Cross-cultural communication in the international classroom

On the other hand, high context cultures emphasize non-verbal forms o f communication, one’s environment, and one’s role or status within the culture as the primary [r]

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL

CLASSROOM Michael Beard, MA.

In te rn a tio n a l S c h o o l - V N U H a n o i, V ie tn a m

Abstract

In most cases, a typical international classroom consists of two or more cultures With a multicultural group of students there could be as many cultures as there are students Therefore, because of the fact that an international classroom is by nature multicultural, cross-cultural communication skills are essential skills to learn and incorporate whenever an international teacher or institution decides to cross cultures in order to teach The paper will explore various modes of cross-cultural communication (specifically focusing on non-verbal form s of communication) and suggest some principles to follow in the international classroom

INTRODUCTION

Globalization impacts almost every aspect of modern life The Internet, multinational corporations and the ease of international travel are rapidly changing every industry in our world Higher education is no exception to this trend In the past, higher educational institutions have been predominately mono- cultural with the exception o f the relatively few study-exchange programs However, classrooms in higher educational institutions are increasingly becoming more and more multicultural Having many cultures in one institution or in one class complicates the learning process by introducing potential areas of miscommunication even when everyone speaks the same language Thus, there is now a need for institutions of higher education to incorporate cross-cultural communication skills into their institutions Intercultural and educational researcher, Lies Sercu, notes:

- B e in g a b le to e o p e w ith in te rc u ltu ra le x p e rie n c e s re q u ire s th a ta p e rs o n -p o s s e s s e s a n u m b e ro f

intercultural competencies and characteristics These characteristics and competencies have been identified as the willingness to engage with the foreign culture, self-awareness and the ability to look upon oneself from the outside, the ability to see the world through the others’ eyes, the ability to cope with uncertainty, the ability to act as a cultural mediator, the ability to evaluate others’ points o f view, the ability to consciously use culture learning skills and to read the cultural context, and the understanding that individuals cannot be reduced to their collective identities (Sercu, pg 2)

In most cases, a typical international classroom consists o f two or more cultures If it is a mono-cultural group of students with a teacher from another culture then there exists the native culture o f the teacher and that o f the students With a multicultural group of students there could be as many cultures as there are students Thus, the international classroom is by nature multicultural Because o f this reality, cross- cultural communication skills are essential skills to learn and incorporate w henever an international teacher or institution decides to cross cultures in order to teach This paper will explore various modes of cross-cultural communication (specifically focusing on non-verbal form s o f communication) and suggest some principles to follow in the international classroom

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

W hen we think of communication we often only think of words But, communication goes far beyond our written and spoken phrases W e communicate with our bodies, eyes, facial expressions, proximity to other people, voice intonation and physical touch Think about the messages that are sent through a hug

or a kiss, through a cold stare o f the eyes, through a warm smile, or through a person with folded arms standing at a distance from you while talking to you These are all examples of non-verbal communication Just as words can differ from language to language so also do many non-verbal forms of communication Tracy Novinger points out, “Culture will dictate the form ality of wording o f the question and the nonverbal behaviors that will accompany it Therefore, in intercultural communication, understanding the meaning carried by even this simple question can be more complex than in intracultural communication” (Novinger, pg 55), Thus, it is important for international educators to be aware of some basic differences in non-verbal communication between the one’s home culture and the students' home culture(s)

Gestures

Gestures are movements that we make with primarily our upper body (particularly our arms, hands, fingers and head) that convey messages to other people Just like a mispronounced word can cause great confusion and misunderstandings so too can a “mispronounced” gesture Some gestures that are harmless and polite in Western cultures can cause great offense to students o f other cultures Again, Novinger writes, “Gestures that are foreign to us create non-understanding, and we know we do not understand More problematic are hom omorphic (same or similar in form, but different in meaning) gestures that not only generate misunderstanding but can be insulting and inflammatory We think we understood, but we misinterpreted" (Novinger, pg 64) In the USA, for example, it is quite acceptable for

a teacher to call upon a student to answer a question by pointing at the student (fig 1)

Figure 1: Uncle Sam pointing his finger a t u s citizens

appeals to their sense o f pride and patriotism This

gesture (and facial expression) is considered rude and

demeaning in m any non-W estern cultures.

