MODULE 2

PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION

UNIT 2
INTERCULTURAL & GLOBAL
COMMUNICATION
 UNIT 1: INTERCULTURAL & GLOBAL COMMUNICATION
LESSON 1 – THINKING ABOUT CULTURE
Significant differences exist between societies in
different parts of the world. People of each country
speak different languages; dress differently; and use
different nonverbal systems. These factors are relevant
when giving presentations to audiences in different
countries. A better way to see the relationship between
culture and language is that culture does not create
different communication but different communication
creates “culture”.
 Therefore, culture in relation to communication
cannot be viewed as something represented by a
particular group of people from a specific region or
location that has exclusive rituals, lifestyles, attitudes,
beliefs and customs.
Cultures are created through communication; that
is communication is the means of human interaction
through which cultural characteristics, whether
customs, roles, rules, rituals, laws or other patterns –
are created and shared.
 Ethnocentric bias means believing that your culture
is the benchmark of all others.
Ethnocentric Bias (also known as ethnocentrism)
occurs when perceptions of others are influenced by the
culture of one's own ethnic group. It is looking at
outgroups and judging them based on the norms and
standards of one particular culture.
Ethnocentrism is the term anthropologists use to
describe the opinion that one's own way of life is natural or
correct.
  Xenocentrism is the belief that someone else's culture
is superior to their own.
Cross-cultural communication generally compares the
communication styles and patterns of people from very
different cultural / social structures, such as nations-states.
Intercultural communication deals with how people
from these cultural / social structures speak to one another
and what difficulties or differences they encounter, over and
above the different languages they speak.
 LESSON 2
DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE
Culture refers to:
-A community or population sufficiently large enough to
be self-sustaining, that is large enough to produce new
generations of members without relying on outside
people.
-The totality of the group’s thought, experiences, and
pattern of behavior and its concepts, values and
assumptions about life that guide behavior and how
those evolve with contact with other cultures.
 FOUR ELEMENTS OF CULTURE (Hofstede,1994)
1. Symbols refer to verbal and nonverbal language.

2. Rituals are the socially essential collective activities within

a culture.
3. Values are the feelings not open for discussion within a
culture about what is good or bad, beautiful or ugly,
normal or abnormal, which are present in a majority of the
members of a culture.
4. Heroes are the real or imaginary people who serve as
 CROSS- CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
PEOPLE IN A CULTURE:
1. CONTEXT of culture is meant the meanings and assumptions we share as a
community of people. It also incorporates “the culturally evolved
expectations of ways of behaving” and getting things done (Hammond et al,
1992, p. 2).
2. COLLECTIVISM (TOGETHERNESS) stressing group benefits and overriding
value of working harmoniously, placing greater emphasis on the whole
group not merely for oneself but for the common good.
3. INDIVIDUALISM depends upon the values of freedom and independence,
personal achievement is lauded, and value personal goals over group
interests.

There has been a global increase in individualism in the recent years and
individualistic culture is on the raise in many countries around the world.
 4. TIME orientation combined with a culture’s values dictate much about the
way individuals in said societies live their lives. A culture's time orientation can
reveal much about how people in that culture communicate.

TWO (2) DISTINCT SOCIETIES OF TIME ORIENTATION:

a. POLYCHRONIC society where several things can be done at once, and a
more fluid approach is taken to scheduling time. Such cultures tend to be less
focused on the precise accounting of each and every moment, and much
more steeped in tradition and relationships rather than in tasks.
b. MONOCHRONIC society where things are typically done one at a time,
where time is segmented into precise, small units, and where time is
scheduled, arranged and managed. In such a culture, time is viewed as a
tangible commodity than can be spent, saved or wasted, and a paramount
value is placed on regimented schedules, tasks and “getting the job done”. 
5. CONFLICT  in an intercultural context, is the explicit or implicit
emotional struggle or frustrations between people from different cultures over
perceived incompatible goals, norms, values, face concerns, scarce resources,
and/or communication outcomes.
TWO (2) CULTURAL APPROACHES TO CONFLICT
a. Conflict as Opportunity
1. Conflict is a normal, useful process.
2. All issues are subject to change through negotiation.
3. Direct confrontation and conciliation are valued.
4. Conflict is necessary renegotiation of an implied contract – a
redistribution of opportunity, release of tensions, and renewal of relationships.
 b. Conflict as Destructive
1. Conflict is a destructive disturbance of peace.
2. The social system should not be adjusted to meet the needs of
members; rather members should adapt to established values.
3. Confrontations are destructive and ineffective.
4. Disputants should be disciplined.

Conflict occurs in all relationships and among all groups. The

management of conflict also differ among cultural groups. When conflict
occurs, people generally engage in any styles of conflict management.
 FIVE (5) STYLES OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
1. DOMINATING STYLE involves forcing one’s will on another to satisfy
individual desires regardless of negative relational consequences.
2. INTEGRATING STYLE necessitate a great deal of open discussion about
the conflict at hand to reach a solution that completely satisfies everyone
involved.
3. COMPROMISING STYLE demands that everyone must give something
up to reach a solution, and as a result, people never feel fully satisfied .
4. OBLIGING STYLE involves giving up one’s position to satisfy another’s.
This style emphasizes areas of agreement and ignores disagreement.
5. AVOIDING STYLE avoids the conflict entirely either by failing to
acknowledge its existence or by withdrawing from a situation when it arises.
 FIVE (5) VALUE DIMENSIONS THAT VARY ACROSS CUTURES
1. INDIVIDUALISM means that the interest of the individual prevails over the interest of
the group.

2. MASCULINITY culture that place high values on masculine traits. It stresses

assertiveness, competition, and material success.

3. POWER DISTANCE the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and
organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

4. UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE refers to the extent to which people in a culture feel

threatened by uncertain or unknown situations.

5. TASK VS SOCIAL ORIENTATION. Task-oriented societies are characterized by a focus

on making the team more competent through training and the use of up-to-date
methods. Socially-oriented societies focus more on collective concerns: cooperative
 REFERENCES
Bermudo, Galicia, Yango, et.al. (2018), PURPOSIVE
COMMUNICATION, Philippines: PANDAY-LAHI Publishing
House, Inc.