Intercultural Communication: Definition and Strategies - Essay Example

Introduction Communication is defined as a process which allows organisms to mutually exchange information through various means. This normally requires all the participant parties to understand the language that is used. Communication can either be verbal or non verbal in nature. Non verbal communication is through body language, touch, eye contact or even through writing. Verbal communication on the other hand is through singing, speaking or through one’s tone of voice. (Axtell, 1991) Culture refers to symbolic structures and patterns of human activity that give it importance. It is also referred to as a way of life for a society. It normally includes the language, rituals, religion, dress and even manners. It is always manifested in films, theatre, sculpture, literature and even music. Intercultural communication has principles that guide the entire communication process. This makes it possible to exchange unambiguous and meaningful information across the boundaries of culture. This makes it possible to minimize antagonism and also help preserve mutual respect .This paper is dealing with effective intercultural communication. It further explains the ways through which identity affects communication between two people from different cultures. Communication is never effective unless the message that is intended is passed on and understood by the recipient. This calls for understanding one’s own cultural identity and that of the recipient. Culture variations will always affect the way people communicate both verbally and non- verbally. This however affects the non-verbal communication a great deal. There are some actions that may be viewed in one culture as offensive while in another culture they are not. High and low context Research indicates that people who are in cultures that are high context in nature tend to be a little bit more implicit in their verbal codes. They just tend to perceive highly verbal people as less attractive. This makes them to be more reliant on the non-verbal way of communication. In return they expect their communication to have more of the non-verbal codes. This shows that their identity affect their communication such that it is more of non-verbal than verbal in nature. Power distance One’s identity always affects communication between two people of different cultures. Culture on the other hand automatically affects or rather influences an individual’s identity a great deal. Research indicates that cultures with high power distance will always tend to be more untouchable. This greatly affects their communication a great deal. It makes such people to be tenser in their body movement especially in subordinates. (Barna, 1991) Their communication is filled with more of smiling so that the superiors are appeased. They think that communication that is vocally loud can offend the recipient. In this case when there are two people of different cultures communicating and one of them is from a power distant culture, she or he will tend to speak while smiling and in a low tone. This can be perceived wrongly by someone from a different culture. This clearly explains that an individual’s identity affects communication between two people from very different cultures. Collectivism vs. Individualism There are people whose identity is affected by individualism and collectivism culture. Research reveals that these cultures normally display less of the non-verbal attributes of communication. The culture is a little bit more remote. In this culture there is stressing more on group cohesion. People who identify with this kind of cultural group will tend to speak when they are so close to the other party. This to a person from a different culture can be perceived as infringing into another person’s privacy. Through this it is easy to understand how one’s identity affects communication between two people who are from different cultures. (Bochner, 1977) Improvement in communication technology since the nineteenth century has made it very easy for people of different cultures to meet even in situations that are not structured. For instance the internet has given channels to communicate even without mediators. This has the potential of being threatening where people are of different cultures. The differences in identity can lead to misunderstandings between people of two different cultures. This is because the misunderstanding can be compounded by oversensitivity to any possible slights. Therefore identity can actually affect negatively the communication between two people of different cultures. Communication involves encoding and also decoding of messages. Culture on the other hand influences how an individual decodes and encodes these communication messages. One’s identity will automatically affect how an individual encodes and also decodes the communicated messages from an individual of a very different culture. This difference can actually create much room for misunderstanding between the people of two different cultures. For instance there are some cultures whereby women great their male counterparts by bowing down at their feet. (Brislin, 1987) Their culture entails that they cannot greet the men by a handshake or simply by saying hello. This can affect communication between these two parties. For instance such a woman meeting a man from United Kingdom, he may note decode the greetings rightly. Therefore there can be some great misunderstanding between the two parties because of their difference in culture. The culture illustrated above is very common among women in Uganda. This is one of the African countries that are very rich in culture and this highly affects how they communicate to people of different cultures. Culture greatly affects the way people communicate. Culture also determines an individual’s identity. There are some cultures that stipulate that women can not communicate directly to men. They have to use a third party to pass on the information. When an individual from such a culture meets another person from a different culture then there is bound to be conflict. A man from such a culture meeting a woman from another culture will not expect the lady to talk to him directly and moreso in public places. This will automatically make the man to decode the information differently and think that the lady is just totally disrespectful. This can actually create conflicts during the entire communication process. The issue is the lady passed on wrong information without her knowledge. Therefore this clearly elaborates that identity affects communication and the perception of communication itself. Language barrier Identity is also influenced by the language that an individual speaks. Communication between individuals of two different cultures