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Intercultural Communication Competence Intercultural communication competence Intercultural communication competence refers to one’s skill in facilitating successful communication in intercultural contexts A multicultural person is one who respects cultures and has tolerance for differences Chen (1990) identifies four skill areas: - personality stength - communication skills - psychological adjustment - cultural awareness 2 ©. Personality stength The main personal traits that affect intercultural communication are: - Self-concept: which refers to the way in which the person views one’s self - Self-disclosure: which refers to the willingness of individuals to openly reveal information about themselves - Self-monitoring: which refers to using information to control, and modify one’s self-presentation and expressive behaviour - Social relaxation: the ability to reveal little anxiety in communication Effective communicators must: - know themselves well - initiate positive attitudes - express a friendly personality - be competent in intercultural communication 3 Communication skills Individuals must be competent in verbal and nonverbal behaviour and possess the following skills: - Message skills: the ability to understand and use language and feedback - Behavioural flexibility: the ability to select an appropriate behaviour in diverse contexts - Interaction management: the ability to handle the procedural aspects of conversation - Social skills: the ability to show empathy and understanding In other words, a competent communicator must be able to deal with diverse people in different situations Psychological adjustment Effective communicators must be able to adjust to new environments They must be able to handle the feelings of ‘culture shock’, such as frustration, stress, alienation in ambiguous situations caused by new environments Cultural awareness To be effective communicators, people must understand the social customs and social system of the host culture They must acknowledge and respect cultural differences They must be aware of their own cultural identity They must understand how cultures vary They must be able to manage the appropriate interaction strategies required in the new cultural context Barriers to intercultural communication Barna (1997) has developed a list of six such barriers: - anxiety - assuming similarity instead of difference - ethnocentrism - stereotypes and prejudice - nonverbal misinterpretation - language Anxiety Anxiety may arise when you do not know what you are expected to do in a particular situation You may be conscious of being out of place and focus so much of your attention on that feeling that you make common mistakes and appear awkward to others Sugavara (1993) surveyed 168 Japanese employees working in the US and 135 of their US coworkers Only 8% of the US coworkers felt impatient with their Japanese coworkers’ English 60% of the Japanese employees believed that language was a problem in communicating with their US coworkers Their anxiety over speaking English properly contributed to avoiding interactions with the US coworkers Assuming similarity instead of difference Assuming that no differences exist in a new culture may result in miscommunication A few years ago a Danish woman left her 14-month old baby girl in a stroller outside a Manhattan restaurant while she was inside Other diners at the restaurant became concerned and called New York City police The woman explained that leaving children unattended outside cafés is common in Denmark A few school districts in the US have been accused of ignoring the specificities of some religious groups For example, Muslims pray 5 times a day and require space to unfurl a rug, face Mecca and touch the head to the floor Muslim parents have asked schools to recognize difference and become more accommodating to Muslim students Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism means negatively judging aspects of another culture by the standards of one’s own culture Ethnocentrics believe in the superiority of their own culture For example, in some US places summers average over 35°C It would be logical to make adjustments Rather than air-conditioning buildings all day, you might close schools and businesses in the afternoon to conserve energy If such adjustments make sense, why then do some people attribute midday siestas in hot climates to laziness? Another example of ethnocentrism is recognizing only Western holidays in schools or basing curriculum only on Western history, music and art A less extreme form of ethnocentrism can be labelled cultural nearsightedness E.g. people in the US often use the word Americans to refer to US citizens although that word more correctly designates all people in North and South America Stereotypes Stereotyping means making judgements about others on the basis of their group membership A few years ago American Airlines was criticized for a flight manual that said that Latin American customers like to drink before takeoff The same flight manual also said that Latin American customers do not expect flights to depart on time and will even call in bomb threats if they are running late and want the flight to be delayed Continuous use of the stereotype reinforces the belief: e.g. stereotypes of women as ornaments, people of colour as stupid or licentious, or gay men as promiscuous reinforce a belief that places individual women, Afro-Americans and gay men at risk Television may reinforce stereotypes: e.g. four Western myths about Arabs as shown on television are that Arabs are wealthy, barbaric, sex maniacs and terrorist minded Prejudice While stereotypes can be positive or negative, prejudice refers to the irrational dislike, suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, religion or sexual orientation The Roma are believed to have migrated from India more than a millennium ago, settling first in Persia, then arriving in Europe in the 13th-14th century The name ‘Gypsy’ was mistakenly applied by medieval Europeans, who thought all dark-skinned people came from Egypt Leading a nomadic life, the Roma were often regarded as tramps and accused of thefts and robberies From the beginning of the 17th century attempts were made to forcibly assimilate the Roma people by requiring permanent settlement and banning the Romany language The Roma were particularly persecuted by Nazi Germany Even nowadays there is great prejudice against the Roma Graffiti have reappeared on walls: ‘Gypsies go away’ and ‘Gypsies to the gas’ Nonverbal misinterpretation Many nonverbal expressions vary from culture to culture and these may cause misunderstandings Proxemics is the study of our use of personal space The physical distance we want between ourselves and others varies according to culture In india there are elaborate rules about how closely members of each caste may approach other castes Arabs of the same sex stand much closer than North Americans Queuing is also culture-related: Italians, Spaniards and the Frech are among the least queue-conscious in Europe Gestures, body movements, facial expressions and eye contact are behaviours termed kinesics These too vary according to culture E.g., the thumb-up gesture used in the US by hitchhikers is widely understood to mean ‘okay’ in other countries The forefinger-to-thumb gesture forming a circle means ‘okay’ in the US; in France it means zero; in Japan it means change (coins); in Brazil it is considered an offensive gesture There are wide variations even with such universal rituals as nodding agreement and greeting friends Most cultures indicate ‘yes’ by an up-and-down head nod and ‘no’ by shaking the head from side to side; but in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Iran and the former Yugoslavia the yes-no gestures are reversed For greetings, in the US a firm handshake with direct eye contact is appropriate; in India the preferred greeting is placing the palms together and bowing slightly; in Japan it is a bow with the depth and length conveying meanings of status; in Tibet, people sometimes stick their tongues out to greet one another In Southern Europe and Latin America a hearty embrace is common among women and men alike, and men may follow it with a friendly slap on the back Language as a barrier Translation problems can become barriers to intercultural communication, due to the lack of vocabulary equivalence; e.g. Eskimo languages have many different words to refer to snow; these can only be translated into one English word: snow; Another example is the translation of colour shades Different languages often lack words that are directly translatable E.g. A US businessperson might write: «We wonder if you would prepare an agenda for our meeting»; this is a polite way of asking the Japanese to prepare the agenda One of the possible Japanese translations of the word wonder is gimon, which expresses doubt. So if the sentence is translated «We doubt that you would prepare an agenda for our meeting», it would convey the opposite request Another barrier to successful translation is the problem of idiomatic equivalence Take the example of «the old man kicked the bucket»; native speakers know that it means the old man died; if the sentence is translated word for word, the meaning would be quite different Source - Jandt, Fred (2013) An Introduction to Intercultural Communication. Sage References - Barna, L.M. (1997) Stumbling blocks in intercultural communication. In L.A. Samovar / R.E. Porter (eds) Intercultural Communication. A Reader. Wadsworth, 337-346 - Chen, G.M. (1990) Intercultural communication competence. Some perspectives of research. Howard Journal of Communication 2/3, 243261 - Sugavara, Y. (1993) Silence and avoidance: Japanese expatriate adjustment. MA thesis, California State University, San Bernardino