Download Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication Across

Chapter 3
Intercultural Communication Competence
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Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity
 Melting Pot
 Tributaries
 Rainbow
 Tapestry
 Garden Salad
These metaphors are not completely accurate
ways to describe the cultures in the U.S.
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Terms with negative associations:
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Dominant culture
Majority culture
Minority culture
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Terms to describe cultural groups of people that
reside in the U.S.
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African American
Hispanic, Chicano, Mexican American, and Latino
Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific
Islanders
European American
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“Competent communication is an interaction
that is perceived as effective in fulfilling
certain rewarding objectives in a way that is
also appropriate to the context in which the
interaction occurs.”
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Competence must be perceived by those
involved.
◦ Communication competence is a social judgment
about how well a person interacts with others.
◦ It will always be specific to the context and
interpersonal relationship within which it occurs.
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Competent communication must be
appropriate.
Competent communication must be effective
and achieve the desired personal outcome.
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Context
Behaviors
Knowledge
Motivations
Skilled actions
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Intercultural competence is judged by the
context in which it occurs.
A context is shaped by where the
communication occurs, who is there, what the
subject of the communication is, the reason
for communicating, and the rules
communicators should follow due to these
factors.
Intercultural competence is contextual.
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Both interpersonal competence and
intercultural competence require behaviors
that are both appropriate and effective.
Appropriate behaviors are regarded as proper
and suitable given the expectations
generated by a given culture, the constraints
of the specific situations, and the nature of
the relationship between interactants.
Effective behaviors lead to the achievement of
desired outcomes.
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Knowledge refers to the information you need
to know about the people, context, and norms
of appropriateness that operate in a specific
culture.
Knowing culture-general information provides
insights into the intercultural communication
process abstractly and can be a powerful tool
in making sense of cultural practices regardless
of the cultures involved.
Knowledge of culture-specific information is
used to understand a particular culture.
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Motivations include the overall set of emotional
associations that people have as they anticipate
and actually communicate interculturally.
Human emotional reactions include both
feelings and intentions.
Feelings refer to the emotional or affective
states that you experience when
communicating with someone from a different
culture.
Intentions are what guide your choices in a
particular intercultural interaction.
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Skills refer to the actual performance of those
behaviors that are regarded as appropriate
and effective.
To be competent in intercultural encounters,
you must be able to perform the skills
deemed necessary by the context.
You can have the necessary information, be
motivated by the appropriate feelings and
intentions, and still lack the behavioral skills
necessary to communicate competently.
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Displays of respect are present but shown
differently in every culture.
Orientation to knowledge refers to the terms
people use to explain themselves and the
world.
Empathy is the ability of individuals to
communicate an awareness of another
person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Interaction management refers to the skills
necessary to maintain a conversation.
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Task role behavior refers to those skills that
contribute to a group’s problem solving skills and
performance.
Relational role behavior deals with efforts to build
and maintain personal relationships that
demonstrate support for others and that help
solidify feelings of participation.
Tolerance for ambiguity refers to the extent to
which an individual can deal with unpredictability
and uncertainty.
Interaction posture focuses on the ability to
respond to others in a way that is nonjudgmental.
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D-I-E tool allows people to control the
meanings they attribute to the verbal and
nonverbal symbols used by others.
The D-I-E tool is based on the assumption
that most people process the information
around them using a kind of mental
shorthand.
The D-I-E trains you to distinguish among
statements of description, interpretation, and
evaluation.
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Statements of description detail the
perceptual cues and information a person has
received without judgments or interpretations
The purpose of using descriptive statements
when you are communicating interculturally
is that they allow you to identify the sensory
information that forms the basis of your
interpretations.
Descriptive statements allow a person to
consider alternative hypotheses or
interpretations.
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Statements of interpretation provide a conjecture
or hypothesis about what the perceptual
information might mean.
The interpretations people make of perceptual
information are very closely linked to their
personal evaluation of that information.
Being aware of how people make interpretations
will help you test the various interpretations of
behavior you are considering.
By testing alternative interpretations, it is
possible to forestall the evaluations that can
negatively affect your interactions.
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Statements of evaluation indicate an
emotional or affective judgment about the
information.
Evaluations are generally made without being
cognizant of the specific sensory information
perceived.
Being aware of how evaluations are made
from descriptions and interpretations will
help you avoid making inaccurate conclusions
of others’ behaviors.
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How are metaphors useful when thinking
about and discussing cultural diversity in the
United States?
How do you want people to refer to your
culture or nationality?
What three BASIC skills would you argue are
most important for developing intercultural
communication competence?
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