In the contemporary global economy which can be categorized as dynamic and evolutionary in nature, one needs to be cognizant of change that is inevitable within the tourism industry. Due to the demands of the global customer the world can be viewed as being more so inter-connected, owing to this fact the traditional workplace has become more diverse. With diversity in mind the barriers to communication have become prevalent. Within the ambit of the essay such barriers to intercultural communication outlined by LaRay M. Barna shall be explored; anxiety, assuming similarity instead of difference, ethnocentricity, stereotypes and prejudice, nonverbal misinterpretations, language and modern technology will be further discussed. In going forward it is essential to define culture and communication.
According to Hofstede’s (1980), ‘culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another… culture in the sense, includes systems of values: and values are among the building blocks of culture.’ It is necessary to determine how culture impacts our communication behavior as culture directly influences our perception and understanding of the message that is transmitted from one party to another. People from different cultures encode and decode messages differently; this therefore increases the chances of misunderstanding. Intercultural communication refers to interactions between people whose cultural assumptions are so different that the communication between them is altered. Verderber, Verderber, & Sellnow, (2010).
Firstly anxiety occurs because of not knowing what one is expected to do, and focusing on that feeling, thus being totally present in the communication transaction. Fo...
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...and giving them their due respect.
Works Cited
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Pragyaan, (2009) Mass Communication – a biannual journal. Institute of Management Studies Dheradun. Volume 7 Issue 1 June 2009, ISSN No: 0974-5221. Available at: http://www.iuu.ac/pragyaan/Pragyaan_Mass_Comm_June-09.pdf#page=17
The National Post (2012), The symbolic meaning of a handshake – Joshua Rapp Learn. Available at: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/30/the-symbolic-meaning-of-a-handshake/
Verderber, K., Verderber, R. & Sellnow, D. (2010) Communicate! Canada: Nelson Education Ltd. (Chapter 5)
The rapid technological evolution and the growth in the population around the world are playing considerable role in creating new levels of intercultural communicate both locally and globally. People now can get the information from any spots on the planets easily through many televisions channels. Also, gaining huge amount of knowledge from every part around the world is provided by computer networks. Computer networks facilitate the communications as well. Beside create new opportunities, technological and demographic evolutions provide significant challenges to the people. Communicating successfully in another language depends on shifting the frames of reference, norms, and assumptions (Kinzer, 2003). In other words, when individuals use another language effectively, they must adopt new perspectives about communication and language and not just focus on the structure and vocabulary. Reading, writing and discussion of texts will help learner to understand another way of thinking. Actually, there are needs to embrace issues of cultural identity and for an inclusive process in how reading and writing are being taught. In this regard, language appeared as one of the most essential aspects of culture and social being. Language is not the only mean which individuals create activities and identities. Also, language is not enough to be recognised in a specific community or group. Person must behave and act in ways considered right among this community or group.
Intercultural communication is a significant, unavoidable element of communication in the 21st century. With the vast movements of population throughout history, as well as the growing prominence of technology, the ability to interact and come into contact with different cultures, both ethnic and sub-cultures, has never been easier. However, with this growing role of intercultural communication, there is a large opportunity for the existence and perpetuation of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. In order to avoid offence and miscommunication when partaking in intercultural communication, a person must be willing to understand a person as an individual entity, and not as a representation of their culture or of what the host culture may believe it to be.
Geert Hofstede has developed a framework for cross-cultural communication to understand the effect of culture on values and behaviour of the people. The differences across cultures was measured and compared using six dimensions: Power distance, Individualism, Uncertainty avoidance, Masculinity vs Feminity, Long term vs short term orientation and Indulgence vs Restraint.
We live in a society that is surrounded with people from all over the world. This culturally diverse environment creates a melting pot; a place where different peoples, styles, and theories are mixed together and coexist despite their cultural differences. This cultural diffusion can be seen in countries around the world. The book describes culture as a set of values, beliefs, rules, and institutions held by a specific group of people. Wild (2014). There are numerous cultures with different views on the smallest of details fluctuating from the way you greet to the way you eat. Each culture has their unique characteristic that sets them apart from the next. Cultures have their various techniques to express their attitudes, respect, and communication
Our culture is a scholarly arrangement of presumptions that shape our observations of the world, and of suitable qualities, standards, states of mind and practices. We learn our culture. Perceptions about gender, age, and social class are culturally based, as are our ideas about race, ethnicity, religious practices, sexual orientation, physical appearance and ability, and regional and national characteristics. What is intercultural communication? Intercultural communication is defined as a form of communication between individuals or groups of different cultural origins. Communicating across cultures is challenging. Every society has set rules that its individuals underestimate. Few of us know about our own social inclinations on the grounds
It is believed that miscommunication is one of the most frequent problems in intercultural communication. Through such factors as idiom, interpretation, translation errors and body language so communicative skills can fail due to the misunderstanding. When these intercultural mistakes happen between people, it might be experienced by different cultures as unmannered, laughable, confusing or frighten. However, the situation occurs not only in general society, but also in classrooms which are increasingly international communities.Therefore, this essay will explain several different causes and effects of miscommunication in intercultural classrooms, which consist of: participation in classroom, physical touching and non-verbal communication.
