Intercultural

Communication
 Intercultural Communication

• Happens when individuals interact,

negotiate, and create meanings while
brining in their varied cultural
backgrounds (Ting-Toomey, 1999).

.
Cultural grid
• A framework of understanding for
processing verbal and non-verbal cues
specific to a particular culture.

Example:
When interacting with an Indian tourist, you
refer your cultural grid of Indian culture to
determine the right way to act and the appropriate
things to talk about.
Cultural Identity

-People’s common history -Age

-Geographic location -Beliefs
-Language -Values
-Social class -Assumptions
-Religion
-Ethnicity
-Gender
-Age
Cultural Identity is learned
-Cultural Identity varies in strength and content.

To illustrate:
Your language and habits as a Filipino are strong when you are in
the Philippines, but they become less useful when you are in a
foreign country, since they are not enough to help you
communicate effectively.

Each individual identifies himself or herself to a race,

ethnicity, language, religion, gender, sexual orientation,
generation and age, and so forth.
 Intercultural Competence
- According to Huber and Reynolds (2014), intercultural
competence enables a communicator to understand and interact
with other cultures by applying attitudes and values, and
understanding interaction skills.

Eight (8) basic behaviors for intercultural competence

1. Display of Respect
3. Empathy
5. Task Role Behavior
7. Tolerance of Ambiguity
2. Orientation of Knowledge
4. Interaction Management
6. Relational Role Behavior
8. Emotional Expression and Interaction and
Interaction Posture
 Eight (8) Basic Behaviors for Intercultural
Competence
Orientation of
Display of Respect
Knowledge

• Seeing the value of other • Considering the

cultures regardless of their context behind a
difference from your own person's message.
culture.
• The orientation of
• When engaging in a
communicator's
communication, respond
without judgment. knowledge is not
always the same.
• Avoid actions that may be
easily interpreted in a
negative way.
 Empathy Interaction
• You put yourself in
Management
another person's shoes
and try to feel how he • Knowing how and when
or she feels. to talk appropriately
and effectively.
• Aids in building trust
and establishing
connections with
people from other
cultures.
 Task Role Behavior Relational Role Behavior

• Harmony, teamwork, and • Aims to take part in

productivity are shared establishing and
goals in intercultural preserving a personal
communication. relationship that
promotes trust, harmony,
• Culture may vary but since and support among
cultural expectations are participants.
considered beforehand,
groups cooperate to
achieve the said goals.
 Tolerance behavior emotional expression
and interaction posture
• Tolerance refers to • To ensure intercultural
openness to differences, competence, you should
while ambiguity means recognize the unique social
confusion. behavior that develops in any
culture.
• To show intercultural
competence tolerance • Example:
for ambiguity is In some Asian countries, the explicit
encouraged to avoid display of emotion in public can be
hostility and anger. recognized offensive and rude. But for
westerners, it is acceptable and natural
and part of being open.
 Barriers to
intercultural
communication
Ethnocentrism
- The tendency for people to believe that their own cultural
norms are the right way of doing things.

Example:

Adolf Hitler's belief in supremacy of the Aryan race and

discrimination of Jews, homosexuals, and people with
disabilities.
Stereotypes
• Mental pictures that one group forms from the main
characteristics of another group.
• Involves generalized ideas of people in a certain group.
• Also arise internally; gender, religion, social class, and
age stereotypes abound even inside a certain culture.

Example:

The stereotype in America

that Asians are geniuses and
overachievers.
Interpretation of time
-CHRONEMICS is the study of how cultures perceive
time and its use.
PERSONAL SPACE REQUIREMENTS

-PROXEMICS is the study of cultural space requirements.

Example:

• In the United States, for intimate

conversation with close friends and
relatives, individuals are willing to stay
away within about a foot and a half of
each other; for casual conversations,
up to two or three feet.
• In other cultures, such as in Japan, it is
essential for people not to step into a
person's personal space.
Body Language
-Body language is not universal, but is learned from one's
culture. Even the most basic gestures have varying cultural
meanings

Example:

This sign means:

• Okay - North America

• Zero - France
• Money - Japan
• Expression of vulgarity - Brazil
TRANSLATION LIMITATIONS

-Words in one language do not usually have equivalent

meanings to other languages, and the concepts the words
describe are often different as well.

Example:

• The Filipino word 'gigil' does not have an exact translation in English.
Translators can be helpful, but working with second language and
mentally casting the words into another language is not only difficult,
it also does not completely eliminate cultural barriers.
Fin