The document discusses intercultural communication and misunderstandings that can occur due to differences in culture and language use. It notes that problems arise not from language itself, but from a lack of shared knowledge and inferences between cultural groups. Successful intercultural communication relies on cooperation between participants rather than focusing on misunderstandings. Understanding various cultural practices, like greetings and nonverbal cues, can help reduce misinterpretations between groups.
The document discusses intercultural communication and misunderstandings that can occur due to differences in culture and language use. It notes that problems arise not from language itself, but from a lack of shared knowledge and inferences between cultural groups. Successful intercultural communication relies on cooperation between participants rather than focusing on misunderstandings. Understanding various cultural practices, like greetings and nonverbal cues, can help reduce misinterpretations between groups.
The document discusses intercultural communication and misunderstandings that can occur due to differences in culture and language use. It notes that problems arise not from language itself, but from a lack of shared knowledge and inferences between cultural groups. Successful intercultural communication relies on cooperation between participants rather than focusing on misunderstandings. Understanding various cultural practices, like greetings and nonverbal cues, can help reduce misinterpretations between groups.
The document discusses intercultural communication and misunderstandings that can occur due to differences in culture and language use. It notes that problems arise not from language itself, but from a lack of shared knowledge and inferences between cultural groups. Successful intercultural communication relies on cooperation between participants rather than focusing on misunderstandings. Understanding various cultural practices, like greetings and nonverbal cues, can help reduce misinterpretations between groups.
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Intercultural Communication
It has become a widespread
notion that speaker’s use of different languages results in intercultural miscommunication and misunderstanding. As Scollon and Scollon (1995) state: When we are communicating with people who are very different from us, it is very difficult to know how to draw inferences about what they mean, and so it is impossible to depend on shared knowledge and background for Indeed, the lack of shared knowledge and beliefs and cultural diversity make it more complicated to arrive at the correct inference or interpretation of meanings. But it can also be argued that English in now a global lingua franca. In fact, with the ASEAN integration, English has been declared the official or working language of ASEAN. So with just one language to be spoken or used by many countries including the 10 member countries of the ASEAN, what else can go wrong? It is thus important to emphasize that the ownership of English cannot be attributed to just one country or to those who use it as a native or home language. The varieties of English spoken by different speech communities have evolved for a reason. They use it for communal purposes. These varieties have been heavily influenced by the local culture and its speakers. Recent studies have shown that the problem of misunderstanding is not overt and can be traced to speech perturbations, poorly managed Turn taking, and non-aligned, “parallel talk” (House,1999). Meierkord (2000, as cited by Kaur, 2016) emphasizes that communication in English as a lingua franca (ELF) is “A form of intercultural communication characterized by cooperation rather than misunderstanding”. This she noted in her study of participants coming from 17 different first language backgrounds which yielded the result that the participants displayed Communicative behavior not generally associated with their linguacultural backgrounds making the talk cooperative and supportive in nature with few misunderstandings. Note that misunderstanding in intercultural communication may not always be caused by verbal utterances. Misunderstandings may also occur due to wrong interpretation of the non-verbal code. Country or Region Type of Handshake United States Firm Handshake
France Soft Handshake
Germany Firm handshake, for men, traditionally
accompanied by a slight bow Japan Handshake with arm firmly extended, accompanied by a bow Middle East Handshake and free hand placed on the forearm of the other person Like handshakes, greeting rituals also vary from culture to culture. Japanese women bow differently from Japanese men. The German bow which is termed as diener means a bow to and in recognition of an authority. Thus, when a person bows, he/ she is actually sending the message “at your service”. Kaur (2016) cites the following as the sources of misunderstanding: 1. Ambiguity – lack of explicitness on the part of the speaker on the form of problematic reference and ambiguous semantics in which an utterance is open to different interpretations. 2. Performance – related misunderstanding – slips of the tongue and mishearing which may be due to utterances spoken quickly and unclearly. 3. Language – related misunderstanding – ungrammaticality of sentences. 4. Gaps in world knowledge – gaps in content rather than language. 5. Local Context – turns and the turns within sequences produced by the participants themselves, and the orientation of the participants as well as the repair moves that follow the displayed misunderstanding. Why is there a need to understand intercultural communication? It is easy to say that people belong to diverse cultures, hence the need to understand others. But it is easier said than done. Some people take it for granted to read about and study first a country’s culture before they go and travel to the place. There is a need to be aware of conscious of other cultures especially those that you will visit so you can avoid offending people. Due to misinterpretations, miscommunication occurs. Likewise, it is suggested that you become aware of cultural identities and backgrounds as it will broaden your horizon. All cultures are equal and though sometimes difficult to understand, you need to understand that no culture is superior or inferior to another. It is only through awareness that you get to compare other cultures with your own and appreciate cultural diversities and learn to live with them. People have different languages, lifestyle, and ways of thinking, speaking, and behaving. This is the essence of cultural diversity. To better understand the concept of intercultural communication, three approaches as explained by Martin and Nakayama (2010) can be studied: Social Science Interpretative Critical or Functionalist
Discipline on Psychology Anthropology, Various
which approach sociolinguistics is founded Research goal Describe and Describe Change behavior predict behavior behavior
Assumption of External and subjective Subjective and
reality describable material
Assumptions of Predictable Creative and changeable
human behavior voluntary Method of study Survey, Participant Textual analysis observation observation, field of media study
Relationship of Communication Culture created Culture as a site
culture and influenced by and maintained of power communication culture through struggle communication Contribution of Identifies Emphasizes Recognizes the the approach cultural that economic and variations; communicatio political forces recognizes n and culture in culture and cultural and cultural communicatio differences in differences n; asserts that many aspects should be all intercultural of studied in interactions communicatio context are n but often characterized does not by power consider context