Intercultural Communication
Communication is the process of creating and sharing information between two or more people. With the increasing development in technology, transportation and movement of people from one place to another, the world is being transformed into a small village therefore it is very important to understand how each culture communicates. To be able to achieve adequate intercultural communication, it is important to know how different cultures communicate (Deborah, 2004).
Communication styles within cultures differ depending on how authority is shared within cultural organizations. There are two types of organizations which are hierarchical and democratic. In hierarchical organization, the power is vested on the highest leader in the organization while in a democratic power is distributed evenly among the members of the community (Han, Epp, Lee, Hasjim, 2008).
Development of culture of mankind took many years and during this time it changed from one form to another. Culture keeps on changing and therefore never static. Culture keeps on developing, spreading from one region to another and from one generation to the next. In the process of cultural development, new materials and cultural wealth are incorporated. With the current globalization, most states in the world are involved in redefining national trademark and citizenship, and are exposing multiculturalism to extreme analysis and censure (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009).
The word culture is derived from a Latin word cultura which means stemming from, or colore to mean cultivate in reference to the land. During the period of middle age, it was used to refer to the methods of growing corn therefore the word agriculture emerged (Jennifer, 2003). Later on the word was used to refer to people, and people who exhibited graceful societal behaviors were said to be cultural. Currently the word has numerous meaning. Some of the meanings include informal rules, various stereotypes and norms of behavior. It can also be used to mean a whole product of an individual, group, or society of intelligent people (Deborah, 2004).
People who live separately create different culture with varied cultural features. Culture of every community is created and learned. Every generation creates culture and passes it down to the next coming generation. Culture keeps on changing and this can be as a result of new inventions, and contact with people from other cultures. Through learning various cultures, one can adapt to any part of the world. Every culture has their own boundaries and this does not imply that people from different cultures cannot interact and understand one another. Through cultural knowledge, people from different cultural backgrounds are able to accept actions of each other (Verhelst, 1994).
Dimensions of culture
These are most of the times psychological dimensions or value structures which can be used in identifying a specific culture. These dimensions are frequently used in intercultural communication or cross cultural communication. Dimensions of culture include individualism, formality, communication styles, context, and time orientation (Han, Epp, Lee, Hasjim, 2008).
Context It is the most important dimension of culture and it is not easy to describe. It was developed by cultural anthropologists Edward T. Hall. In his model, context means stimuli, surrounding, or ambient surrounding an event (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009). Communicators in low context cultures such as those in Scandinavia and North America do not rely on the context of the situation to express their meaning. They think that their listeners do not have much knowledge on what they are saying therefore they say everything. In high context culture like Japan, the communicators believe that their listeners have much information therefore there is no need to offer much information (Deborah, 2004).
Individualism Individualism refers to the feelings of independence and freedom from control. People from low context cultures value individualism. They believe that initiative and self assertion leads to personal achievement. These people respect individual actions and personal responsibility and they crave for a considerable degree of freedom in their personal lives. On the contrary, members of high context cultures prefer doing things collectively. They assert membership in organizations, groups and teams. They promote group values, advocate for group duties, and decisions (Jennifer, 2003). They do not value individualism because they believe it nurtures competition and disagreement instead of agreement. In Socialist countries like Asian, self assertion and individual decisions are not allowed. Any individual who comes up with his or her own decisions is condemned. In china, all leaders prefer consultative leadership as opposed to autocratic. In these countries, the views of the people concerned with the matter of discussion must be sought before arriving at any decision (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009).
There are cultures which are quite complicated and cannot be classified as either individualistic or group oriented. A good example is Canadians. Those who originated from Asia are more or less group oriented while those who originated from Europe are a quite individualistic.
Formality People from some cultures do not value tradition, ceremony, and social rules as compared to others. An example of a community which is informal is North America. Their modes of dressing are casual and call each other with their first names. Because they lack formality, they are more direct in their dealings and go direct to the point (Jennifer, 2003). They believe that being indirect wastes a lot of time and in this society time is highly valued. In countries like Japan and Mexico, the communities are so formal and in cases of a business meetings, the routine activities like handshakes, coffee, and expansive conversation about anything takes the center stage before getting down to the business of the day (Deborah, 2004).
In other countries like Arab countries, there is need to establish friendship before engaging in any business dealings. In western countries, people are less concerned with social status of and the appearance of power. People are not just respected because they are rich, hold high position in the society, are senior, or are aged. However, in most Asian communities, these attributes are valued are to be respected (Han, Epp, Lee, Hasjim, 2008).
Communication style Styles of communication differ between high and low context cultures in terms of words. In North America and Germany, words are valued more so in contracts and negotiations. People from high context cultures emphasizes on the surrounding context more than the words during negotiations. Low context culture takes issues directly, for example a contract would mean a formal statement expressing the intention to build a business for the future while people from high context societies will view it as a statement of intention and assume that possible changes can be made as the project progress (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009). Mexicans on the other hand may view contracts as artistic exercises of what can be achieved under ideal situation. Arabs do not believe on contracts but value spoken words.
