PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

Learning from Home Series 2021 – 2022

Lesson 3:
Global and Intercultural Communication

Plug in and Chat…

Interactive Lecture. Participate in the discussion of the key concepts about global and
intercultural communication.

Local and Global Communication

Local Communication consists of the ability to share information with the members of your local area. It
can be either in local language (mother tongue) or in a common language that you speak within your
locality.

Global Communication is the term used to describe ways to connects, share, relate and mobilize across
geographic, political, economic, social, and cultural divides. David Weedmark (2019) defines it as any
communication can: a message is sent from one person or group to another anywhere in the world., which
can be described as a five-step process:
1. A person or an organization in one country sends a message.
2. The message is encoded.
3. The message travels through a channel or medium.
4. The receiver in another country decodes the message.
5. The recipient receives the message.

Intercultural Communication
By Jesus Perry L. Caudilla

In 1964, the term “global village” was coined by a media and communication theorist, the late Marshall
McLuhan to describe a world where people instantly and easily share culture through the tools of
technology. He popularized the concept of global village in his words: “Today, after more than a century of
electric technology, we have extended our central nervous system itself in a global embrace, abolishing
both space and time as far as our planet is concerned” (McLuhan, 1964).
Indeed, the world has changed not only physically because of drastic climate change but also culturally
because of the development of electronic and now digital media which has reduced the distance of people
from different parts of the globe. The world is now viewed as a global village where people and their culture
are brought together as one community by electronic communications, particularly the Internet. Food,
music, education, religion and government among others are linked together and “compressed into one
super-culture” (Dixon, 2009). In the global village, people may be physically distant from one another yet
everyone has become a neighbor. Undoubtedly, at the heart of this phenomenon is the relationship
between communication and culture.

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 It is common for people to share information with others who are culturally different from them. This is
particularly true when they are interacting within a multicultural environment - be it an academic institution,
a business firm, a professional organization or a neighborhood. Undeniably, since culture influences
communication, they need to learn how to develop their competence in intercultural communication.
Definition of Culture

 Culture is the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members
of society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from
generation to generation through learning (Boas, 1911).

 Culture is the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings,
hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material
objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through
individual and group striving.

Manifestations of Culture

The differences in cultures of people are manifested in various ways and at different levels. Hofstede,
Hofstede and Minkov (2010) identified these levels as symbols, heroes, rituals and values.

 Symbols are the most evident – words, gestures, pictures, clothes, acts or objects that carry a
particular meaning – which are recognized only by members of the same culture. Symbols easily
develop and disappear. A culture’s symbols are easily imitated by other cultures.
 Heroes are past or present, real or fictitious personas who are respected and admired in a culture.
They possess qualities that are highly valued by members of a culture. According to Deal and
Kennedy (1982) the hero is a great motivator, the person everyone will depend on when beset with
problems.
 Rituals are a collection of activities such as ways of greetings, paying respect to others, religious
and social ceremonies. They hold social significance although often times they are acted out for
their own sake.
 Values are the core of a culture. They consist of a culture’s predilection between right and wrong,
good and bad, likes and dislikes, and natural or unnatural. They are interconnected with the moral
or ethical standards of a culture.

Co-cultures Defined

From the previous definitions, culture can be considered as the system of knowledge, beliefs, values,
customs, attitudes, and utilitarian objects that are acquired, shared and used by a specific portion of a
population. When a person closely aligns with a cultural group, he or she acquires a certain cultural identity.
Culture can be dominant in the sense that majority of a population possess and share the same knowledge,
beliefs, values, customs, attitudes, and materials. On the other hand, people can be part of a co-culture,
or subculture, in which they are members of the same parent culture but differ in some racial or
ethnolinguistic characteristics from that parent culture. The Philippine culture, for example, is the parent
culture of Igorot, Lumad and Yakan cultures and of cultures of other tribal groups or indigenous peoples in
the country.

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 Philippine Culture

Igorot Lumad
Culture Culture

Yakan Co-Culture
Culture

Co-Culture

Another example is ‘Muslim culture’ which broadly represents many diverse Muslim cultural groups: the
Asian Muslims, the Middle Eastern, the African, the European and the American Muslims, each with their
own variations on customs and traditions (Sharon Pluralism Network, 2019). Other examples of co-culture
pertain to gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and social class.

