INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Lesson 1+ 2 A brief Introduction to Intercultural Communication Some basic concepts 1 Communication 2 Characteristics Dynamic + is an ongoing activity + involves a host of.
Trang 1INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Lesson 1 + 2:
A brief Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Some basic concepts
1 Communication:
2 Characteristics:
- Dynamic:
+ is an ongoing activity
+ involves a host of variables
+ receiver + sender = part of the process
- Symbolic:
+ no direct mind-to-mind contact between people, then only infer what others are experiencing by what being seen and heard
+ sounds, marks on paper, movements, etc that you employ in your attempt to share your reality with other people
+ a symbol is an expression that stands for or represents sth else
- Contextual:
+ cultural context
+ environment context
+ occasion
+ times
+ number of people
“Context provides a prescription that indicates what behavior is obligated, preferred, or prohibited”
- High context – Low context continuum
- Components of communication
- Functions of communication:
Trang 2+ gather information about others
+ fulfill interpersonal needs
+ establish personal identities
+ influences others
(2) Culture
The iceberg model of culture:
+ dress, art holidays, language, architecture, literature, laws, food, etiquette, hereos (outside)
+ values, traditions, beliefs, philosophy, ethics, customs,
morals, meaning of life (inside)
Component of culture
Culture tree: religion, history, value, social structure, language
Communication is culture & culture is communication
“Cultures vary their ways of thinking…”
Functions of culture
“ Cultural exists as a vital, practical requirement of human life-
to structure a society so as to perpetuate the species, to pass
on the hand-learned knowledge and experiences of generations past and centuries past to the young and inexperienced in
order to space the next generation the costly and dangerous process of learning everything all over again from scratch
through trail & error including fatal errors”
In, humans, it is culture that sets the limits on behavior and guide it along predictable paths
Characteristics of culture
- culture is learned in a variety of ways and from a host of
different sources
- culture is integrated- “you touch a culture in one place and everything else is affected”
Trang 3- corporate culture … “collective behavior of people in
organization where they share the same cooperative visons, goals, values, customs and work procedure, a common working languages and symbols”
Stereotype
Intercultural communication:
+ “… intercultural communication involves interaction between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol system differ enough to influence the communication event”
+ “The people of different civilizations have different views on the relations between god and man, the individual and the group, the citizen and the state, parents and children, husband and wife, as well as differing views of the relative importance of rights and responsibilities, liberty and authority, equality and hierarchy”
Cultural similarities:
- cultural universals: patterns or traits that are globally common
to all societies cultural commonality
eg: family unit, basic human survivals: food, clothing, housing
& human experiences (birth, death, illness, healing), music
(music as cultural universal)
Assuming similarities with one’s own culture
- tendency to assume similarities between the foreign culture &
one’s own culture cultural conflict
(giving handkerchief as present)
Cultural differences
- Cultural differences are far more prevalent than cultural
universals
eg: greeting, ‘personal space’ in communication, cuisine
(breakfast)
- Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism
Trang 4Ethnocentrism: a belief or attitude that one’s own culture is better than all others, and should therefore serve as the
standard frame of reference
either sense of community pride or culture shock
- Cultural relativism: the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one’s own culture
- Xenocentrism: the belief that another culture is superior to one’s own
Cultural stereotyping
a group of beliefs and attitudes towards people from different culture = pre-established expectations about how they are likely to behave & what they believe in
Cultural shock
Cultural shock is a mental state caused by the transition that occurs when you go from a familiar cultural environment to an unfamiliar one and discover that your normative, established patterns of behavior are ineffective
“That song is the best esteemed with which our ears are most acquainted”
Cultural= a contribution to a feeling of familiarity
vary widely among individuals and can appear at different times: anxiety, depression, loneliness/ being homesick/
disturbed sleep patterns/ poor time management…)
* Phrases of cultural shock
1 Honeymoon: filled with excitement, hopefulness as being exposed to a different culture
2 Uncertainty & doubt: recognize the reality of the new setting (difficulties of language, poor housing, crowded
transportation…)
3 Adaptation: gain some cultural insight & make some
adjustments and modifications
Trang 54 Acceptance: understand key elements of new culture (special customs, behaviors, communication patterns…) and feel
comfortable in the surroundings
Cross-cultural conflict (cultural differences stereotypes)
A cultural conflict is a dislike, hostility or struggle between
communities who have different philosophies and ways of living resulting in contradictory aspirations and behaviors
What should be done to overcome cultural shock & cultural conflict?
- show respect for other cultures
- search for commonalities among cultures
- respect cultural differences
- learn the language of the host culture