INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION CONCEPT AND IMPLICATIONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA GIAO TIẾP TRONG môi TRƯỜNG đa văn HOÁ và mối LIÊN hệ với KHU vực ĐÔNG NAM á

NATURE OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Culture consists of how we relate to other people, how we think, how we behave, and how we view the world Samovar, 2017.. When there is a contact of

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION GIAO TIẾP TRONG MÔI TRƯỜNG ĐA VĂN HOÁ

Ths Nguyễn Huy Hoàng (Ma.Nguyen Huy Hoang) huynguyen1504@gmail.com, Đại học Walailak (Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand)

Abstract:

Tóm tắt:

Từ khoá (Keywords): giao tiếp, đa văn hoá, (interculture, cross-culture,

communication)

1 NATURE OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Culture consists of how we relate to other people, how we think, how we behave, and how we view the world (Samovar, 2017) Cultures exist to serve the vital, practical

requirements of human life—to structure a society so as to perpetuate the species, to pass on the hard-learned knowledge and experience of generations past and centuries past to the young and inexperienced in order to spare the next generation the costly and dangerous process of learning everything all over again from scratch through trial and error—including fatal errors (Sowell) Culture is a set of human-made objective and subjective elements that in the past have increased the probability of survival and resulted in satisfaction for the participants became shared among those who could communicate with each other because they had a common language and they lived in the same time and place (Triandis) First, it is “human-made” and behavior that must be learned Secondly, culture is subjective including values, beliefs, attitudes, norms, and foundational behaviors Thirdly, culture has language or a set of symbols and also rules for using those symbols to be transmitted and shared

Culture is a code we learn and share, and learning and sharing require communication

Communication requires coding and symbols that must be learned and shared (Smith 1966)

There are three primary dimensions—language, physical, and psychological (Borden, 1991, p 171) The language, physical, and psychological dimensions of culture are interdependent (Martin, 2011)

When there is a contact of different culture, there is culture diffusion which is the

process by which the two cultures learn and adapt materials and adopt practices from each other (Martin, 2011) Diffusion is a mechanism of change that is seen by the spread of various ideas, concepts, institutions, and practices from one culture to another (Samovar, 2017)

Increasing globalization render increasing contacts of cultures which might lead to a

world culture, which is the idea that as traditional barriers among people of differing cultures

break down, emphasizing the commonality of human needs, one culture will emerge, a new culture to which all people will adhere (Martin, 2011) The United States continues to welcome

a large number of immigrants each year and has been referred to as a melting-pot society means

a sociocultural assimilation of people of differing backgrounds and nationalities; the term

implies losing ethnic differences and forming one large society or macroculture However,

many U.S citizens want to maintain their ethnic-cultural heritage including their original culture and language such as China town in Sanfrancisco and Sydney, Thai town in Sydney

Therefore, it might become a kind of microculture where cultures exist within cultures the

United States is a salad bowl of cultures rather than a melting pot (Martin, 2011)

Culture innovation refers to the discovery of new practices, inventions, tools, or

concepts that may produce changes in practices and behaviors for a particular culture (Samovar, 2017)

Major characteristics of culture

Firstly, culture is shared culture is a group worldview, the way of organizing the world that a particular society has created over time This framework or web of meaning allows the

members of that society to make sense of themselves, their world, and their experiences in that world (Samovar, 2017) It enables member of similar cultures to predict how other members are most likely to behave in a given circumstance, and it tells them how to react accordingly (Haviland) Secondly, culture is transmitted from generation to generation from family to society Thirdly, culture is based on symbols such as flags, wedding rings, gestures, words, dress, objects, statues, and reli- gious icons all have message value, which include verbal and non-verbal messages Culture is learnt from a large variety of sources, with family, school, church, and community being the four most powerful institutions of culture For example, from

proverbs in the form of colorful, vivid language and with very few words—reflect the insights,

