INTERCULTURAL

COMMUNICATION

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

1. understand the meaning of communication and language

2. show the relationship between language and culture

3. enumerate the characteristics of culture4. identify the communication, behavioral,

cognitive, and material components of culture

5. 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 - is an act or instance of

transmitting

Verbalrefers to use of language

Non-verbalrefers 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.

Environment

Noise source

Channel

Source

Sender Receiver

Message

Feedback

Noise Source

Environment

Barriers Overcoming Barriers

Semantic Clarify Ideas Before Sending

Filtering of negative Information Motivate the receiver

Lack of credibility of sender Discuss differences in frames of

reference

Mixed signals Foster informal Communication

Different Frames of reference Communicate feeling behind the

facts

Value judgment Be aware of non verbal

communication

Information Overload Obtain feedback

Poor Communication Skills Adapt to other Person

Communication style

Engage in mete-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.

Phonology Semantics

Grammar Pragmatics

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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 different activities should e conducted, such as how one should act as a husband, wife, parent, child, etc.

COMPONENTS

OF

CULTURE

Communication Cognitive

Material Behavioral

COMMUNICATION COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL MATERIAL

Language Ideas Norms Tools, Medicines

Symbol Knowledge •Mores Books

Beliefs •Laws Transportation

Values •Folkways Technologies

Accounts •Rituals

1. 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.

1. 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.

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.

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 key feature 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

Human 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

ORGANIZATION

OF

CULTURE

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 AND

FUNCTIONS OF

CULTURE

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.

According 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

Reference:

Social Dimensions of Education(Violeta A. Vega Ph.D., Nelia G.Prieto, Myrna L. Carreon ph.D.)

THANK YOU!

Prepared by:

Ariel OmangayonRonelyn Vargas

Daryl Cruta