intercultural communication

EDUC 202Social Dimensions

ofEducation

CHAPTER IIIINTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Objectives At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:

1. understand the meaning of communication and language2. show the relationship between language and culture3. enumerate the characteristics of culture4. explain how language distinguishes man from animals5. identify the communication, behavioural, cognitive, and material components of culture6. understand and explain cultural relativism  

The world today is characterized by an ever growing number of contacts resulting in communication between people with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

This communication takes place because of contacts in the areas of business, military cooperation, science, education, mass media, entertainment, tourism and also because of immigration brought about by labor shortage or political conflict.

COMMUNICATION AND

LANGUAGE(Erly)

Communication- is an act or

instance of transmitting

Two types of Communication

1.Verbal – refers to use of language

2.Non-verbal – refers to the use of gestures, facial expressions, and other body movements.

Language - is a system of verbal and in many cases, written with rules about how those symbols can be strung together to convey more complex meanings.

Four Developments that Illustrate the

Impact of Information Technologies on Communication

1.E-mails – including people in various parts of the world exchanging and sharing new information and knowledge.

2.Web log or Journal – is a rapidly growing from of electronics communication.

3. Computer or generated slide software such as PowerPoint

4. Telecommunicating - is an arrangement in which employees use computers to perform their regular work responsibilities at home or somewhere.

Paralanguage- is the language of gestures, expressions and postures.

Body Language or Kinesics- the most obvious form of paralanguage

A man’s language- is a reflection of the kind of person he is, the family where he comes from, the level of education he has attained.

The Study of Language is divided into Four Areas:

Phonology, Semantics, Grammar, and Pragmatics

(Sharey)

1. Phonology- the system of sounds that a particular language uses, includes not only the language’s basic unit of sounds, or phonemes, but rules about how we put phonemes together to form words and rules about the proper intonation patterns for phrases and sentences.

2. Semantics- is the study of word meanings and combinations. Comprehension of written as well as spoken language requires not only a knowledge of specific words and their definitions but an understanding of how we use words and how we combine them in phrases, clauses, and sentences.

3. Grammar - describes the structure of a language which

consists of two major parts: morphology and syntax. Morphology is the study of the language’s smallest units of meaning called morphemes – prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

4. Pragmatics- consists of rules for the use of appropriate language in particular contexts. Thus pragmatics is concerned not only with speaking and writing but with social interaction, and it directly addresses the issue of effective communication.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE

AND CULTURE(Aiza)

Perhaps the most significant of the inventions made possible by culture is language. The learning of culture takes place through language. From our enormous capacity to learn and use language is derived our collective memory, as well as writing, art, and all other media that shape human consciousness and store and transmit knowledge.

According to Panopio et al, 1992:Language is an integral

part of culture and human culture cannot exist without it. All human societies have languages. In some simple societies where people cannot read or write, they have a spoken language. Through the use of language, wide vistas of reality have been opened.

One way a society’s language may reflect its corresponding culture is in lexical content, or vocabulary. When experiences, events, or objects are singled out and given words it may be the result of cultural characteristics.

• If culture can affect the structure and content of its language, then it follows that linguistic diversity derives in part from cultural diversity.

According to Edward Sapir:The linguistic relativity

hypothesis asserts that language determines thought and therefore culture. In reality language and culture influence each other.

Every society has a culture, no matter how simple the culture may be, and every human being is cultured in the sense of participating in some culture or other.

As our nation continues to change, we all will interact with others from quite different backgrounds from our own, especially in the classroom. The manner in which we respond to others who seem different can have a serious impact on success in school, work, and harmonious relationship with others.

WHAT IS CULTURE?

(Dessery)

Culture is defined as the set of learned behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, and ideals that are characteristics of a particular society or population. (Ember, 1999)

Culture, as defined by Calhoun, et al., (1994) is the learned norms, values, knowledge, artifacts, language, and symbols that are constantly communicated among people who share a common ritual and technology.

Allan Johnson (1996)said that culture is the sum total of symbols, ideas, forms of expressions, and material products associated with a collective way of life reflected in such things as beliefs, values, music, literature, art, dance, science, religious ritual and technology.E.B. Taylor, defines culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. (Panopio, 1992)

Leslie A. White refers to culture as an organization of phenomena that is dependent upon symbols, phenomena which include acts(patterns of behavior); objects(tools and things made by tools); ideas(beliefs, knowledge); and sentiments(attitudes, values).Hofstede(1997) states that culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts

CHARACTERISTICS OF

CULTURE(Liza)

1. Culture is learned.The first essential characteristic of culture is that it is learned .

2. Culture is shared by a group of people.For a thought or action to be considered cultural, it must be commonly shared by some population or group of individuals.

3. Culture is cumulative.Knowledge is stored and passed on from one generation to the next, and new knowledge is being added to what is existing.

4. Culture change.All cultural knowledge does not perpetually accumulated. At the same time that new cultural traits are added, some old ones are lost because they are no longer useful.5. Culture is dynamic.This is a characteristic of culture that stems from its cumulative quality. No culture is ever in a permanent state. It is constantly changing because new ideas and new techniques are added and old ways are constantly modified and discarded.