Another common gesture is to hold your hand palm-up with fingers pointed upward while swinging your fingers back and forth to indicate that you would like someone to come to you (fig 2)

Figure 2: Common gesture in Western

cultures to politely request som eone to

come here.

Though the above two gestures are rather benign in a Western classroom they are considered offensive and even abusive if performed by a teacher in many Asian cultures The reason is that both of these gestures are often used only fo r dogs and other animals, but never fo r humans Thus, if a teacher points

at a student to answer a question or motions to a student to come to the front of the class by using the gesture mentioned above it may cause great offense and embarrassment to the student It is as if the teacher is saying, “ I think you are a dog, so I am going to behave towards you as I would behave toward

a dog.”

Some gestures can even communicate the very opposite meaning from one culture to another For example, the "thumbs up” (fig 3) gesture in many Western (and even several non-W estern) cultures means something like, "Good job!" “ Excellent” or “I agree” depending on the context It is almost always given as a complement to another person Yet, in some countries like Iran it is actually an offensive gesture intended to direct a great insult at another person (see Novinger)

In order to avoid giving offense, an international teacher should find out w hat gestures within a culture are considered rude and offensive This information can be found in various travel guides and other cultural guidebooks The teacher can also ask cultural insiders such as students and other teaching colleagues who share the same culture as the students about gestures to avoid But, it is not enough to simply avoid using offensive gestures Teachers also need to learn some basic gestures that can be used in the classroom to enhance learning and classroom management W hat gestures are used to call on students

to answer questions? W hat gestures are used to communicate to the class that they need to quiet down?

W hat gestures are used to get someone’s attention, call someone to you or express praise? Some gestures might be the same as the teacher’s home culture, but most likely there will be several gestures that differ greatly between cultures

Figure 3: The "thumbs up" gesture, m eant as a

com plim ent in m any cultures is considered a vulgar

insult in Iran.

Facial Expressions

We also communicate messages through our faces We call these messages facial expressions In Western cultures we frown at people when we are sad, angry or disappointed and smile when we are happy or pleased This is due to the fact that most Western cultures are “low context" cultures whereas many Asian cultures are “high context” cultures Anthropologist Edward T Hall notes that, “a high-context (HC) communication or message is one in which most of the information is either in the physical context

or internalized in the person, while very little is coded, explicit, transmitted part o f the message A low- context (LC) communication is ju st the opposite” (Hall, pg 91) In practical term s Western cultures tend

to lean toward being very direct with our words, facial-expressions and other form s of communication Many Asian cultures on the other hand, tend to communicate much more indirectly and even associate directness as being rude Thus, a frown of disappointment directed toward a student who has been disruptive in class, might come across as demeaning and rude Likewise, smiles in many Asian cultures don’t necessarily indicate a state o f happiness They can be considered high context ways of communicating embarrassment and even anger

Eye Contact

Looking at someone in the eyes is encouraged and valued in many Western cultures It communicates confidence and interest in the conversation When a person avoids direct eye contact it can communicate nervousness or even dishonesty But, this practice is also culturally learned and valued Many cultures view eye contact very differently In Arab and other Muslim cultures eye contact is discouraged between genders Eye contact between a man and a woman may be interpreted as sexual and therefore inappropriate if the m em ber of the opposite gender is not your spouse In other cultures, such a Japanese, one's status dictates the use of eye contact It would be considered a challenge of authority if a person of inferior status (i.e an employee) engaged in direct eye contact with a superior (i.e the boss) Finally, in some cultures, direct eye contact is simply considered rude or disrespectful Therefore, the international educator should understand if and when direct eye contact is appropriate in one’s context

Physical Touch

Physical contact is by fa r one of the most varied non-verbal cultural expressions Even within Western cultures there is a high degree of variation For example, non-sexual physical touch is heavily expressed

in Greek and Italian cultures whereas Northern European cultures display far less physical touch In some cultures, physical touch such as handholding, hugging and even kissing is commonly practiced between friends and acquaintances of different genders These form s o f physical touch are not considered sexual in these cultures However, in other cultures, such form s of physical touch would be interpreted as explicitly sexual and inappropriate with anyone outside one's im mediate family

