INTERCULTURAL

COMMUNICATION
BARRIERS TO
INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
 WHAT IS INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
IN PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION?

• INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION REFERS

TO THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE
FROM TWO DIFFERENT CULTURES. (CHEN &
STAROSTA, 1998:28) INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION IS A SYMBOLIC,
INTERPRETIVE, TRANSACTIONAL,
CONTEXTUAL PROCESS, IN WHICH PEOPLE
FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES CREATE SHARED
MEANINGS.
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

• THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF COMMUNICATION

ACROSS CULTURAL CONTEXTS. IT APPLIES EQUALLY
TO DOMESTIC CULTURAL DIFFERENCES SUCH AS
ETHNICITY AND GENDER AND TO INTERNATIONAL
DIFFERENCES SUCH AS THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH
NATIONALITY OR WORLD REGION.
EXAMPLES OF INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION BARRIERS
 ANXIETY IN INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
Anxiety is usually defined as a
state of human condition where
a person has a feeling of
unease and nervousness. It is
even sometimes associated
with the feeling of an
unrealistic fear. Anxiety
usually occurs when a person
usually comes across his or her
first cross cultural interaction
• Feeling nervous
• Focus on nervous feeling rather than totally
present in the communication interaction
• Example worry that other people may speak too
fast or use words you don’t understand
• Find yourself making mistakes or saying awkward
things
• Affect your ability to communicate your ideas to
others
 ETHNOCENTRISM AS A BARRIER TO
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Ethnocentrism is perceiving • NEGATIVELY JUDGING ASPECTS OF ANOTHER

one's own cultural beliefs and CULTURE

THE STANDARDS OF ONES OWN CULTURE
BY

customs as superior to those of • TO BE ETHNOCENTRIC IS TO BELIEVE IN THE

SUPERIORITY OF ONES OWN CULTURE
other people. When • CULTURAL RELATIVISM MEANS THAT WE MUST

communicating, an attitude of TRY

UNDERSTAND OTHER PEOPLES BEHAVIOUR IN
TO

ethnocentrism makes people THE

OF THEIR CULTURE BEFORE WE JUDGE IT
CONTEXT

from other cultures feel • WE RECOGNIZE THE ARBITRARY NATURE OF OWN

undervalued. When people feel CULTURAL

BEHAVIOURS

devalued or invalidated, they • CULTURAL NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS TAKE ONES OWN

CULTURE
tend to shut down. FOR GRANTED AND NEGLECTING OTHER
CULTURES

• EXAMPLE USE OF THE TERM AMERICANS TO

 STEREOTYPES
AS AN EXTENSION OF ETHNOCENTRISM, STEREOTYPES ARE ONE OF THE OBVIOUS BARRIERS
TO INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. SAMOVAR & PORTER (1991:280) DEFINE
STEREOTYPES AS “THE PERCEPTIONS OR BELIEFS WE HOLD ABOUT GROUPS OR
INDIVIDUALS BASED ON OUR PREVIOUSLY FORMED OPINIONS OR ATTITUDES”. AS THE
DEFINITION SUGGESTS, STEREOTYPES DO NOT DEVELOP SUDDENLY BUT ARE FORMED OVER
A PERIOD OF TIME BY OUR CULTURE. THEY ARE MADE UP OF BITS AND PIECES OF
INFORMATION THAT WE STORE AND USE TO “MAKE SENSE” OF WHAT GOES ON AROUND US.
STEREOTYPES CAN BE EITHER POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE AND AS (BARNA, 1997) POINTS OUT
THEY HELP US TO “MAKE SENSE” OF THE WORLD BY CATEGORIZING AND CLASSIFYING
PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS WE ENCOUNTER. WE MAY REVERT TO STEREOTYPING, FOR
EXAMPLE, WHEN WE ARE OVERSEAS AND ARE FACED WITH PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS WE
• ARE
STEREOTYPES FIRST USED TO.
NOT ACCUSTOMED IN 1922 TO DESCRIBE JUDGMENTS MADE
ABOUT OTHERS ON THE BASIS OF ETHNIC GROUP
MEMBERSHIP

