Intercultural Communication
Intercultural Communication
Intercultural Communication
Overview. This unit focuses on the role of communication in the relationships of peoples and groups with different cultural, ethnic, religious or social backgrounds. It looks at both the cultural barriers to effective communication as well as to various ways those barriers can be overcome. This unit also addresses the concept of dialogue as the use of communication to achieve harmony, mutual understanding and respect among peoples and groups. Learning Outcomes: Students who complete Unit 5 will be able to: explain the role of ethnocentrism in intercultural communication discuss guidelines for effective intercultural and interreligious communication compare Arabic and English communication patterns demonstrate intercultural aspects of inter-religious communication Key Concepts for Unit 5 Definition and conceptualization of intercultural communication and overview of guidelines Overview of ethnocentrism and prejudice in communication Definition and conceptualization of dialogue as a model of communication
Intercultural Communication Nations and people of the world are increasingly interconnected and mutually interdependent. Globally, most cities and countries are becoming more diverse internally, with citizens and residents of varying races, religions, ethnicities and national backgrounds. Meanwhile, greater the risk is associated with economic or political aloofness and social isolation. All of these social forces are fostering increasingly more study of intercultural communication. Specifically, intercultural communication is defined as communication, and the study of it, among peoples of different cultural, ethnic and tribal backgrounds. Because of the inherent differences between the message sender/encoder and the message receiver/decoder, the risk of misunderstanding is particularly high in intercultural situations. The symbolic aspect of communication and its reliance on encoding and decoding are particularly important in intercultural communication, which encompasses both verbal and nonverbal elements. The differences between languages obviously can hamper communication, but so too (though less obviously) can varying ways that people of different cultures use nonverbal elements of body language, gaze, touch, time and so on. In some instances, intercultural communication began as an attempt by a dominant, often the host society, to acculturize new immigrants. However, the field has grown toward the kind of communication associated with dialogue [see definition in Unit 1].
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An important aspect of intercultural communication is an understanding of social roles and expectations within various cultures. Specifically this refers to role relationships. Personalness deals with what is expected and tolerated. This varies greatly, from the reserve of Asian society to the gregariousness of Latin and Mediterranean cultures. Formality is a related area, often focusing on existing relationships such as teacher-student, doctor-patient, salesman-buyer. A practical aspect of this is the issue of whether to use first names or surnames and whether to accompany these with honorifics such as mister in English or san in Japanese. Social hierarchy focuses on cultural norms, particularly those associated with authority or station in life. In some cultures, social deference is very important; in others, social equality is the norm. This varies greatly throughout the world, but can even be found in cultures of similar background. Columbia, for example, is quite formal and class is most important. In neighboring Venezuela, though, lack of class distinctions is evident not only in behavior but also in language. The degree of allowable deviation is another element in intercultural communication, dealing with acceptable looseness or tightness within a social system and whether the emphasis is place on individual rights and freedoms or on group cohesiveness and social values. Focus on this element leads to distinguishing between two types of societies: individualistic cultures that value individual freedom, choice and uniqueness, and collectivist cultures that value the group over the individual. The degree of uncertainty allowable in society is another distinguishing characteristic of intercultural communication. Uncertainty-accepting cultures tolerate ambiguity and diversity, whereas uncertainty-rejecting societies have difficulty with ambiguity and diversity. Social explicitness is another indicator of differences among cultures. Implicit-rule cultures have information and cultural roles that are known by all participants, though perhaps unknown by outsiders. These roles and norms often are imbedded in cultural traditions and customs. Explicit-rule cultures have rules, procedures and expectations that are documented and discussed, often having the force of law.
Terms and Concepts in Intercultural Communication Etic is a communication term referring to the understanding or explanation of a culture from outside. Emic refers to understanding or explanation of a culture from within. Culture is the dynamic and living (or once-living) patterns that define a society, including its characteristic beliefs, attitudes, habits and behaviors. Aspects of culture include language, religion, nationality, ethnicity, values, customs, family and social structures, and so on. Being part of a culture is learned, initially from parents and family, later from widening social surroundings. Culture also incorporates symbols, rituals, values, heroes and myths, which combine to help both transmit and reinforce the culture. Race is a term used to define people by physical or sociohistorical characteristics according to their common ancestry. Ethnicity (sometimes tribal identify) refers to groups within a race who share a common culture. Both terms are undergoing change.
