to design a complex set of competencies required to allow an individual or an organization to perform successfully in cross-cultural situations.[3]
Intercultural communication plays a role in social sciences such as anthropology, cultural studies, linguistics, psychology, and communication studies. Intercultural communication is also referred to as the base for international businesses. Several cross-cultural service providers assist with the development of intercultural communication skills. Research is a major part of the development of intercultural communication skills.[4][5] Intercultural communication is in a way the 'interaction with speakers of other languages on equal terms and respecting their identities'.[6]
Identity and culture are also studied within the discipline of communication to analyze how globalization influences ways of thinking, beliefs, values, and identity within and between cultural environments. Intercultural communication scholars approach theory with a dynamic outlook and do not believe culture can be measured nor that cultures share universal attributes. Scholars acknowledge that culture and communication shift along with societal changes and theories should consider the constant shifting and nuances of society.[7]
The study of intercultural communication requires intercultural understanding. Intercultural understanding is the ability to understand and value cultural differences. Language is an example of an important cultural component that is linked to intercultural understanding.[8]
Intercultural communication is something that is not just needed in the United States, but it is also needed in many other parts of the world. Wherever intercultural communication is, it helps to not only create behaviors between domestic and international contexts but also becomes a shared experience for all.[9]
The following types of theories can be distinguished in different strands: focus on effective outcomes, on accommodation or adaptation, on identity negotiation and management, on communication networks, on acculturation and adjustment.[10]
Acculturation can be defined as the process of an individual or individuals exchanging or adopting certain culture values and practices that the dominant culture of their location possesses.[21] Acculturation differs from assimilation because the people who are adopting new culture habits are still processing some of their original own culture habits. Young Yun Kim has identified three personality traits that could affect someone's cultural adaptation. These personality traits include openness, strength, and positive. With these personality traits, individuals will be more successful in acculturating than individuals who do not possess these traits. Kim proposes an alternative to acculturation is complete assimilation.[20]
A study on cultural and intercultural communication came up with three perspectives, which are the indigenous approach, cultural approach, and cross-cultural approach.[7]
Authentic intercultural communication is possible. A theory that was found in 1984 and revisited on 1987 explains the importance of truth and intention of getting an understanding. Furthermore, if strategic intent is hidden, there can't be any authentic intercultural communication.[33]
In intercultural communication, there could be miscommunication, and the term is called "misfire." Later on, a theory was founded that has three layers of intercultural communication.[33] The first level is effective communication, second-level miscommunication, and third-level systemically distorted communication. It is difficult to go to the first level due to the speaker's position and the structure.[33]
At a practical level, the success of intercultural communication will not be modeled around awareness of and sensitivity to the essentially different behaviors and values of ‘the other culture’, but around the employment of the ability to read culture which derives from underlying universal cultural processes.[34]
Forced assimilation was very common in the European colonial empires the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Colonial policies regarding religion conversion, the removal of children, the division of community property, and the shifting of gender roles primarily impacted North and South America, Australia, Africa, and Asia.
Voluntary assimilation has also been a part of history dating back to the Spanish Inquisition of the late 14th and 15th centuries, when many Muslims and Jews voluntarily converted to Roman Catholicism as a response to religious prosecution while secretly continuing their original practices. Another example is when the Europeans moved to the United States.[24] in reference assimilation developed
Intercultural communication is competent when it accomplishes the objectives in a manner that is appropriate to the context and relationship. Intercultural communication thus needs to bridge the dichotomy between appropriateness and effectiveness:[35] Proper means of intercultural communication leads to a 15% decrease in miscommunication.[36]
Competent communication is an interaction that is seen as effective in achieving certain rewarding objectives in a way that is also related to the context in which the situation occurs. In other words, it is a conversation with an achievable goal that is used at an appropriate time/location.[35]
Intercultural communication can be linked with identity, which means the competent communicator is the person who can affirm others' avowed identities. As well as goal attainment is also a focus within intercultural competence and it involves the communicator to convey a sense of communication appropriateness and effectiveness in diverse cultural contexts.[35]
Ethnocentrism plays a role in intercultural communication. The capacity to avoid ethnocentrism is the foundation of intercultural communication competence. Ethnocentrism is the inclination to view one's own group as natural and correct, and all others as aberrant.
People must be aware that to engage and fix intercultural communication there is no easy solution and there is not only one way to do so. Listed below are some of the components of intercultural competence.[35]
The following are ways to improve communication competence:
Effective communication depends on the informal understandings among the parties involved that are based on the trust developed between them. When trust exists, there is implicit understanding within communication, cultural differences may be overlooked, and problems can be dealt with more easily. The meaning of trust and how it is developed and communicated varies across societies. Similarly, some cultures have a greater propensity to be trusting than others.
The problems in intercultural communication usually come from problems in message transmission and in reception. In communication between people of the same culture, the person who receives the message interprets it based on values, beliefs, and expectations for behavior similar to those of the person who sent the message. When this happens, the way the message is interpreted by the receiver is likely to be fairly similar to what the speaker intended. However, when the receiver of the message is a person from a different culture, the receiver uses information from his or her culture to interpret the message. The message that the receiver interprets may be very different from what the speaker intended.
