CULTURAL AND GLOBAL ISSUES

AFFECTING COMMUNICATION
1. identify the cultural and global issues affecting
communication
2. explain how cultural and global issues affect
communication
3. determine ways on how such issues may be
addressed
4. enumerate the guidelines to improve one’s
ability to communicate interculturally
5. make a slogan or participate in a small group
discussion to demonstrate understanding of the
various ways on how to communicate
interculturally
6. write a reaction paper on the impact of
globalization based on the essay
7. recognize the importance of communication on
the society and the world
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING

Cultural and Global Issues Affecting Communication

Cultural Differences: Influences on Cultural Identity
-Our cultural identity is based on our group memberships
which are determined by gender, age, racial, ethnic,
religious, socioeconomic, political or even national
affiliations. German et al. (2003) defines culture as a
social group’s system of meanings.
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING

 Our racial and ethnic identities are similarly socially

constructed. Some racial and ethnic groups, for
example, share experiences of oppression.
 Religious identity is at the root of countless
contemporary conflicts occurring in the Middle East,
India and Pakistan, and Bosnia- Herzegovina.
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING
 Similarly, socioeconomic identify frames how we respond
to issues of our day. The widening gap between the
ultrawealthy and the middle and lower classes in the
different parts of the world is contributing to their developing
different attitudes on a wide array of issues.
 National identity refers to our legal status or citizenship.
People from different countries have been U.S. citizens for
generations, yet some still perceive them as foreigners.
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING

Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural relativism

Ethnocentrism, the tendency to see your own culture as superior
to all others, is a key characteristic of failed intercultural
communication efforts.
Cultural relativism is the opposite of ethnocentrism. When you
practice cultural relativism, instead of viewing the group to which
you belong as superior to all others, you work to try to understand
the behavior of other groups on the basis of the context in which
the behavior occurs rather than from your own frame of reference.
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING

Stereotype and Prejudice

Stereotypes are mental images or pictures we carry
around in our heads; they are shortcuts, whether positive
or negative, that guide our reactions to others.
Prejudice describes how we feel about a group of people
whom, more likely than not, we do not personally know.
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING

Ways to improve your ability to communicate

interculturally
1. Refrain from formulating expectations based solely on
your own culture.
- When those you interact with have diverse
communication styles, it is critical that you acknowledge
the differences and accept their validity.
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING

2. Recognize how faulty education can impede

understanding. It is important to identify and work to
eliminate any personal biases and prejudices you have
developed over the years.
3. Make a commitment to develop communication skills
and abilities appropriate to life in a multicultural world.
 ENDURING UNDERSTANDING
Your ability to develop intercultural communication skills
depends in large part on how many of the following promises
you are willing to make:
Iwill make a commitment to seek information from persons whose cultures are
different from my own.
Iwill try to understand how the experiences of persons from different cultures lead
them to develop perspectives that differ from mine.
Iwill pay attention to the situation and the context when I communicate with
persons from different cultures.
I will make every effort to become a more flexible communicator.
I will not insist that persons from other cultures communicate with me on my terms.