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Intracultural communication is the study of communication within a particular cultural or social group. Intercultural communication is the study of communication among various cultures. Subcategories include inter-racial communication (between people of different races), interethnic communication (between people of different ethnic background within the same race), interreligious communication (between people of different religious affiliations or backgrounds), interdenominational communication (between people of different sects or denominations within a single religion). Cross-cultural communication is the study of a particular idea or interaction within one culture, compared with the same idea or interaction within other cultures. A co-culture or microculture (less appropriately called a subculture) is a particularly recognizable cultural subgroup whose beliefs, values, customs and other aspects of culture distinguish it from the larger society of which it is a part. In the United States, for example, there are many cocultures, such as Native American, Muslim American, Latin American. Within any culture, such co-cultures may be based on race, ethnicity, religion, lifestyle, age and so on. For examples, adolescents or the elderly might be considered a co-culture. An in-group is a dominant or referent group within a culture. Specifically, an in-group is a group of people with whom we identify, associate and cooperate, and about whom we are concerned. Conversely, an out-group is a group within a culture with whom we do not associate or cooperate and about whom we are not particularly concerned. Examples of out-groups are people of other races or religions, citizens of other nations, members of other political parties or movements, members of other professions, members of the opposite sex, and people of different ages from oneself. The tendency to make a distinction between in-groups and outgroups is nearly universal. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (also called the principle of linguistic relativity) is an observation named after two American linguists, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, who noted the relationship between language and culture. Specifically, they believed that language is necessary for thought, and that certain thoughts of a person cannot be understood by someone using a different language. They further argued that a persons world view is largely determined by his or her vocabulary and by the language structure of his culture. Within a multicultural environment, assimilation is the process of giving up one culture and taking on the characteristics of another, either a separate culture or a compromise culture. The alternative process is cultural pluralism, which involves maintaining ones particular culture in the midst of larger society. Many societies, particularly those with a dominant culture, encourage assimilation. Sometimes this carries the force of government, such as requirements imposed through official languages or religious laws. However, in societies composed of people from different cultural background, often the variety and size of those co-cultures allow their members to exist in a pluralistic manner and remain different from the larger society.
Ethnocentrism The study of intercultural communication often deals with problems or areas of risk. One such problem is ethnocentrism, the tendency to put ones own culture in the center of influence and use it as the point of reference for everything else. In many ways, this is a natural human tendency. Nationality, religion, ethnicity and culture all give us an identity, a sense of who we are and how we fit in with the world. They become our reference points.
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The difficulty, however, is that ethnocentrism also sets up standards of good and bad when in fact the issue should merely be noting differences. For example, there is nothing inherently good or correct about a nation that designs roads, passes laws, and builds cars all for the purpose of driving on the left side of the highway, any more than a nation that selects the right as the appropriate driving lane. Yet people used to driving on one side will say (or at least think) that people in the other-lane countries are driving on the wrong side of the road. It is relatively easy to recognize the ethnocentrism in such an example and to vow to avoid it. The problem is significantly more difficult when it comes to dealing with deeper issues raising children, worshipping God, establishing standards of public decency, and so on. The opposite of ethnocentrism is cultural relativism, which involves the analysis and assessment of a culture based on its own context rather than ones own culture. This involves setting aside ones own cultural background and, without bias, understanding and assessing another culture. Another problem associated with ethnocentrism is a phenomenon called ethnopaulism, using namecalling or slurs for members of the out-group. The consequence of all this is greater social distance between both cultures and less mutual understanding. The concept of social distance can be used in the study of ethnocentrism and ethnopaulism. Specifically, five types of distance can be observed: The distance of disparagement arises when two groups compete for the same resources. Such situations lead to relationships that are very high in ethnocentrism and very low in cultural relativism. It gives rise to frequent incidents of ethnopaulism. The distance of avoidance likewise exists in an environment high in ethnocentrism and low in cultural relativism. It leads to frequent and exaggerated instances of in-group jargon. The distance of indifference involves moderate levels of both ethnocentrism and cultural relativism associated with an insensitivity to the concerns of others and the use of ethnically disparaging terms. The distance of sensitivity is based on a low level of ethnocentrism and a high level of cultural pluralism. In this situation, speech is used deliberately to reduce the social distance between cultural groups. The distance of equality exists within an environment of a very low level of ethnocentrism and a very high level of cultural pluralism. Speech at this distance avoids making judgments against others.