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Intercultural communication
skills for the global
workplace
by
Radhika Jaidev
Centre for English Language
Communication
National University of Singapore
What is The Global Workplace?
The television sitcom version is of
• a small office where individual employees
represent whole nationalities and cultures
• colleagues from different cultures who work
blissfully well together based on some unspoken
code of perfect understanding of each other’s
views and working styles.
• an ideal global workplace where all
disagreements are delightfully comical and lead
only to happy resolutions
In reality
the global workplace could literally encompass the
globe and
• that is to say that employees could be working
virtually with team members across the globe
where
 “the ability to work with people we rarely see, diverse
people from different regions of the globe, is
increasingly required to be successful”, (Graham,
2008, p.2).
Alternatively,
• you could be working with colleagues from
a wide range of countries in the same
office and hence be required to engage
them in a variety of
“procedural strategies” including turn-taking
during conversation, working in groups,
asking questions, debating, sharing ideas and
persuading colleagues to work closely with
you to satisfy both personal and common
goals (Kramsch, 2007, p. 61).
However,
• “procedural strategies” or day-to-day workrelated communication
involves much more than the mere exchange
of information
can only be carried out efficiently if it is
grounded in good working relationships
which, in turn, are built on an awareness and
understanding of how people from different
cultures communicate
Having said that…
These colleagues from different cultures
 may or may not think or
 demonstrate
all of the generalised characteristics of the particular
cultures they represent.
In fact we’re working with individuals whose communication
and working styles are composed of
 not just their ethnic backgrounds or national
characteristics but
 a mixture of a whole range of people and experiences
that have influenced the way they speak, behave and
work.
The global workplace
requires employees who are not only aware
of
 their own cultures but also of the particular ways in
which they, as individuals, communicate based on
their own cultures and exposure to a myriad other
factors;
 their own sensitivity to or biases against people of
other cultures,
but also those who are able to reflect on the above
so that the knowledge could help them change
 their own styles of communication towards colleagues
to build better working relationships and greater
efficiency at work
Therefore,
there is a need to raise awareness of Intercultural
Communication among university students by
 discussing IC theory in class (teaching);
 encouraging them to reflect on how their culture and
other factors have influenced the way they think and
behave
 creating real tasks that require them to
work with their classmates and/or other individuals from
other cultures in and outside class (active, hands-on,
experiential practice)
reflect on these experiences in a concrete way
In the last 2 decades
• there has been a shift in emphasis in higher
education to incorporate skills training –
 a “general shift toward seeing knowledge
operationally, in terms of competence… and towards
seeing education as training in skills”, (Fairclough,
1995, p. 239).
 The importance of keeping education at every level
relevant to the “economic future” by linking learning to
“socio-economic achievement” has been realized
(Bills, 2004, p.14).
The course
A level 2 professional communication elective for
Engineering and Science students. Students are
actively engaged in the learning process through
 whole class discussions (oral)
 peer-teaching (oral)
 group projects (written) that require them to
correspond via phone (oral) or email (written) with
interviewees or informants within and outside of the
university
conduct interviews (oral) with people within and outside
of the university
 group presentations (oral)
 reflective blog posts (written) on topics discussed in class
and on the activities throughout the 12 weeks
Whole Class Discussion
• Deardorff’s (2006) Process Model of
Intercultural Competence was introduced
& explained to participants.
• Then, students were asked to work in
groups
to share their knowledge of their own cultures
with the group and then
to express what they knew of at least one
other culture with the group
Copyright National University of Singapore 2011
Peer-Teaching
 Students work in groups to teach their peers a
particular aspect of professional communication.
 One of the topics is intercultural communication
focusing on the workplace.
 Students tend to be general and rely heavily on
information from the internet, e.g., countryspecific cultural information, like at which
point during a business transaction would
Indonesian businessmen actually talk business.
..