North Americans take words the way they are while Latin Americans like playing around with the words. Arabs and South Americans apply poems in their talking that may mean another thing if taken literally. Nigerians speak quietly but clearly while Germans are direct in their speaking but are always understated (Verhelst, 1994).
In communication styles, North Americans speak directly and fear ambiguousness, and do no believe in people who speak with hidden meaning, or those who are too secretive. They also loath silence and are generally impatient. Western cultures have adopted languages that use letters describing the sounds of words while Asian languages are founded on pictographic standing for the meanings of words. Asian alphabets are quite complicated as compared to western alphabet and as a result they are said to have higher aptitude in the discrimination of visual patterns (Jennifer, 2003).
Culture
Each and every country or even a region within a country has a distinct universal tradition, shared experience, or learning. The shared background is what constitutes the culture of a community, region or even a country. Culture can be described as a complicated system of values, characters, morals, and customs which is shared by a community. Through culture people learn how to behave and it also guides their responses. Culture operates as a powerful tool that regulates the way people think and behave. Since humans are thinking beings, they are extremely bendable and have the capacity to undergo phenomenal change (Deborah, 2004).
In the world, there are different types of culture. The natural environment has a great impact on the lifestyles of the people living in that particular region and this shapes the culture. Different cultures in the world are products of mindsets of people living in different parts of the world. Culture has been found to be very important in the society. Through the culture, a community gains its identity, develops a character and personality of its own because of the culture of the people (Jennifer, 2003).Culture is shared by different members of the society and it is transmitted from one generation to another. For culture to be passed from one generation to the next, it has to be transformed into signs and symbols. Some of the symbols of culture are language, art, and religion (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009).
Culture also acts as a bond that binds the people of a region or a community together. It is the only common bond that draws the people forming a community together. The customs and heritage that are upheld by members of the community, the events that they celebrate, their dressing styles, the food they eat, and most importantly the cultural values they stick to, brings them together. Culture can also be viewed as a system of social control where people share their standards and traits. The cultural values are the basis for one s life. They impact a person s ideas and philosophies of life. The value of culture is based on the fact that it connects people and their value systems (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009).
Types of culture
Masculine-feminine culture it involves the study of masculine and feminine types of society which is different from one another. In masculine cultures the tasks performed by men and women are separated. This culture also promotes ambitiousness and competition. The result is considered as the goal of the work. In feminine cultures, what is considered so important is the emotional connection between people, care for the members of the community, and the individual person and his existence. As opposed to masculine cultures, feminine cultures cherish the feeling of togetherness and humility (Deborah, 2004).
The second type of culture is based on the social framework. It consists of high and low context cultures. An example of a country with low context culture is Canada. Its leadership is based on memorandum, announcements, position papers, and other official forms of communication to express their positions on the issues. Canadian supervisors may hide information so as to make them appear professional and also as a method of pleading with their employees to accept their decisions and plans. These cultures also tend to be more individualistic in their operations (Jennifer, 2003).High context cultures like Japan tends to be collectivistic. These cultures prefer non verbal forms of communication and refinement as opposed to being open. These cultures are extraordinarily courteous which matches indirect, refined nature of interpersonal communication. They communicate with a lot of ambiguity and obscurity. Interpersonal communication serves to avoid frightening the face of the communicating partner. Through this type of communication, the unspoken information may be very important than the spoken one (Young, 1988).
Culture can also be based on power. Under this, there are hierarchical and democratic cultures. In democratic culture the power is spread equally among the people and this allows for the free flow of information. Despite the nature of their jobs, workers in democratic cultures regard themselves as colleagues with distinct responsibilities. Such culture is found in North America where people are not identified by position or command and respect is applied equally. In an organizational setting, ideas, suggestions, and complaints are conveyed by any person to anyone to any direction (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009).
Brazilian cultures value individualism because of hard economic situations. These results in a hierarchical culture which does not respect the value of equality as compared to that observed in democratic cultures. The leadership style in this culture is aristocratic. People of high status create authoritative gap between them and those of low ranks. The nature of power discourages the flow of information from the lower level to the top. Information relayed from low levels is delayed on the way before reaching the decision maker who is at the top (Guffey, Rogin, Rhodes, 2009).
How to improve intercultural environment
Intercultural environment can be improved through understanding of different cultures and their styles of communication. There are various forms of communication which includes verbal, non verbal and electronic communications (Deborah, 2004). Non verbal communication is considered very crucial in intercultural communication. It includes eye contact, facial expression, and gestures.
North Americans are known to apply eye contact in face to face conversations, which is also interpreted as a show of interest and respect. Body gestures are translated differently among cultures. In North America, nodding head up and down means yes while in Kuwait.
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