Cross-cultural business communication is very helpful in building cultural intelligence through coaching and training in cross-cultural communication management and facilitation, cross-cultural negotiation, multicultural conflict resolution, customer service, business and organizational communication. Cross-cultural understanding is not just for incoming expats. Cross-cultural understanding begins with those responsible for the project and reaches those delivering the service or content. The ability to communicate, negotiate and effectively work with people from other cultures is vital to international business.
Important points to consider:
There is a connection between a person's personality traits and the ability to adapt to the host-country's environment—including the ability to communicate within that environment.
Two key personality traits are openness and resilience. Openness includes traits such as tolerance for ambiguity, extroversion and introversion, and open-mindedness. Resilience, on the other hand, includes having an internal locus of control, persistence, tolerance for ambiguity, and resourcefulness.
These factors, combined with the person's cultural and racial identity and level of liberalism, comprise that person's potential for adaptation.
In a business environment, communication is vital, and there could be many instances where there could be miscommunication. Globalization is a significant factor in intercultural communication and affects business environments. In a business setting, it could be more difficult to communicate due to different ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Due to globalization, more employees have negative emotions in a business environment. The reason why one gets negative feelings is because of miscommunication.[40]
One study done entails the communication between non-native English speaking and native English speaking people in the United States.[41] The study showed that, in a business environment, non-native English speakers and native English speakers had similar experiences in the workplace. Although native English speakers tried to breakdown the miscommunication, non-native English speakers were offended by the terms they used.[41]
There are common conceptualizations of attributes that define collectivistic and individualistic cultures. Operationalizing the perceptions of cultural identities works under the guise that cultures are static and homogeneous, when in fact cultures within nations are multi-ethnic and individuals show high variation in how cultural differences are internalized and expressed.[8]
Manuela Guilherme, a teacher of foreign languages and cultures at secondary schools and university-level courses in Portugal and Great Britain, recognizes a need for a postmodern, decentered critique of Western societies from the point of view of the other in which no one should be regarded as culturally inferior or colonizable. Holliday states their opposition to this approach by discussing their distaste in Guilherme's and Byram's, a Professor of Education at Durham University, England, orientations towards a clear line between "our culture" and "their culture."[34]
The goal of the original CBSCM proposed by Ting-Toomey and Oetzel (2001) was to use the model as a tentative map to organize and explain the various research concepts in the growing intercultural conflict field. It was based of the culture-based situational model in 2001 and Toomey and Oetzel envisioned that researchers and practitioners could collaborate in an integrative manner and locate concepts and linkage of ideas between the factors and test them in a systematic manner when creating the original CBSCM.
The original CBSCM consists of four components: (1) primary orientation factors (e.g., value patterns and personal attributes), (2) situational and relational boundary features (e.g., in-group-out-group boundary, interpersonal relationship boundary, and conflict goals’ assessment), (3) conflict communication process factors (e.g., conflict styles and facework behaviors), and (4) conflict competence features (e.g., appropriates and effectiveness, productivity and satisfaction).[42]
The integration of the newly revised socioecological framework added by Ting-Toomey and Oetzel (2013) and the original CBSCM results in the revised model. The model still depicts two parties (e.g., people) in conflict with one another and illustrates how the conflict process unfolds. The model is meant to describe the process as continuous and flowing rather than starting at a particular point.
The model is meant to describe the process as continuous and flowing rather than starting at a particular point. It is possible to consider additional conflict parties or entities in the conflict process, yet we are constrained in drawing a model on a single page. The primary orientation factors now include multilevel factors at the macro-, exo-, meso-, and microlevels. The situational appraisals also include multilevel factors at each of these levels.[42]
Globalization plays a central role in theorizing for mass communication, media, and cultural communication studies.[43] Intercultural communication scholars emphasize that globalization emerged from the increasing diversity of cultures throughout the world and thrives with the removal of cultural barriers.[8] The notion of nationality, or the construction of national space, is understood to emerge dialectically through communication and globalization.
The Intercultural Praxis Model by Kathryn Sorrells, Ph.D. shows us how to navigate through the complexities of cultural differences along with power differences. This model will help you understand who you are as an individual, and how you can better communicate with others that may be different from you. In order to continue living in a globalized society one can use this Praxis model to understand cultural differences (based on race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, etc.) within the institutional and historical systems of power. Intercultural Communication Praxis Model requires us to respond to someone who comes from a different culture than us, in the most open way we can. The media are influential in what we think of other cultures and what we think about our own selves. However it is important, we educate ourselves, and learn how to communicate with others through Sorrells' Praxis Model.[44]
Sorrells’ process is made up of six points of entry in navigating intercultural spaces, including inquiry, framing, positioning, dialogue, reflection, and action. Inquiry, as the first step of the Intercultural Praxis Model, is an overall interest in learning about and understanding individuals with different cultural backgrounds and world-views, while challenging one's own perceptions. Framing, then, is the awareness of “local and global contexts that shape intercultural interactions;”[45] thus, the ability to shift between the micro, meso, and macro frames. Positioning is the consideration of one's place in the world compared to others, and how this position might influence both world-views and certain privileges. Dialogue is the turning point of the process during which further understanding of differences and possible tensions develops through experience and engagement with cultures outside of one's own. Next, reflection allows for one to learn through introspection the values of those differences, as well as enables action within the world “in meaningful, effective, and responsible ways."[45] This finally leads to action, which aims to create a more conscious world by working toward social justice and peace among different cultures. As Sorrells argues, “In the context of globalization, [intercultural praxis] … offers us a process of critical, reflective thinking and acting that enables us to navigate … intercultural spaces we inhabit interpersonally, communally, and globally."[45]
Cross-cultural communication endeavors to bring together such relatively unrelated areas as cultural anthropology and established areas of communication. Its core is to establish and understand how people from different cultures communicate with each other. Its charge is to also produce some guidelines with which people from different cultures can better communicate with each other.
