Intercultural communication happens

when individuals interact, negotiate,

and create meanings while bringing in
their varied cultural backgrounds. (Ting-
Toomey, 1999)
When you speak, your speech is
continuously accompanied by gestures,
facial expressions, and other body
movements that add to what you are
saying in different ways.
Moreover, in the case of Japanese culture,
silence as a form of communication is more
integrated in their customs than in Western
languages. It is therefore important for you
to acknowledge and understand the many
communication patterns present in other
cultures.
The Developmental Model of
Intercultural Sensitivity
The Developmental Model of Intercultural
Sensitivity (DMIS) offers a structure that
explores how people experience cultural
differences. DMIS has its six stages. These
are the following:
Characteristics of Competent
Intercultural Communicators
• 1. flexibility and the ability to tolerate high levels of
uncertainty
• 2. reflectiveness or mindfulness
• 3. open-mindedness
• 4. sensitivity
• 5. adaptability
• 6. ability to engage in divergent thinking (or thinking
creatively) and systems-level thinking (or thinking how each
one in a system or organization influences each other)
• 7. politeness
Group Activity. With your group mates from the previous
exercise, do the following:
1. Imagine yourselves to be a group of individuals of
different nationalities.
2. Think of a business you are interested to put up.
3. Think of a creative name for your business.
4. On the lines below, write what the business is about, who
your prospective clients are, and why you put up such
business.
Brainstorm for a logo for your business
that will show an integration of the
cultures of the countries you are from.