ICAM – Intercultural Communication & Management

William Agius

Zürcher Fachhochschule
Introduction – Who am I?

William Agius (he/him)

• Born in Malta
• Maltese father
• British mother
• Raised in Switzerland
• Linguist by trade
• Speaks German, English, Italian, French,
Maltese, Arabic
• Understands Spanish and Dutch
• Visited 69 countries

…and still manages to offend at least somebody

wherever he goes.

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What you can expect

• The aim of this course is to provide you with some basic tools that will help you
to interact confidently in an intercultural setting.
• Intercultural competence is not something you can learn by studying. It is
something you learn through experience and reflection.
• Try to read as much of the suggested texts for this course as you can.
• Rules of engagement: only speaking in this class about topics you feel
comfortable with!

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Tell us about your cultural background

Remember, only speak of what you feel comfortable with sharing!

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A definition of culture

Merriam-Webster dictionary definition for Culture:

• the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious or
social group; or
• the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way
of life) shared by people in a place or time;
• the set of shared of values, conventions or social practices associated with a
particular field, activity or societal characteristic;
• the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends
on the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding
generations.

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Culture is a matter of identity

• Culture is a collective phenomenon that is defined by agreement of

participants in that culture.
• Culture also has a lot to do with identity. The cultural groups that we choose to
be members of are personal choices. These choices are based on a complex
system that includes the values we identify with on the one hand, and our
perception of our place in society, on the other hand.
• One person can belong to more than one culture. As a person moves between
different cultural settings, they adjust and prioritise their value system.

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Culture shapes our language and our behaviour

Culture, behaviour, language, and communication are closely linked. Cultural values
affect:
• the topics that are talked about and the way in which they are talked about;
• defines that taboos and the boundaries of what is culturally acceptable, like
swearing, sarcasm or irony;
• influences the use of terms of address and names;
• greetings;
• mannerisms;
• formulaic phrases;
• idioms & idiomatic phrases;
• hand gestures;
• body language, and even the things we wear!

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Culture shapes our language and our behaviour

Culture, behaviour, language and communication are closely linked. Cultural values
affect:
• the topics that are talked about and the way in which they are talked about;
> in Switzerland we talk like talking about salaries to work colleagues
• defines that taboos and the boundaries of what is culturally acceptable, like
swearing, sarcasm or irony;
> in Western culture, death is a taboo – and so it the way we talk about death
• influences the use of terms of address and names;
> tried explaining Sie & Du to an English native speaker recently?
> in India everybody’s your uncle

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Culture shapes our language and our behaviour

Culture, behaviour, language and communication are closely linked. Cultural values
affect:
• greetings;
> shaking hands,
> bowing in Japan
• mannerisms;
> we shake back and forth in agreement, the Indians shake side to side
• formulaic phrases;
> Ladies and gentlemen is going out of fashion

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Culture shapes our language and our behaviour

Culture, behaviour, language and communication are closely linked. Cultural values
affect:
• Idioms, idiomatic phrases & jokes;
> What do pesticide and a passionate kiss have in common?
> They both lead to the undoing of the fly.
• hand gestures;
> a thumbs-up in Greece is a raised middle finger in Italy
• body language;
> men crossing their legs is a taboo in many cultures
• and even the things we wear!
>…

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Culture shapes our language and our behaviour

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Culture shapes our language and our behaviour

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Intercultural competence requires knowledge

Intercultural competence requires knowledge. A cultural miscommunication occurs,

when values are not shared by interlocutors, are unknown by at least one interlocutor,
or are marked differently.

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Culture & identity

• Link to the All Blacks doing the Haka in the match against France.
• Doing the Haka at a wedding.

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Cultural appropriation

Oxford English dictionary definition for

cultural appropriation:

“A term used to describe the taking over of

creative or artistic forms, themes, or
practices by one cultural group from
another. It is in general used to describe
Western appropriations of non‐Western or
non‐white forms, and carries connotations
of exploitation and dominance. The
concept has come into literary and visual
art criticism by analogy with the acquisition
of artefacts (the Elgin marbles, Benin
bronzes, Lakota war shirts, etc.) by
Western museums”.

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