• TODAY MORE BROADLY REFERS TO JUDGMENTS MADE ON

THE BASIS OF ANY GROUP MEMBERSHIP
 ASSUMPTION OF SIMILARITIES IN
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
• ASSUMING SIMILARITY WHEN YOU DON’T
• Those who assume a person from another HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT A
cultural background is just like them will CULTURE, ITS NATURAL TO ASSUME THERE
ARE NO
often misread or misinterpret and perhaps DIFFERENCES

even be offended by any intercultural • EACH CULTURE IS DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE

TO SOME DEGREE
encounter. In intercultural
• FOR EXAMPLE, CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN
communication, assume differences in SHOWING EMOTIONS

communication style will exist that you • ASSUMING DIFFERENCE INSTEAD OF

SIMILARITY CAN LEAD TO NOT
may be unaware of. It is important to RECOGNIZING IMPORTANT THINGS THAT
avoid interpreting another individual's CULTURES SHARE IN COMMON.

behavior through your own cultural lens.

 PREJUDICE IN INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
• PREJUDICE THE IRRATIONAL DISLIKE,
• IS A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE AND SUSPICION, OR HATRED OF A PARTICULAR
FEELING TOWARD AN INDIVIDUAL GROUP, RACE, RELIGION, OR SEXUAL
ORIENTATION (ROTHENBERG, 1992)
BASED SOLELY ON ONE’S
MEMBERSHIP IN A PARTICULAR • EXAMPLES THE ROMA KOREANS IN JAPAN

SOCIAL GROUP, SUCH AS GENDER, • IRISH-AMERICANS

RACE, ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY,
SOCIAL CLASS, RELIGION, SEXUAL
ORIENTATION, PROFESSION, AND
MANY MORE (ALLPORT, 1954;
BROWN, 2010)
 LANGUAGE AS A BARRIER TO
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
IS AN EXCHANGE GATE OF
COMMUNICATION. IT REFERS TO A
SOURCE WHICH EXCHANGES VALUES,
IDEAS, AND THOUGHTS BETWEEN
TWO EXCHANGE GROUPS. IF
EXCHANGE GROUPS ARE CROSS
CULTURAL, DEFINITELY LANGUAGE
CAN BE A MAJOR BARRIER OF
EXCHANGE (VELO). COMMUNICATION
GAP IS THERE DUE TO DIFFERENCES
IN LANGUAGE BETWEEN EXCHANGE
 CULTURAL RELATIVISM
CULTURAL RELATIVISM IS ANOTHER MOST
NOTABLE BARRIER OF INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION. THE DENIAL OF OTHERS’
VALUES AND CULTURES FOR THE
AUGMENTATION OF SELF VALUES AND CULTURES
REFERS TO CULTURAL RELATIVISM (FLINDERS 7).
CULTURAL RELATIVISM IS A NOTION THAT
REFLECTS THE SUPERIORITY OF A CERTAIN
GROUP. THE DENIAL OF OTHERS’ VALUES
MAKES CULTURAL RELATIVISM A PROMINENT
BARRIER OF CROSS-CULTURAL
COMMUNICATION. IT IS THE SAME LIKE
IMPOSING YOUR CONCEPTIONS ON OTHERS’
MORALS AND CONCEPTIONS (FLINDERS 7).
 NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION CAN BE A BARRIER TO

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION IS COMMUNICATION WITHOUT WORDS.
MESSAGES ARE SENT THROUGH GESTURES, PROXIMITY, EYE
CONTACT, EXPECTATIONS REGARDING TIME AND SO ON.
THESE FORMS OF COMMUNICATION CAN EASILY BE
MISINTERPRETED.
WORK CITED

• COMMUNICAID. DOING BUSINESS IN THE UAE. LONDON: COMMUNICAID GROUP LTD, 2009. PRINT.
• COOPMAN, STEPHANIE J. AND J. LULL. PUBLIC SPEAKING: THE EVOLVING ART, ENHANCED, 2ND ED.: THE
EVOLVING ART. BOSTON: CENGAGE LEARNING, 2012. PRINT.
• FLINDERS. BARRIERS TO CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION. 2004. WEB.
• JANDT, FRED. AN INTRODUCTION TO INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: IDENTITIES IN A GLOBAL
COMMUNITY. LONDON: SAGE, 2010. PRINT.
• VELO, VERONICA. CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT. NEW YORK: BUSINESS EXPERT PRESS, 2011. PRINT.
• ZECHENTE, ELIZABETH. “IN THE NAME OF CULTURE: CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND THE ABUSE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL.” JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLIGICAL RESEARCH 53 (1997): 319-347. PRINT.