When individuals or groups from different cultures communicate, this process is called intercultural communication. The transaction process of listening and responding to people from different cultural backgrounds can be challenging. The greater the difference in culture between two people, the greater the potential of misunderstanding and mistrust. Misunderstanding and miscommunication occur between people from different cultures because of different coding rules and cultural norms, which play a major role in shaping the patterns of interaction (Jandt, 2012).
Many people who go to visit or work in another country suffer some misunderstanding from the local people, because they have a different culture. Different culture will cause disparity points of view about almost everything. In the article, Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks by Laray M. Barna, there are five stumbling blocks mentioned that are seen in a cross-culture communication. These blocks are: language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, the tendency to evaluate and high anxiety. Barna wants to use these stumbling blocks to show the common blockades between different cultures. I agree with what she thinks about the language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, and the tendency
Culture is a complicated general notion with various definitions. For simplicity, cultures in general refer to a group with which people share general experiences that outlines the way we value life. This may consist of groups that were born into such as sex, tribe, or nationality. For instance, one can acquire a different culture by moving into a new region, by a change in the economic situation, or by becoming incapacitated. When thinking of culture in a broad way, we recognize everyone belong to many cultures at one time. According to Jandt (2000), “culture is also a context. Every culture has its own worldview; its own way of thinking of activity, time, and human nature; its own way of perceiving self; and its own system of social organization”. Culture has also been defined as “that culture constitute that which makes up our way of life, these include our shared values, knowledge, behavior, and expressing of symbolism” (Dobkins, B. and Pace, R. 2003). Also in accordance to a paper titled “diversity in the workplace” (Lopez-Rocha, S. 2007), “organizational management and those in management positions deal with differences in communication on day to day basis”. Majority of these frictions are focused on those diverse styles in communication. Cultures furnish people with methods of thinking such as to see, hear, and interpret the world at large. However, similar words can mean different things to people from different cultures, though they speak similar language. When translating different languages used for communication, there is high possibility of misinterpretation which could lead to an increase in confusion in an organization.
Intercultural communication can be divided into two parts. Inter- which means between and culture, which is defined as the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people (Zimmerman, 2017). Therefore, Intercultural communication is the interaction between people that share different characteristics and knowledge. LaRay M. Barna (1997) has developed an approach to examine barriers to intercultural communication on a general level. In his list he has developed six barriers: anxiety, assuming similarity instead of difference, ethnocentrism, stereotypes and prejudice, nonverbal communication, and
Intercultural communication is an evolving discipline that occurs between individuals from contrasting backgrounds. It include...
Communication among one another is essential in our everyday lives. Communication across culture, on the other hand, might not be a typical event for every individual. It includes exchanging of information within different cultures where communication among people from different cultures were not restricted by cultural barriers. There are numerous methods to integrating culture into communication theories. Culture can be incorporated with the communication process in theoretical communication. Theories can be considered to designate how communication differs across cultures. It can be created to clarify communication between people from diverse cultures, also known as intercultural communication. It can also be a tool of explanations that have molded and influenced human intercultural communication.
Before teaching my intermediate English class this semester, I have never worked with such an ethnically diverse group of L2 learners. Coming from eight different countries, my students have shown me a blueprint of World Englishes being spoken by international language users for intercultural communication. However, their individually different accents have often contributed to miscomprehension and miscommunication during peer interaction. As a language teacher, I am also faced with the difficulty to understand the vernacular English of my African student — Max (Field Journal #3, Jan. 25, 2016). While my Brazilian student Barbara finds it effortless to communicate with Max, she frequently tells me how much she hates her own accent and the influence
Recently, I read an article on intercultural communication. I also watched three videos that showed problems in intercultural communication.Intercultural communication is communication between people from different cultures or countries. After reading the article about intercultural communication by Laray M. Barna, I found some of the reasons that caused the problems in the video.
Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze these three notions in situations in which intercultural communication is frequent such as : the workplace, the classroom and vacation trips.