Clothina and Personal Anoearance

One of the visible results of globalization is most seen in clothing styles It used to be that one of the most visibly distinct aspects of a culture was the national costume Japanese men and women wore male and female Kimonos, Arab men wore traditional Khandura (robe-like garment) and Keffiyeh (head scarf), and German men were often seen in their Trachts (knee-length trousers, coat and hat) Nowadays it’s not uncommon see Japanese, Arab and German businessmen wearing the same Italian designed three-piece business suit More and more, traditional costumes are being relegated to special events (i.e weddings and funerals), national holidays and cultural heritage museums In spite o f the seemly similar fashion styles across cultures, it would be a mistake to assume that cultural attitudes towards personal attire are also the same across cultures Clothing and personal appearance can communicate messages

we may not w ant to send between cultures Some clothing and personal appearances have religious messages attached to them Concepts of decency and lewdness are often attached to clothing Clothing can also communicate your status in a culture and even express your political views Finally, cultures vary on what is considered acceptable in casual settings, formal settings, work/business settings and educational settings

Religious Piety

Many cultures have very strict dress codes and standards of personal appearance that communicate one’s religious piety Many Muslim women, for example, wear head coverings, veils and clothing that cover most o f their skin as a sign of religious devotion Many Muslim men also w ear beards for the same reason On one occasion this author was living in a predominately Muslim culture when some friends came to visit from the United States Several of the men wore goatees sim ply because it was in fashion

at the time However, several o f the local men asked if they wore wearing their goatees as part of their religious practice Thus, a simple fashion statement had been interpreted by the local culture as a religious statement.

Figure 4: Young Western

man wearing a goatee as

the result of a fashion

trend.

Figure 5: Young Muslim man wearing

a full beard to communicate religious devotion.

106

W hat it means to be dressed modestly is relative from culture to culture Many Western cultures, for example, would consider a woman dressed in knee-length skirt and sleeveless blouse (figure 6)

as perfectly acceptable and even appropriate fo r office wear The same outfit in other cultures may be considered too immodest to be worn at work because it exposes too much skin, s till other cultures may even have laws to prevent women from wearing such outfits in public This issue isn’t something that only women need to think about Many cultures also have modesty standards fo r men as well Therefore, educators who cross cultures should find out what is considered acceptable attire that communicates appropriate levels of modesty in an educational environment W hat may be acceptable attire (as an educator) in one’s home culture might be considered inappropriate and immodest in another culture

Status

Figure 6: Acceptable business

attire for women in m any

Western cultures.

Clothing and personal appearance often communicate one’s socioeconomic status within many cultures Many cultures tend to expect professionals (i.e teachers, businesspeople, doctors) to dress very formal This cultural expectation was true in much of the W est one hundred years ago But, now it is becoming more and more acceptable in many Western countries for various professionals to dress more casually than was expected in the past However, many non-Western cultures still place a high value on clothing and personal appearance as they communicate seriousness, professionalism, and respect for one’s position Therefore, when a Western teacher might wear casual clothing that is acceptable in his/her own culture for a teacher, it might communicate to his/her students and other faculty that he/she lacks proper seriousness, professionalism and respect for the job of teaching Therefore, cross-cultural educators should investigate w hat is considered professional attire within the classroom and dress accordingly in order to avoid communicating that one does not view one’s role as an educator with professionalism

Political Views

The clothing you w ear can also communicate your political affiliation in many cultures For example, in Thailand in 2010, pro-governm ent supporters wore yellow shirts to communicate solidarity with the government leadership while anti-government protesters wore red shirts in opposition o f the leadership Long-term foreign workers in Thailand often refrained from wearing either yellow or red shirts so as to not

be seen in support of one political affiliation over another Many countries also have national colors Often during holidays and other special event, people might w ear clothing with national colors to communicate patriotism