Group Research Project
Students work in groups of 3-4 persons over a period of 7
weeks
 on a topic of their choice that concerns improving one
aspect of life in Singapore (group has to reach a
consensus);
 conduct primary research through emails, phone calls,
interviews, surveys, etc.(decision-making and consensus
on appropriate research methods, delegation of duties,
deadlines, etc.);
 write up the proposal and present it to the class and the
tutor (decision-making, consensus-seeking,
The Study
• Aimed to investigate students’ perspectives of
their own ability or inability to communicate with
individuals across cultures through
personal reflections on (written)
their awareness of their own styles of
communication based on their own cultures and
worldviews through their interactions with their
classmates and others (Blog Post #1)
their experience in actively engaging in “procedural
strategies” in a group research project comprising
students from different cultures (Blog Post #2)
Students’ Personal Reflections (WRITTEN)
Blog Post #1
• Students write about their attitudes
 respect (valuing other cultures)
 openness (withholding judgement)
 curiosity and discovery (tolerating ambiguity)
• Students also reflect and comment on their own
 knowledge of and attitudes towards other cultures
(valuing other cultures)
 openness (withholding judgement)
 curiosity and discovery (tolerating ambiguity)
(Deardorff, 2009, p. 480)
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For a more critical evaluation
students are required to not just narrate
 their intercultural communication experiences on these
real tasks in their blogs that their tutor and classmates
can read and respond to BUT
 critically evaluate those communication experiences
with respect to their use of verbal and non-verbal
metalanguage techniques discussed in class. Also,
students must
 critically respond to their classmates’ experiences in
their blogs with suggestions for improvement
The participants
• Involved 34 students from a range of
nationalities Singapore
20 (16 Chinese, 2 Malays, 1 Indian
Muslim, 1 Indian Hindu
 PRC
3
 Hong Kong Chinese 1
 India
5
 Malaysian Chinese 1
 Indonesian Chinese 1
 Germany
1
 Mexico
1
 Sri Lanka (Sinhalese) 1
Some initial student perspectives on their
intercultural awareness from Blog Post #1
• “we assume things based on the limited
knowledge that we have about that culture…” S1
• “unless we proactively seek this knowledge
(about other cultures), it won’t come our
way…”S2
• “the subject of racism immediately pops into my
mind when one talks about intercultural
communication…” S3
• “Although I grew up in a multi-ethnic environment, I
certainly do not view myself as having a sufficient
understanding of different cultures not of my own,
especially those that I do not come across often.” S5
• “We live in Singapore, a land of many cultures but I think
we assume we know the Asian culture very well. But I
realise that the individual racial culture in Singapore is
very diluted and it isn't a very accurate representation of
a certain race. Perhaps it is so because people in
Singapore have given up parts of their individual culture
in favour of the collective homogeneous Singaporean
culture.” S6
“You are who you think you are, because somewhere along
the way ,someone told you that in the first place! Likewise we
practice certain cultures not because we are of that culture,
or from that culture but because along the way someone
handed it down to you. Culturally I'm an ethnic Chinese, but I
do not practise all of the Chinese culture. Sure, I do celebrate
Chinese new year like the rest of the Chinese populace but
compared to my Chinese counterparts from the rest of the
world , there is a noticeable difference in the way I act or
carry myself. It then begs the question, does that make me
any less of a Chinese? Am I who I am because of my
culture? Who defines what should be the proper Chinese
culture anyway? To be honest I do not have all the answers.
But if I had one , culture isn't just something you do or act; it
goes deeper than that. At the end of the day, it is a mindset. “
S7
We tend to view the world through our own colored lens.
Looking at a white piece of paper through our red lens we
assume that the paper is red. Along the way, another
person looks at the same piece of paper through a yellow
lens and inevitably a scuffle ensues between both parties.
Who is right? well , neither is because the paper is white.
Similarly our perspective on world issues are tainted with
an invisible coloured lens - depending on the way you are
brought up ,and largely in part, influenced by your culture.
