My View on Cross-cultural Communication in Today's World
Have you seen the latest Hollywood movie "War of the worlds"? Have you visited the Disneyland that is newly opened in Hong Kong? As the world has become smaller day-by-day, the cross-cultural communications are taking place more frequently. However, in spite of the amusements, have you ever considered the gains and loses in this communication?
So today I am going to talk about pros and cons of cross-cultural communication in today's world, and how to overcome the defects and make progress in it.
In my point of view, the cross-cultural communication can be divided into two parts: One plays active role, which I call win-win communication. And the other with the adverse effect, which is known as culture invasion.
In a win-win culture communication, different cultures can learn from others' strong points, as to overcome the shortcomings of one's own. Such mutual interaction offers a platform where all cultures can blossom. Take the communications between China and the West for example. When Chinese Kong fu came into fashion in western countries, the morale of martial art, together with the belief in natural harmony gradually penetrate into the western culture. While in return, some spirit from the west, such as the idea of democracy, has been introduced and developed in China. Both cultures are enriched during communication.
However, there is good possibility that the win-win culture communication turns into culture invasion. Economic expansion is most responsible for this culture invasion. In the competition of world trade, cultures of various countries, working as the package of products, are competing to occupy the market. Undoubtedly strong nations are the w...
... middle of paper ...
...share the politics, customs, and social system share some commons. However, this is a big mistake. The diversity of culture is the recommend in communication. And it is the pursuit of differences between cultures can that makes sense to the cross-cultural communication."
Finally, I'd like to summarize my speech with a famous statement in diplomacy. That is we should seek common ground while reserving differences. "Seek the common ground" means all cultures share the same platform of equals. While "reserving differences" is just the expression of self-consciousness and pursuit for difference in culture. Seek common ground and reserving differences, this is the very core of cross-cultural communication. I believe with this principle, the cross-cultural communication will definitely become a win-win game, in which we will embrace the co-prosperity of all cultures.
In recent times, it has become more generally acknowledged that cultural diversity in the backgrounds of communicators contributes to differences in the patterns of communication behavior. People in different parts of the world exhibit various cultural differences. They portray unique interaction patterns depending on the nature of their national culture. As a result, several studies have been conducted by researchers to ascertain the impact of differences in cross-border culture. These differences have a great influence on the various aspects of the social-cultural dimensions of the peoples’ lives. Cross-cultural communication symbolizes a bridge between interpersonal and cultural dimensions of communication systems. Social interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds actually expands the individuals’ perspective of the world. It challenges some of the formerly held discrimination about people from other parts of the world.
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
Although there are few, the advocates of cultural globalisation claim that globalisation helps the enrichment of local cultures. They argue that people from different cultures share their ideas and experiences. They believe, naively, that all parties tell and listen the others ideas and experiences on an equal p...
Understanding one’s own culture is an important aspect of cross-cultural and intercultural communication, by allowing people to adapt and relate to different cultures. Culture can be defined as, “…a learned meaning system that consists of patterns of traditions, beliefs, values, norms, meanings, and symbols that are passed on from one generation to the next and are shared to varying degrees by interacting members of a community” (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012, pg. 16). Culture impacts how people communicate. Western countries, such as the United State and France, communicate differently than eastern countries, like China and Japan. High versus low context culture, and the iceberg metaphor of culture consisting of surface, intermediate and deep
In the 21st century, globalization has required the formation of cross-cultural communication, in which there are the numerous opportunities for humanity to exchange and communicate with people from other cultures in the world. Intercultural communication is the era trend and plays a crucial role in many aspects of life, especially in business communication. However, to avoid culture shock, people need to comprehend inhabitants’ the basic communication habits in an unfamiliar environment.
