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    Challenges of Intercultural Communication

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    Laiza May
    1) Intercultural communication faces challenges due to lack of shared knowledge and cultural differences between groups, which can lead to misunderstandings. 2) While English serves as a global lingua franca, misunderstandings can still occur due to cultural differences in non-verbal communication like handshakes and greetings, as well as gaps in world knowledge between cultures. 3) There are three main approaches to studying intercultural communication - the social science, interpretative, and critical approaches - which differ in their views of human behavior, culture, and the role of power and context.

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    Challenges of Intercultural Communication

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    Laiza May
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    1) Intercultural communication faces challenges due to lack of shared knowledge and cultural differences between groups, which can lead to misunderstandings. 2) While English serves as a global lingua franca, misunderstandings can still occur due to cultural differences in non-verbal communication like handshakes and greetings, as well as gaps in world knowledge between cultures. 3) There are three main approaches to studying intercultural communication - the social science, interpretative, and critical approaches - which differ in their views of human behavior, culture, and the role of power and context.

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    1) Intercultural communication faces challenges due to lack of shared knowledge and cultural differences between groups, which can lead to misunderstandings. 2) While English serves as a global lingua franca, misunderstandings can still occur due to cultural differences in non-verbal communication like handshakes and greetings, as well as gaps in world knowledge between cultures. 3) There are three main approaches to studying intercultural communication - the social science, interpretative, and critical approaches - which differ in their views of human behavior, culture, and the role of power and context.

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    2K views3 pages

    Challenges of Intercultural Communication

    Uploaded by

    Laiza May
    1) Intercultural communication faces challenges due to lack of shared knowledge and cultural differences between groups, which can lead to misunderstandings. 2) While English serves as a global lingua franca, misunderstandings can still occur due to cultural differences in non-verbal communication like handshakes and greetings, as well as gaps in world knowledge between cultures. 3) There are three main approaches to studying intercultural communication - the social science, interpretative, and critical approaches - which differ in their views of human behavior, culture, and the role of power and context.

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    of 3

    CHALLENGES OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

    It has become a widespread notion that speakers’ 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 confidence in our interpretations (p.22).

    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 is 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 this 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, p.80).
    Meierkord (2000, p.11 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” (p.135). This she noted in her study of participants coming
    from17 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. For instance, the handshake which is commonly done by people introduced to each
    other by a third party should be done and interpreted correctly as the type of handshake varies
    from culture to culture. Study the table below and find out how handshakes differ from country
    to country.

    THE HANDSHAKE

    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 place on the forearm
    of the other person

    Greetings
    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.”
    SOURCES OF MISUNDERSTANDING

    Kaur (2016) cites the following as the sources of misunderstanding:


    1. Ambiguity –lack of explicitness on the part of the speaker in 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. Gap 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 understanding (p. 147).

    APPROACHES TO STUDYING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

    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 or conscious of other cultures especially those that you will
    visit so you can avoid offending people. Due to misinterpretation, miscommunication occurs.
    Likewise, it is suggested that you become aware of cultural identities and backgrounds a sit 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, lifestyles, 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:

    Three Approaches to Intercultural Communication


    Social Science or Interpretative Critical
    Functionalist
    Discipline on which Psychology Anthropology, various
    approach is founded sociolinguistics
    Research goal Describe and predict Describe behavior Change behavior
    behavior
    Assumptions of reality External and describable Subjective Subjective and material
    Assumptions of human Predictable Creative and voluntary Changeable
    behavior
    Method of study Survey, observation Participant observation, Textual analysis of
    field study media
    Relationship of culture Communication Culture created and Culture as a site of
    and communication influenced by culture maintained through power struggle
    communication
    Contribution of the Identifies cultural Emphasizes that Recognizes the
    approach variations: recognizes communication and economic and political
    cultural differences in culture and cultural forces in culture and
    many aspects of differences should be communication; asserts
    communication but studied in context that all intercultural
    often does not consider interactions are
    context characterized by power
    How would you compare the approaches in the table above in terms of human nature,
    human behavior, and nature of knowledge emphasized? Do you think each approach has its own
    strengths and weaknesses? What do you think are its advantages? What are the disadvantages or
    limitations of each?

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