Module 4: Intercultural Encounters

You can watch these videos (Part 1- 3:54, Part 2 - 4:24) or read the video transcript below. Here is a handout Download Here is a handout of the reading and here is a PDF Download here is a PDFof the video. If you are having trouble viewing the videos, or you would like to download them, click for Part 1 (Links to an external site.) and Part 2 (Links to an external site.).

Transcript

Why do people from different cultures sometimes have misunderstandings or conflicts? Because they can interpret the same thing differently. Some behaviors that are polite in one culture can seem rude in another culture. Clothing that is very nice in one cultural context can be entirely inappropriate in another.

This is why we spent some time in Module 3 looking at the difference between observation and interpretation. People from any two cultures should be able to make the same observations, but their interpretations can be very different. This is because they attach different cultural meanings to what they observe.

(Links to an external site.)

Cultural meaning is symbolic. We do not see events and objects just for what they are; we attach symbolic meaning to it. For example, instead of simply seeing clothing of a particular color and style, we can interpret it to indicate that a person is a policeman or baker. These professionals’ uniforms have symbolic meaning to all who know how to interpret them.

Gestures and actions take on symbolic meaning when interpreted through a cultural lens. Greetings, for example, vary widely from culture to culture. How should you greet a particular person? Do you shake hands? Wave? Give a kiss on the cheek? Is a hug appropriate? Do you bow? The rules vary widely around the world. Interculturally competent people will adjust their behavior according to the context they find themselves in. Greetings are fairly formulaic. The right way to greet different kinds of people can usually be described in a few rules.

Other cultural differences are more general and are the result of differences in values. We have already talked a lot about one such difference: the difference between high-context and low context-cultures. As you will remember, most cultures in Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia are high-context cultures. When they communicate, they use the full context to understand a message. It's not just the words that matter, but also how the words are said and in what context. They assume a shared understanding. This means that many things may be left unsaid. In a low-context culture, like the United States, messages are made explicit through words. Speakers do not leave key parts of the message unsaid, and what is said is interpreted more literally.

That is one axis along which cultural differences are described. Today we will look at two more. The next one concerns cultural attitudes towards time. The two extremes are called polychronic and monochronic.

In monochronic cultures, such as in North America and Northern Europe, time is viewed as linear; people prefer to do only one thing at a time; schedules are not flexible; and time is considered a valuable commodity. In fact, a common saying is "time is money."1 Let's look at what a meeting would look like in a monochronic culture. There will be an agenda. The first agenda item will be dealt with first. During that time, people will only talk about that item and should not bring up topics related to other agenda items. When an agenda item is finished, the topic will be left behind, and people should not return to that topic during the meeting. If any of these rules are broken, members of the meeting may feel like the rule breaker is wasting their time.1

People from polychronic cultures (in much of the Middle East, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa), will tend towards opposite behaviors. They focus on tasks or activities, not schedules. If a task takes a little bit longer, they prefer to stay with the task and give it the time it needs. They are more likely to multi-task: for them, mixing personal activities and work activities is not a problem.

(Links to an external site.)

The last major cultural difference that we will look at today is collectivism versus individualism. In a collectivist society, your strongest identity is with the group you belong to. Your individual identity is less important. This group may be your family, your work place, or your national identity. If the group’s needs conflict with your individual needs, you will be expected to sacrifice (give up) your individual needs for the group. In collectivist societies, long-term relationships built on trust are very important.

People in individualist societies are the opposite. They may be willing to sacrifice personal relationships if that is necessary for personal gain. Because of this, relationships outside of their nuclear family are less important. Written contracts in these societies are very important documents for defining relationships between many people.

Based on this description, what cultures do you think are collectivist? And which are individualist? You are encouraged to read more about this by doing some research on the internet.2

It can be very useful to understand these differences in motivations and values that are generally true between certain cultures. But an important word here is “generally.” These generalities help us understand people’s motivations, but we must be careful not to over-generalize about people. People are always complex, and there are always differences among the members of any group of people. These cultural tendencies can help us understand people’s motivations, but they should not lead us to stereotype them or view them in a simplistic way.

FOOTNOTES

1 It is interesting to see how this metaphor appears in other expressions about time: to spend time, to waste time, etc.

2 Some of the other major ways that intercultural differences are described are: 1) neutral versus expressive; 2) short-term versus long-term orientations; 3) universalism versus particularism; and 4) desire to avoid uncertainty.

References
(This content is copyrighted, and cannot be adapted in any way, or distributed after the end of this course. It is not Public Domain or Creative Commons-licensed, and therefore not for public use.)

Hall, E. T. (1998). The power of hidden differences. In M. J. Bennett (Ed.) Basic concepts of intercultural communication selected readings (53-67). Intercultural Press.

Jackson, J. (2014). The Routledge Handbook of Language and Intercultural Communication. NYC: Routledge.

Kubota, R. (2016). The multi/plural turn, postcolonial theory, and neoliberal multiculturalism: complicities and implications for applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics, 37(4), 474-494.

McBride, K. & Gu, J. (2015). Do the folk believe they can speak their way into interculturality? Perspectives on Interculturality: The construction of meaning in relationships of difference. Palgrave Macmillan.

Neuliep, J. W. (2015). Intercultural Communication, 6th Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Tìm kiếm Blog này

Integrate Critical Thinking

Module 4: Intercultural Encounters

Transcript

Nhận xét

Đăng nhận xét

Bài đăng phổ biến từ blog này

Module 4: Critical Thinking Rubrics – Follow-On Quiz