Intercultural communication studies investigate the effectiveness of communication, especially cross-culturally, and the ways that members from different cultures come into an interaction with different cultural frames. The theory is critical to the understanding of the intercultural studies discipline as it can be applied in intercultural, interpersonal, and cross-cultural communication. The communicators usually have different frameworks in viewing the world which includes the difference in beliefs and values (J. Reichheld, personal communication, February 8, 2016). When anxiety and uncertainty reach the catastrophe point, where stress is too high, communicators are not able to remain mindful and tend to communicate based on their own predetermined frameworks (J. Reichheld, personal communication, October 25, 2016). It can easily offend the other party by not being mindful, leading to ineffective communication or unwillingness to communicate at all (Imamura & Zhang, 2014). It can bring out ethnocentrism since the communicator represents the culture where cultural patterns are shown through communication (J. Reichheld, personal communication, February 8, 2016). The maintenance of an optimal level will allow for effective communication between members of different cultures. Successful communication then allows for cultural
In this negotiation case, both parties have totally different cultural background. As culture might be defined as the scheme in which a person is socialized, it also means that culture influences the manner that people live, play, work and most importantly communicate with others. In order to understand and communicate effectively with people from different culture it is important to understand how culture affects communication. Culture can be conceptualized in many different ways but common conceptualization of culture focuses directly upon communication. This idea was advanced by Edward T. Hall, an anthropologist who spends years living among and observing people with many different cultures. In order to understand his idea it is important to understand the basic forms of communication: high context messages and low context messages. The messages can be placed along a continuum from low context to high context.
When one looks at cross-cultural communication in the organization one has to look at many deciding factors. Cross-cultural communication is also known as “Intercultural Communication” (Afghari, A., & Pourakbari, A. A. 2015 p. 37). When one looks at any organization one would see where cross-cultural communication plays a part. Cross-cultural communication in an organizations are growing. It is a part of our world whether we like it or not. They have different ethical beliefs. Whether we like it or not what seems to be the norm to use will not be the norm to someone else. Business have to understand that when they bring different cultures together they might have issues of ethnic as well. An article written by Kuntz and others said
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.
Even though the two distinct social structures create a huge cultural gap for newcomers like me, I found that the practice of both communication styles is invaluable. Changing my communication styles for different types of people paves the way for the success of my social activities, and it also helps me to get along with more people. In other words, my experience of living in two countries reshapes my personality and perspectives. In today’s society, blend into other culture in a rewarding experience, which I benefit a lot from because it makes me more well-rounded and more prepared for the future.
Society and the way it works has changed tremendously over the years. Business between countries has grown and connections have grown with it as well.The world is a boundless place full of many different cultures and has “roughly 6,900” languages around the world that are all unique in their own way (source B). Although there is an overwhelming
As I mentioned earlier, I thought I had very good understanding of cross cultural communication. I did not know if I would gain much in this class before I decided to take this class. For me, cross cultural communication was about talking with people with different cultures backgrounds. For example, two people are from two different countries; the communication between them is cross culture. However, I found that cross cultural communication is a more complex thing than I ever thought. The definition of cross cultural communication can be defined as the ability to successfully form, foster, and improve relationships with members of a culture different from one’s own. It is based on knowledge of many factors, such as the other culture’s values, perceptions, manners, social structure, and decision-making practices, and an understanding of how members of the group communicate—verbally, non-verbally, in person, in writing, and in various business and social contexts, to name but a few. I know this is a long definition. It is not as simple as I ever thought.
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.
Culture has a power to overcome boundaries and even conquer distances by migrating and interfering in foreign cultures, and doing so it can lead to homogenization- where this main characteristic unifies culture making it global and model for everyone. First, as a definition, globalization implies deep and fast interconnection with global countries all around the world, and technological changes made that interconnection possible and created more support for a homogenizing
Though countries, governments, and states are separated from each other via boundaries and custodies, today there is no solid barrier among cultures. We are living in a world, where Internet, a global world web is a dominant power among all communication tools. Social networks and forums, international online markets and intercontinental surveys are widely known and applicable currently. That is one of the essential ways, how communities overlap and eventually cooperate with each other. This a way that leads to inter-cultural dialogue among cultures. A destination, which brings lots of positive values.