wisdom, biases, and even superstitions of a culture, which are basic principles accepted within the culture, or from folktales, legends, and myths about the customs, traditions, and beliefs linking people to their history and root them to their past; from art such as myths, songs, dances, paintings, carvings that displaying and confirming values that members of a culture hold in common; also from media such as television, online discussions, blogs, social networks and hundreds of other outlets, people share themselves and their culture Culture is dynamic subjected to change relating to the spread of capitalism, population growth, large movements

of immigrants, the proliferation of information technology, wars, and environmental concerns All of these cultural incursions, whether from within or without, cause both major and minor modifications to culture (Samovar, 2017)

Elements of culture:

World view is the way a people interpret reality and events, including their images of themselves and how they relate to the world around them Religion help people understand the universe, natural phenomena, what to die for, and how to dwell among other people such as social control, conflict resolution, reinforcement of group solidarity, explana- tions of the unexplainable, and emotional support History is common culture creates a strong sense of unity and identity which also help explain contemporary perceptions held by members of those cultures However, it is important to remember that authorities often selectively recount and mold historical stories in an effort to construct a desired public percep- tion The conflict among China, Japan, and Korea over different presentations of history is an example

Values are a people’s beliefs about the goals or ways of living that are desirable for

themselves and their society and the social rules that determine how we ought to behave Values have profound, though partly unconscious, effects on people’s behavior The two key words in any discussion of cultural values are “guidelines” and “behavior” which help determine how people within a particular culture ought to behave whether they be values regarding individualism, private property, accomplishment, generosity, change, freedom (Samovar,

2017) Values form the core of a culture Values are social principles, goals, or standards

accepted by persons in a culture They establish what is proper and improper behavior as well

as what is normal and abnormal behavior Values are learned by contacts with family members, teachers, and religious leaders What people hear, read, and watch on television influences their value systems (Martin, 2011) Cultural values, whether they are of our culture or any other culture, are learned through shared activities or cultural practices and shared meanings or

cultural interpretation Social organization such as institutions such as family, government,

schools, tribes, and clans Language to trasmit culture

Case study such as religion, values of individualism vs collectivism

Types of cultures

Subcultures or microculture are groups of people possessing characteristic traits that

set apart and distinguish them from others within a larger society or microculture For example,

The U.S microculture is white 66.07% of the population while the largest U.S subcultures

include Hispanics (or Latinos) (15.06%), African Americans (12.62%), Asians and Pacific

Islanders (5.06%), and Native Americans (1.19%) (Martin, 2011)

Cultural information that you are willing to share with outsiders is considered

frontstage culture, while cultural information that is concealed from outsiders is considered

backstage culture Frontstage and backstage cultures vary by culture and by individuals within

the culture because some people are inherently more open than others (Martin, 2011)

Culture is learned through perception Perceptions are formed in various ways: where

we are born and raised, the language we learn, the people and environment with which we live, and the psychological stimuli we encounter No two individuals view the external world the same because no two individuals receive exactly the same stimuli or share the same physical sensory receptors Because we know only what we have personally perceived and cannot know for sure what someone else has perceived, intercultural communication involving different

cultures becomes particularly difficult (Singer, 1998) Perception, the learned meaning of

sensory images, may involve learning a new reaction to an old learned stimulus (Martin, 2011)

Attribution, or the ability to look at social behavior from another culture’s view, can

cause communication problems because known experiences from your own culture are used in explaining unknown behaviors of those in another culture (Martin, 2011)

Attitudes are our likes (or affinities) and dislikes (or aversions) to certain people,

objects, or situations Attitudes are rooted in our behavior and in our emotions (Weaver, 1998) Individualism refers to the attitude of valuing ourselves as separate individuals with responsibility for our own destinies and our own actions Proponents of individualism believe that self-interest is an appropriate goal Collectivism emphasizes common interests, conformity, cooperation, and interdependence (Martin, 2011)