6. Culture is ideational.Culture is an ideal pattern of behavior which the members are expected to follow. Man assigns meanings to his environment and experiences by symbolizing them.7. Culture is diverse.The sum total of human culture consists of a great many separate cultures, each of them is different. Culture as a whole, is a system of with many mutually interdependent parts.

8. Culture gives us a range of permissible behavior.Every culture allows a range of ways in which men can be men and women can be women. Culture also tells us how differentt activities should e conducted, such as how one should act as a husband, wife, parent, child, etc.

COMPONENTSOF

CULTURE(Gerlie, Mariel, Jison)

Components:1.Communication2.Cognitive3.Material4.Behavioral

COMMUNICATION

LANGUAGESYMBOLS

BEHAVIORALNORMSMORESLAWSFOLKWAYSRITUALS

COGNITIVE

IDEASKNOWLEDGEBELIEFSVALUESACCOUNTS

MATERIALTOOLS, MEDICINESBOOKSTRANSPORTATIONTECHNOLOGIES

A. COMMUNICATION COMPONENT1. LANGUAGE. Perhaps more than anything

else, language defines what it means to be human. It forms the core of all culture. When people share a language, they share a condensed, very flexible set of symbols and meanings.

2. SYMBOLS. Along with language and non-verbal signals, symbols form the backbone of symbolic interaction. They condense very complex ideas and values into simple material forms so that the very presence of the symbol evokes the signified ideas and values.

B. COGNITIVE COMPONENT1. IDEAS. Are mental

representations(concept, categories, metaphors) organize stimulus, they are the basic units of which knowledge is constructed and a world emerges.

KNOWLEDGE. Is the storehouse where w accumulate representations, informations, facts, assumptions, etc. Once stored, knowledge can support learning and can be passed down from one generation to the next.

BELIEFS. Accept a proposition, statement, description of the fact, etc., as a true

2. VALUES. Are defined as

culturally defined standards of desirability goodness and beauty, which serve as broad guidelines for social living.

3. ACCOUNTS. People who share a common language for talking about their inner selves.

C. BEHAVIORAL COMPONENT(how we act)1. NORMS. Are rules and expectations by

which a society guides the behavior of its members. Norms can change over time, as illustrated by norms regarding sexual behavior. Norms may vary in terms of their degree of importance.

TYPES OF NORMS:• MORES. They are customary behavior

patterns or folkways which have taken on a moralistic value. This includes respect for authority, marriage and sex behavior patterns, religious rituals, and other codes of human behavior.

• LAWS. Laws constitute the most formal and important norms. Laws are the mores deemed so vital to dominant interests that they become translated into legal formalizations that even nonmembers of society are required to obey.

• FOLKWAYS. These are behavior patterns of society which are organized and repetitive. The keyfeature of all folkways is that there is no strong feeling of right or wrong attached to them. They are simply the way the people usually do things.

• RITUALS.These are highly scripted ceremonies or strips of interaction that follow a specific sequence of actions.

The ff. are examples: - ceremonies: graduation,

baptism, funerals, weddings, birthdays

- holidays: thanksgiving, Christmas

- Everyday public rituals: greeting, kissing, answering the telephones, birthday and cards

D. MATERIAL COMPONENTHuman make objects,

sometimes for practical reasons and sometimes for artistic ones. Material components of culture refer to physical objects of culture such as machines, equipment, tools, books, clothing, etc.

THE ORGANIZATIONOF

CULTURE(Rosegie)

A CULTURAL TRAIT, either of a material or non-material culture, represents a single element or a combination of elements related to a specific situation.

Example of cultural traits are kissing the hands of the elders after Sunday mass and at Angelus. Clusters of culture traits are known as culture complexes which, in turn, group together to form a culture pattern.

Culture is transmitted through:1. Enculturation. It is the process

of learning culture of one’s own group.

2. Acculturation. It is the process of learning some new traits from another culture.

3. Assimilation. It is the term used for a process in which an individual entirely loses any awareness of his/her previous group identity and takes on the culture and attitudes of another group.

IMPORTANCE ANDFUNCTIONS

OFCULTURE(Sharmaine)

Culture is what distinguishes human beings from the lower animal forms making them unique. It is a powerful force in the lives of all people and shapes and guides people’s perceptions of reality.

1. Culture helps the individual fulfill his potential as a human being.

2. Through the development of culture, man can overcome his physical disadvantages and allows him to provide himself with fire, clothing, food and shelter.

3. Culture provides rules of proper conduct for living in a society.

CULTURAL RELATIVISMAccording to Rosado(2003), is in essence an approach to the question of the nature and role of values in culture. Cultural relativism in anthropology is a key methodological concept which is universally accepted within the discipline

According to Glazer(1996), is an anthropological approach which posits that all cultures are of equal value and need to be studied in a neutral point of view. The basis of cultural relativism is a scientific view of culture, which also rejects value judgments on cultures.

Here is an illustration of cultural relativism:

Practices considered immoral or taboo to a certain group of people but are accepted by other groups with a different cultural orientation.

“The central point in cultural relativism is that in a particular setting certain traits are right because they work in that setting while other traits are wrong because they clash painfully with parts of the culture.”- Hunt et., 1998

“No culture can live, if it attempts to be

exclusive.” - Mahatma Gandhi