may be affected by language barrier. As earlier on illustrated, culture affects the language that an individual speaks. Even in situations whereby two people while they are two different cultures can speak each other’s language the chances of making mistakes is normally very high. This is because contextual references and usages can be very different between two cultures of the people that are communicating to each other. (Weaver, 1994) This is very possible even if one of the parties may have learnt the other party’s language. Language barrier can exist between the two people because it is very hard to have an individual select the most appropriate words and also use the right intonation. Any slight mistake can create misunderstanding between the two people from different cultures even when the speaker never meant what was decoded. This doesn’t mean that always the misunderstanding will be of the negative aspect. Language barrier can create positive misunderstandings between two parties. Where this means that the message that was decoded was of good and not what the speaker intended to pass on. Taboo words Issues of identity will always affect communication between two people of different cultures especially in relation to using taboo words. Every culture has got some words that are considered to be taboo words. When two people of very different cultures communicate, there are high chances that one may use, without knowledge, taboo words which can be perceived very differently by a person of the other culture. An example of a taboo word is ‘nigger’ among the blacks. Therefore a white man talking to a black man is likely to refer to him as ‘nigger’. (Condon, 1985) This to him may not be offensive. Research in African cultures reveals that this term is a taboo word and it is never used at all. It is very abusive language and can never be tolerated. This is an elaborate issue that shows how identity or one’s culture can really affect the communication between two people from different cultures. Gestures A gesture is a form is a form of non-verbal communication that is normally used instead of or in combination with verbal communication. This is normally done using a body part. This allows individuals to express their thoughts and feelings to the recipient. They can be feelings of affection, approval, hostility or even contempt. For many people, gestures are used in addition to words when speaking. Gestures may be common in one culture unlike in another one. The amount of gesturing may also be culturally acceptable in one culture and not acceptable in another one. This is an aspect that affects communication between two people from different cultures. For instance in the United States of America, it is very common to point someone using an extended finger while in Asia it is perceived to be very rude. A smile for instance is an example of a very common and simple gesture bet can be wrongly interpreted between people of different cultures. (Brislin, 1993) Research reveals that different cultures have got different reasons for smiling. For instance, among the Japanese a person smiles when angry or confused. In some Asian nations people tend to smile when they are embarrassed. In some cultures, a smile is a sign of a friendly greeting but in others this cannot be done to all Tom, Dick and Harry but rather reserved for friends only. In nations like France, Japan and Thailand sitting with soles showing is quite offensive. This is also the case in nations that are near and Middle East. This is highly regarded as disrespectful. Patting someone on the head is also a communication gesture. This is very annoying to people from Asian nations and also Buddhists. This is because they believe that their soul rests in their heads. Therefore when a Buddhist and Christian communicate, because these are two different identities, conflicts can easily arise. Passing an item with one hand, even if it is something small is considered among the Japanese to be very rude. While in Middle East countries, passing someone something using left hand is considered unclean. Through this is very evident that identity affects the communication between two people from different cultures. Waving one’s hand with the palm facing outward is a sign of greetings in many cultures. In Europe, waving one’s hand back and forth can mean no or goodbye. When one raises his or her palm outward and wags all the fingers in unison, it is considered by Nigerians to be quite insulting. This is normally the case if the hand is very close to the other person’s face. One of the simple gestures, that is, nodding one’s head up and down in United Kingdom and United States means yes while in Bulgaria it means no. So gestures used by people from two different cultures can distort communication and send the wrong message across. (Brislin, 1987) Conclusion Communication is just but a process that allows organisms to mutually exchange information. Culture in simple terms is defined as a way of life of a society or group of people. For communication to be effective there has to be understanding between the two parties’ cultural identities. There are so many ways through which issues of cultural identity can affect the entire communication between two people of different cultures. Aspects of language barrier can have both negative and positive effects in communication. Taboo words used by an individual of different culture may send across different meaning to the other party. Gestures are part and parcel of communication and they are used in conjunction with speech or singly. Different cultures interpret different gestures differently. In U.K, nodding one’s head up down means- yes while the same gesture means -no in Bulgaria. This can lead to misunderstandings between two people who are communicating. Reference: Axtell, R. (1991). Gestures; Do's and taboos of body language around the world; New York; Wiley Barna, L. (1991): Stumbling blocks in intercultural communication; Intercultural communication; Belmont; California: Wadsworth; pp. 345-352 Bochner, S. (1977): The mediating man and cultural diversity; Culture learning; Concepts; applications and research. Honolulu; University of Hawaii Press Bochner, S. (1982): Cultures in contact; Studies in cross-cultural interaction; New York; Pergamon Press Brislin, R. (1977): Culture learning; Concepts; applications and research; Honolulu; University of Hawaii Press Brislin, R. (1987): Cross-cultural encounter; Face to face interaction; New York; Pergamon Press Brislin, R. (1993): Understanding culture's influence on behaviour; Fort Worth; TX; Harcourt Brace Condon, J. (1985): An introduction to intercultural communication; New York; Macmillan Press Weaver, G. (1994): Culture; communication and conflict; Yarmouth; ME; Intercultural Press Read More