Ethical standards are guidelines established to convey what is perceived to be correct

or incor- rect behavior by most people in a society According to Ferrell and Gardiner (1991), ethical conduct “is something judged as proper or acceptable based on some standard of right and wrong” (p 2) According to Borden (1991), being ethical means keeping your values in balance; if you compromise your values, you are being unethical Personal ethics or moral standards may differ from societal ethics Your own standards of what is right and wrong may

be more stringent than those of your society as a whole

Communication: Definition of communication can be troublesome, as Dance and

Larson perused the literature on communication and found 126 definitions of the word (Samovar, 2017) Human communication is a dynamic process in which people attempt to share their thoughts with other people through the use of symbols in particular settings or our ability to share our ideas and feelings (Samovar, 2017) Communication is also a process while culture is the structure through which the communication is formulated and interpreted (Martin, 2011) Culture cannot be known with a study of communication, and communication can only be understood with an understanding of the culture it supports” (Jandt, 2007, pp 27–28)

Communication composed of eight interrelated activities including sources of

communication Communicagtion, firstly, has a source sending and receiving messages - a

person who has an idea, feeling, experience, etc that they wish to share with another person While you are sending messages you are also receiving the messages being generated by your

communication partner Communicarion needs encoding when the source creates a message

through the selection of verbal or nonverbal symbols, or words and actions The encoding

produces message which is a set of written, pictorial, verbal, and/or nonverbal symbols that represent a source’s particular state of being at a specific moment Message needs channels to

moving from person to person such as internet, phones, printing Fifthly, the message has been

generated and moved along through a channel to reach a receiver Sixth, the receiver decodes the message and, seventhly, the receiver then makes responses or feedbacks as words,

nonverbal reactions, or even silence Eightly, there is also multiplicity of competing stimuli or noises (Samovar, 2017)

a speech, part of a group discussion, or speaking before a large audience Environments such

as an employment interview, an upscale restaurant, a group meeting, or an office, the location

of your interaction provides guidelines for your behavior Regarding time, do you respond to a phone call at 2:00 a.m the same way you do to one at 2:00 p.m.? For Americans, the use of appointment-schedule time reveals how people feel about each other, how significant their business is, and where they rank in the status system Fourthly, Communication is self reflective or it is as if you are talking with yourself while also exchanging messages with other people You can watch, evaluate, and alter your “performance” as a communicator at the very instant you are engaged in the event Fifthly, communication is irreversible or once a message

is sent, there can be no way to retrieve it Communication has consequence (Samovar, 2017)

Intracultural communication is defined as communication between and among

members of the same culture Generally, people who are of the same race, political persuasion, and religion or who share the same interests

Edward T Hall first used the term intercultural communication in 1959 Hall defined

intercultural communication as communication between persons or individuals of different cultures (Martin, 2011) Intercultural communication different from international communication, which takes place between nations and governments rather than

individuals; it is formal and ritualized The dialogue at the United Nations, for example, is international communication (Martin, 2011)

Why study intercultural communication? Because it addresses procedural, substantive,

and informational global problems, intercultural communication allows you to work on the procedural issues of country-to-country contacts, diplomacy, and legal contexts You can then become involved with the substantive, cultural level and become sensitized to differences You can also gather information to make decisions when you are in an intercultural environment (Rohrlich, 1998) A lack of effective intercultural communication skills often causes misunderstandings This leads to irritation and even distrust between the parties concerned More often than not, problems arise from differences in communication styles.” (Yoshida,

2002, pp 708, 710)

…more than 37% of residents of New York City are foreign born, Miami is 32.47% Latin

American, and San Francisco is 31.8% Asian In fact, African Americans, Asians, and

Latin Americans make up 32.47% of the U.S population… (Martin, 2011)

Processes related to culture

Enculturation is the socialization process you go through to adapt to your society