Cross-cultural communication, as with many scholarly fields, is a combination of many other fields. These fields include anthropology, cultural studies, psychology and communication. The field has also moved both toward the treatment of interethnic relations, and toward the study of communication strategies used by co-cultural populations, i.e., communication strategies used to deal with majority or mainstream populations.
The study of languages other than one's own can serve not only to help one understand what we as humans have in common, but also to assist in the understanding of the diversity which underlines our languages' methods of constructing and organizing knowledge. Such understanding has profound implications with respect to developing a critical awareness of social relationships. Understanding social relationships and the way other cultures work is the groundwork of successful globalization business affairs.
Language socialization can be broadly defined as “an investigation of how language both presupposes and creates anew, social relations in cultural context”.[46] It is imperative that the speaker understands the grammar of a language, as well as how elements of language are socially situated in order to reach communicative competence. Human experience is culturally relevant, so elements of language are also culturally relevant.[47] One must carefully consider semiotics and the evaluation of sign systems to compare cross-cultural norms of communication.[48] There are several potential problems that come with language socialization, however. Sometimes people can overgeneralize or label cultures with stereotypical and subjective characterizations.[49] Another primary concern with documenting alternative cultural norms revolves around the fact that no social actor uses language in ways that perfectly match normative characterizations.[50] A methodology for investigating how an individual uses language and other semiotic activity to create and use new models of conduct and how this varies from the cultural norm should be incorporated into the study of language socialization.[51]
Verbal intercultural communication techniques improve speakers' or listeners' capacity for speech production or comprehension. Depending on the communication situation, the plans could either be formal or informal. Verbal communication consists of messages being sent and received continuously with the speaker and the listener, it is focused on the way messages are portrayed. Verbal communication is based on language and use of expression, the tone in which the sender of the message relays the communication can determine how the message is received and in what context.
Factors that affect verbal communication:
The way a message is received is dependent on these factors as they give a greater interpretation for the receiver as to what is meant by the message. By emphasizing a certain phrase with the tone of voice, this indicates that it is important and should be focused more on.
Along with these attributes, verbal communication is also accompanied with non-verbal cues. These cues make the message clearer and give the listener an indication of what way the information should be received.[52]
Example of non-verbal cues
In terms of intercultural communication there are language barriers which are effected by verbal forms of communication. In this instance there is opportunity for miscommunication between two or more parties.[53] Other barriers that contribute to miscommunication would be the type of words chosen in conversation. Due to different cultures there are different meaning in vocabulary chosen, this allows for a message between the sender and receiver to be misconstrued.[54]
Nonverbal communication plays a crucial role in interpersonal interactions, conveying emotions, attitudes, and information beyond what words alone can express. According to Burgoon, Guerrero, and Floyd (2016), [55]nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, gestures, posture, and eye contact are essential for understanding the full message in any communication context. These cues often operate on a subconscious level, influencing the dynamics of interactions without explicit awareness from the participants. For instance, consistent eye contact can signal interest and engagement, while crossed arms may indicate defensiveness or discomfort. According to Anthropologist Edward T. Hall, at least 90 percent of all communication is conveyed in a culture's nonverbal messages.[56]
Nonverbal communication also varies significantly across cultures, which can lead to misunderstandings in intercultural exchanges if not properly understood. For example, a gesture considered positive in one culture might be offensive in another. Thus, being aware of cultural differences in nonverbal communication can prevent misinterpretations and foster better cross-cultural relationships.
The congruence between verbal and nonverbal messages is critical; discrepancies can lead to perceptions of insincerity or confusion. For instance, if someone says they are happy while displaying a frown, the mixed signals may cause the listener to doubt the sincerity of the verbal message. On the other hand, when verbal and nonverbal cues align, the message is reinforced, and communication becomes more effective.
By integrating nonverbal communication strategies, individuals can enhance their interpersonal effectiveness, making their interactions more meaningful and coherent. Effective nonverbal communication can help in building trust, expressing empathy, and facilitating understanding, thereby improving the quality of personal and professional relationships. This underscores the importance of nonverbal communication in shaping the quality and success of interpersonal relationships. Understanding and effectively using nonverbal communication can significantly enhance the clarity and impact of our messages, making our interactions more authentic and effective.
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