Essay on Non_Verbal Communication and Intercultural Communication

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Essay on Non-Verbal Communication and Intercultural Communication

The important thing to remember about culture is that while it may be fundamental, it is not innate. Yet it’s often not discussed, analysed or critiqued but is seen as being ‘common sense’. Culture is made up of the shared values and assumptions of a particular group of people. Because these values and assumptions are shared, it is easy to take them for granted and believe that they are ‘normal’. In this way it is possible for people to believe that the ways in which they behave and the things they value are right and true for everyone.

Inter-, as you’ll probably know, comes from the Latin word for “between”, and the dictionary defines “communication” as “exchanging information”. Therefore, let’s draw the following conclusion: Intercultural communication refers to exchanging information between people from different cultures. Sounds very easy, don’t it? It’s the “cultures” part of this simple definition where things start getting a tad complicated.

Today the world we live in is “a global village” where no nation, group or culture can remain anonymous (Samovar & Porter, 1991). What happens in one part of the world affects all parts of the world. As the world is becoming smaller, we are increasingly interacting with people from many different cultures. While modern technology has made it easier for us to communicate with people anywhere in the world, such interactions can be difficult if we do not know how to deal with people and cultures different from our own. Here are examples of some of the obvious mistakes politicians and businesses have made when it comes to dealing with other languages cultures:

• In Germany, a Berliner is a jelly donut. In his s...

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...s encountered by Chinese background students in intercultural communications. This study also suggests including knowledge of nonverbal communication into EFL teaching so as to enable English learners to become fully competent in the targeted language, because nonverbal communication is used in everyday communication, and it is one of the prerequisites to acquire intercultural communicative competence.

References:

Allen, L. Q. (1999). Functions of Nonverbal Communication in Teaching and Learning a Foreign Language. The French Review, 72(3), 469-480.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. B. Ramos, Trans.). New York: Seabury.

Gudykunst, W. B. (1983). Intercultural communication theory: Current perspectives. Berverly Hills: Sage.

Jandt, F. E. (2001). Intercultural communication: An introduction (third ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

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