When you grow up in one culture, you learn one way of classifying, coding, prioritizing, and

justifying reality (Martin, 2011) while acculturation is the process of adjusting and adapting

to a new and different culture (Hazuda, Stern, & Hoffner, 1988) Although acculturation increases the interconnectedness of cultures, differences are sources of potential problems Acculturation has four dimensions: integration, separation, assimilation, and deculturation Assimilation takes place when individuals are absorbed into their new culture and withdraw from their old culture Integration takes place when individuals become an integral part of the new culture while maintaining their cultural integrity Separation happens when individuals keep their culture and stay independent of the new culture Deculturation occurs when individuals lose their original culture and do not accept the new culture, leading to confusion and anxiety (Alkhazraji, 1997)

If people of two different cultures absorb a significant number of each other’s cultural

differences and have a number of similarities, cultural synergy takes place with the two

cultures merging to form a stronger overriding culture (Martin, 2011) People who learn more

than one culture are multicultural and can move between two cultures very comfortably Ethnocentrism is the belief that your own cultural background, including ways of analyzing

problems, values, beliefs, language, and verbal and nonverbal communication, is correct Ethnocentrists believe that their culture is the central culture and that other cultures are

incorrect, defective, or quaint (Martin, 2011) Mindsets are ways of being that allow us to see,

perceive, and reason through our own cultural awareness Every culture in the world has a different mindset, and every individual within that culture has a variance to that mindset (Chaney & Martin, 2005) The belief that one’s own culture is best is a natural phenomenon common to all cultures We need to look at other mindsets from the perspective of the people who hold them before we judge them as good or bad However, we must be careful about generalizing about other cultures or making assumptions about (Martin, 2011)

Communication: symbol, language

A cultural symbol is a word or object that represents something in the culture Cultural

symbol variability may be included in social cognitive processes such as information processing, persuasive strategy selection, conflict management styles, personality, social relations, and self-perceptions as well as habits, norms, rules, roles, networks, language, and environment All the factors interact and influence each other To communicate effectively in the intercultural business environment, it is important to know all the cultural factors that affect the situation (Martin, 2011)

Norms are culturally ingrained principles of correct and incorrect behaviors that, if broken, carry a form of overt or covert penalty Rules are formed to clarify cloudy areas of norms (Martin, 2011) A role includes the behavioral expectations of a position within a culture and is affected by norms and rules Networks are formed with personal ties and involve an

exchange of assistance Networks and the need to belong are the basis of friendships and

subgroups (Chaney & Martin, 2005) In some cultures, such as the Arab, Spanish, and Japanese, networking is essential because they prefer to conduct business with people they know or with associates of people they know (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988)

Cultural intelligence is the ability to exhibit certain behaviors, including skills and

qualities, which are culturally tuned to the attitudes and values of others Cultural intelligence involves the areas of linguistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and

interpersonal intelligence (2004) Spatial intelligence is an important aspect of cultural

intelligence; it involves the way space is used during greetings and introductions, as well as

during meetings and other encounters Intrapersonal intelligence involves an awareness of

one’s own cultural style in order to make behavioral adjustments to international counterparts

Interpersonal intelligence includes the ability to understand other people and their

motivations

“To interact well with people from other cultures, it helps to (a) speak a bit of their language, (b) know how closely to stand (and other nonverbal behavior), (c) know about your own cultural style, and (d) know how your cultural style meshes with those of others” (Peterson, 2004, p 95)

2 Challenges of intercultural communcation: barriers, connflicts, managment Cultural iceberg model: The values that are below the “waterline” represent those on

which behaviors are based; however, we respond to the surface values that we can sense What you do not see culturally can be a barrier to your ability to communicate effectively and complete your agenda To truly understand a culture, we must explore the behaviors below the waterline

Understanding inner world through the Johari Window, which includes “panes” that represent the self that is known and unknown to a person and the self that is known and unknown to others The Johari Window (Luft, 1984), named for its creators, Joseph and Harrington