What we should do then, is to step into the other party’s
shoes and try to think from his/her perspective. Perhaps we
might even see the white paper in the end. S8
I grew up on a staple diet of western television; Power
Rangers, The Mask & Captain Planet to name a few, but
at the same time was equally hooked on Korean ,
Taiwanese and Hong Kong dramas. Subliminally, cultural
and societal norms were being hardwired into my make.
For instance I know for a fact that the Americans call the
tissue , Kleenex, and the plaster a band aid. I also know
that they attend junior and high school in place of our
primary and secondary school system all without stepping
one foot on the American soil.
But in spite of the many things I know, there are a lot
more things that I'm ignorant about. S9
In Blog Post #2
Students were advised to write about their
group work experience.
What skills did they apply?
Did they work?
What did they observe in the interactions?
How would they interpret these
intercultural communication experiences?
What could they have done differently?
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“I believe one thing I can learn from this experience is to draft out with my
group an outline of the project which should be more complete and coherent.
This would certainly help each member understand each other better and make
reasonable decisions.
The incompleteness of my communication upset one of my group members
because of a lack of sensitivity on my part. I edited my group mates’ proposal
section without seeking his permission. It was not courteous of me as I should
have approached the person for comments and thoughts. I made unfair
assumptions that it would be ‘okay’. I was too used to editing stuff like this
prior to this course. I felt that I should have put into practice the interpersonal
skills I’ve learnt in the course to prevent this from happening. Furthermore,
especially since I was the only local in this group, I felt that I should have
exercised more intercultural communication awareness and skills to better
understand that there exist certain differences because of our multi-cultural
backgrounds.
Nevertheless, I apologized to him immediately when I met up with my group
in person. The valuable experience I’ve learnt here is not to make assumptions
and always respect another member’s work no matter the circumstances. “S8
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“If I were to identify the biggest takeaway from this module,
it would have to be the working experience and interaction
from the group project. Having to work closely with people of
vastly different working styles and perspectives on certain
things taught me the importance of compromising in order
to produce the best possible outcome for everyone. To take,
we sometimes have to give first.
I realized how important it is to meet people halfway,
especially our work mates-ones who we will be working
directly with. This lesson serves as a vivid reminder to
constantly see things from people’s perspectives and not
merely fighting for my own ideal, when I venture out into the
corporate world in future.” S6
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Some reflections
• Intercultural communication is not about communicating
with ‘blanket’ stereotypes that represent whole
nationalities or ethnic groups
• It is about communicating with individuals whose
communicating styles are not only influenced by their own
cultures but also by the myriad other people and
experiences that they have been exposed to along the
way
• It is thus necessary for students to realize that to be
successful in the global workplace they have to be aware
that this is true of their own communication styles and
that the same is true of others they meet.
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Last thoughts
• At the cognitive level, theory and class discussions are
useful for provoking thought about these issues but
• for more concrete learning outcomes, hands-on,
experiential, active participation in groups on real tasks
such as research projects that simulate the global
workplace are needed.
• Finally, there must be adequate opportunity for students
to reflect on all of this critically and share those
reflections with classmates and the tutor so that the
‘takeaways’ from the learning process are concrete.
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References
1. Bills, D.B. (2004), The Sociology of Education & Work. Oxford:
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Byram, M., (1997). Teaching & Assessing Intercultural Communicative
Competence. UK: Multilingual Matters.
Cameron, D. (2000b). Good to Talk? London: Sage.
du Gay, P. (1996). Consumption & Identity at Work. London: Sage.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis . London: Longman.
Gee, J.P., Hull, G. & Lankshear, C. (1996). The New Work Order:
Behind the Language of the New Capitalism. NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Graham, A. (2008). Collaborating Virtually in the Global Workplace:
Practical Ideas to Measure your Global Team Effectiveness. The
Linkage Leader. www.linkageinc.com. Retrieved 4/7/2011.
Kramsch, C. (2007), The uses of communicative competence in a
global world. In English Language Teaching in China: New Approaches
, Perspectives and Standards. Edited by Liu, J. Pps. 56-74. London:
Continuum International Publishing Group.
Copyright National University of Singapore 2011