107

Other Non-verbal Communication

If space permitted, we could also discuss other important non-verbal forms such as body language, concepts of personal space and voice intonation But, the limited scope of this paper does not allow the space to continue this discussion further Perhaps a more extended discussion would be more appropriate for a book on the subject that could more exhaustively approach the examples mentioned in this paper and several others that have not been mentioned

However, before ending this paper, it seems appropriate to discuss one more topic that is in a sense broader than non-verbal communication, high and low context cultures (which was briefly mentioned above while discussing facial expressions) This is a broad cultural category that can have significant impact on both non-verbal communication patterns as well as verbal communication patterns Thus, it is better to treat this topic apart from our discussion about non-verbal communication

High and Low Context Cultures

When we talk about context in intercultural studies, we mean the context in which communication takes place There is a spectrum on which we can plot the communication styles of various cultures On one end of the spectrum we have low context cultures and on the other end we find high context cultures A low context culture is one that relies more on the specificity and clarity of words to convey messages Helen Spencer-Oatey and Peter Franklin note that in a Low Context Culture, “the speaker is expected to

be responsible fo r constructing a clear, persuasive message that the listener can decode easily" (Spencer-Oatey and Franklin, pg 89) Thus, greater emphasis is placed on the verbal message and exactness of words as the key to understanding a given message This is not to say that low context cultures only use verbal speech to communicate Most low context cultures quite often rely on many of the non-verbal communication forms mentioned above But, the difference is emphasis Low context cultures emphasize the spoken or written word as the primary form o f communication

M any Western cultures tend tow ard low context forms o f communication.

On the other hand, high context cultures emphasize non-verbal forms o f communication, one’s environment, and one’s role or status within the culture as the primary means of communication Often, a tremendous amount of communication happens in high context cultures w ithout words In fact, the actual meaning of the words may at tim es even communicate the opposite of the intended message Spencer- Oatey and Franklin explain, "the listener or interpreter of the message is expected to ‘read between the lines’, to accurately infer the implicit intent of the verbal message, and to decode the nonverbal subtleties that accompany the verbal message" (Spencer-Oatey and Franklin, pg 89) Some cultures, for example, find it impolite to say no to a request Therefore, various high context clues are given to communicate a negative response (such as an change in voice tone, certain eye movements and body language) while verbally stating yes to the request Sometimes these high context clues are also imbedded in indirect language patterns For example, let’s say an employer asks his employee to work on Saturday In order

to avoid giving a directly negative response to his employer, the employee in the high context culture might something like, “Yes My son is having his birthday party on Saturday I’m sure he will understand.” Most W esterners, having heard this statement, might simply assume that the employee intends to show up for work on Saturday This is where communication problems can occur The high context employer would have understood the message that this his employee is politely declining the request and might even be surprised if the employee showed up fo r work on Saturday

As educators, recognizing w hether your students come from primarily high or low context cultures can have practical implications in the classroom such as methods of classroom management High context cultures often avoid using direct forms of communication because it often causes a loss of face within society If a teacher from a low context culture, for example, employs classroom m anagement techniques that rely heavily on direct communication it will tend to draw unwanted attention to the student This may result in the management techniques having the reverse affect than w hat was intended They may end

up even creating more classroom management problems

We have much too briefly explored various issues related to cross-cultural communications and international education We have by no means been exhaustive in our approach and much more could

be explored But, what we have explored seems sufficient for the scope and purpose of this paper Having just scratched the surface o f our subject, the reader is left with the challenge o f researching and exploring many other areas o f cross-cultural communications fo r the purpose o f becoming better equipped to serve as educators and educational institutions within our growing globalized classroom

REFERENCES

1 Hall, Edward T., Beyond Culture, 1977, Anchor Press/Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY.

2 Novinger, Tracy, Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide, 2001, University of Texas Press,

Austin, TX

3 Sercu, Lies (editor), Foreign Language Teachers and Intercultural Competence: An International

Investigation, 2005, Multilingual Matters Ltd., Tonawanda, NY.

4 Spencer-Oatey, Helen and Peter Franklin, Intercultural Interaction: A M ultidisciplinary Approach to

Intercultural Communication, 2009, Palgrave Macmillian, New York, NY.