Defining Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication refers to the communication between people from two different cultures.
(Chen & Starosta, 1999)
Intercultural communication is the exchange of information between individuals who are “unalike
culturally.” (Rogers & Steinfatt, 1999)
Intercultural communication is a symbolic, interpretive, transactional, contextual process, in which
people from different cultures create shared meanings. (Lustig & Koester, 2007)
Intercultural communication is identified as both a concept and a competence. Intercultural competence
is the active possession by individuals of qualities which contribute to effective intercultural communication
and can be defined in terms of three primary attributes: knowledge, skills and attitudes. (LANQUA, n.d.)
Intercultural communication is called in various ways: interracial communication, interethnic
communication, and international communication.

Nonverbals in Intercultural Communication (Illustrated Examples)

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Culture Influences Communication
The formula for a successful communication with other cultures is by understanding our similarities and
differences from them. When we interact with people whose system of knowledge, values, behaviors, etc.
differs from ours, we need to compare and contrast our cultures and interaction approaches in order to
avoid misunderstandings and conflicts that communication can create.
The following concepts are a good guide in intercultural communication:
 Ethnocentrism is the tendency of a group of people to consider their culture as superior to all other
cultures. It can lead them to give negative judgments on other cultures based on their own
knowledge, values and behavioral norms. Ethnocentrism can also steer them to a failure in
intercultural communication. Although it can be a barrier to successfully communicating
interculturally to highly ethnocentric culture, it can be a challenge to improve intercultural
competence among those with low ethnocentricity level.
 Cultural relativism is the acceptance that all cultures are equal in value with one another despite
their differences. It is an approach in avoiding giving judgments on other cultures as inferior to one’s
own standards of right and wrong, bad and good or natural and unnatural. Because cultural
relativism leads to understanding cultural practices of a group of people in their own context, it can
show the way towards effective intercultural communication.
 Melting pot philosophy pertains to the idea that different cultures will blend together and create
one ultimate culture. The USA is often described as a melting pot of all races or all types of people
who migrate to the country. It is an environment where many cultures or people, despite their
assortment, assimilate to produce a new amalgam of culture and co-exist as one strong
homogenous American nation.
 Pluralism refers to the acknowledgement of cultural relativism and promotion of respect for
uniqueness and forbearance of diversity of cultures. Instead of creating a new hybrid of culture like
in the melting pot theory, all cultures are allowed to co-exist with one another. For a successful
intercultural communication to thrive in a pluralistic society, people need to understand and interact
with others with different social and educational backgrounds, values, lifestyles, religious and
political beliefs, behavioral norms, communication styles, etc.

Improving Intercultural Communication

In intercultural communication, it is necessary to reduce the strangeness of strangers. Stanley Martinez
(n.d.) in his discussion of intercultural communication at personales.upv.es/mcandel/Hybels9 _Ch3.pdf,
explained five ways to improve communicating interculturally.

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 Pay attention to your words and actions. Become cognizant of how your own thinking patterns,
assumptions, perceptions, prejudices, and biases through thoughtful communication with others.
Study your own self and the way you interact with others based on how well you know your own
gender, race, social status, physical appearance, abilities and disabilities.

 Control your assumptions. Question a lot of your assumptions about cultures, for example, the
one right way to communicate is your way, communication breakdowns are brought about by others
because you have different mind tracks, rules on interpersonal communication in your culture are
the same with all other cultures, etc.

 Engage in transpection. Transpection is the process of empathizing across cultures. Through

practice that involves structured experience and self-reflection, try to see the world exactly the way
others see it. Try to learn beliefs, feelings and perspectives of other cultures. Martinez (n.d.)
explained that transpection can help you avoid assumptions and move you closer to tolerance,
sensitivity, respect, empathic listening, and effective communication responses.
 Gain knowledge. Read, observe and discover about other countries’ customs, traditions, religions,
etc. Visit places where you can meet and talk to people from other cultures. The more you know
about a culture, the better that you control assumptions and the more you overcome
misunderstandings. Graining knowledge about other cultures is a great way of eliminating any
personal biases and prejudices you have developed over the years.
 Gain experience. Gaining experience in intercultural communication is not limited to reading,
observing, discovering or doing research on the net about a culture. You gain true experience by
actually visiting a place though sometimes it is costly and tedious. However, you can also find
someone of another culture and talk to him or her and ask direct questions in a conversation
intended to help you better understand his or her culture.

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