Intercultural construct: Borden (1991) lists 7 constructs that individuals must possess if they are going to succeed interculturally

Stereotypes, perceptions about certain groups of people or nationalities, exist with U.S

persons and those of other cultures Although stereotyping is a guide to a national culture, it does not work well with individuals, particularly those who have worked in international business or who have lived or studied abroad Individuals generally differ from their national culture in some aspects (Lewis, 2006) Prejudice (Samovar, 2017)

• We are aware that our intent to communicate, either as communicator or communicatee, may result

in only expressive behavior or information gathering, respectively

• Our cybernetic (self-concept) in one culture can operate independently of our cybernetic in another culture

• We are competent in the languages of other cultures

• We are able to work within the constraints (personal, situational, and cultural) of the human communication system established by the communication from other cultures

• We are culturally literate in our own and other cultures

• We know the position of our culture and other cultures on the four universal dimensions of values and their interaction with the cultural orientation model

• We know the cultural orientation of our culture and other cultures on the associative–

abstractive, particularistic–universalistic, and closed-minded/open-minded dimensions and can use it as the first approximation of the cognitive style of the communicants (pp 210–213)

When encountering someone from another culture, communication barriers are often

created when the behavior of the other person differs from our own Communication barriers are obstacles to effective communication An example of such a barrier is the head nod The nod indicates understanding in the United States, but in Japan it means only that the person is listening

Communication barriers:

• Physical time, environment, comfortandneeds, and physical medium (e.g.,telephone or letter)

• Cultural—ethnic, religious, and social differences

• Perceptual—viewing what is said from your own mindset

• Motivational—the listener’s mental inertia

• Experiential—lack of similar life happenings

• Emotional—personal feelings of the listener

• Linguistic—different languages spoken by the speaker and listener or use of a vocabulary

beyond the comprehension of the listener

• Nonverbal—nonwordmessages

• Competition—the listener’s ability to do other things rather than hear the communication

Global mindset should have attributes needed by successful intercultural managers (Javidan,

Steers, & Hitt, 2007, p 222):

Cultural shock is the trauma experience when you move into a culture different from your home Cultural shock is a communication problem that involves the frustrations of not

understanding the verbal and nonverbal communication of the host culture, its customs, and its value systems (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2007)

Frustrations may include lack of food, unacceptable standards of cleanliness, different

bath- room facilities and fear for personal safety (Martin, 2011), the disruption of people’s routines, which may range from getting up, eating breakfast, and going to work, creates a high degree of uncertainty that is very stressful (Black, Gregersen, Mendenhall, and Stroh 1999) The more our routines are disrupted, the greater the level of anxiety and frustration (Martin, 2011) Aspects of cultural shock include cultural stress, social alienation, social class and poverty/wealth extremes, financial matters, and relationships and family considerations (Martin, 2011)

1 Respect for cultural differences

2 Ability to generate positive energy in people from a different part of the world 3 Willingness to

adapt, learn, and cope with other cultures

4 Adaptability

5 Willingness to accept good ideas no matter where they originate

6 Ability to excite people from a different part of the world

7 Acknowledgment of the validity of different views

8 Openness to cultural diversity

9 Ability to suspend judgment about those from other cultures

10 Positive attitude toward those from other cultures and regions

11 Self-confidence

12 Understanding of how to build and manage global alliances, partnerships, and value networks

13 Ability to connect with people from other parts of the world

14 Ability to adjust behaviour in a different cultural setting

15 Collaborativeness

16 Ability to manage the tension between corporate requirements and local challenges

17 Willingness to work across time and distance

18 Ability to handle complex cross-cultural issues

19 Resiliency

20 Understanding of the global business and industry

21 Optimism

22 Desire to learn about other cultures and other parts of the world

23 Understanding of cultural similarities

24 Understanding of other cultures and histories

25 Curiosity

26 Passion for learning about and being in other cultures

27 Understanding of the political and economic systems in other parts of the world

28 Risk taking