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Cultural differences in communication
How cultural background can influence communication
Cultural differences in communication
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Humans are agents of communication. From birth, a human being tries to communicate with those near him or her. In spite of being unable to talk yet, they make sure that the other people capture their needs through either gesture or even crying. As they grow up and find voices, they learn the languages that enable them to communicate effectively. Essentially, interpersonal communication is an essential part of life. Humans communicate in private settings. They also communicate in public settings including in businesses, as well as government agencies. Despite being a popular element vital for human interaction, communication is a complex phenomenon. Communication does not just occur in a situation where two people speak the same language. For …show more content…
One of the areas that show diversity is in context. The differences in cultures bring about a dissimilarity in the manner in which their members approach issues. These practices have an influence on patterns of communication. Within the study of culture, two contexts exist. They include high and low context cultures, whose nature's influence the manner in which their respective members interact (Kittler, Rygl, & Mackinnon, 2011). These classifications rely heavily on how the cultures rely on verbal and nonverbal cues. The authors describe high-context cultures as those whose members depend on nonverbal cues to derive an understanding from subjects. These people have a greater understanding of the context of communication so much that they use it to bring forth an understanding. Within this understanding, the members of high-context cultures are laden with information that makes it easy for them to understand messages contextually. The authors contend that the members of this group possess pre-programmed information. They note that they have high-level contexting skills, which allow them to analyze information with the aim of using the useful data only. In short, high-context cultures need a large proportion of context and a small amount of data. Conversely, low-context cultures usually have low volumes of preprogrammed information. Unlike …show more content…
These concepts describe the manner in which groups interact with one another. These interactions influence communication. Within collective cultures, the members interact as a close unit. According to Merkin (2015), these people are integrated into groups as soon as they are born. Their actions are influenced by their groups so much that everyone conducts himself or herself while thinking of their respective groups. They react to everything in unity, something that affects their communication. The basic tenet within these cultures is harmony with each member charged with actions that promote it. For this reason, communication takes certain factors seriously. Attributes such as respect, honest, and caring attitude among others perfectly describes the communication pattern favored by such groups. Communications patterns should avoid confrontations as much as possible because such occurrences will hurt the group’s harmony. On the other hand, individualistic cultures teach their members to exist autonomously. The individual is the most important factor in such societies (Merkin, 2015). The cultures encourage individuals to fight for whatever they believe in. Indeed, confrontation is allowed because people care more about themselves. For this reason, people are always encouraged to speak their minds, a fact that affects the nature of their communication. While collective
Communication is an essential part of nature. Humans have adopted and became a custom to language as a part of our daily social lives. Verbal communication is used since day one; exchanging information as babies to our guardians when were in displeasure can even be a form of communicating. Being social is something that will never parish, thus being so important in our lives, it is nearly impossible to go a day without some sort of communication being shared. Even though everyone has different traits of the amount of socialness one might have, being shy and not being very social, can still give off certain communication cues that others can knowledge. There are non-verbal cues and visual aspects to help us communicate better and help us understand
Communication is the foundation of any society. Humans are interactive beings that must communicate in order to survive. Humans develop communication skills as infants; learning to yell when something is needed, cry when something is painful, and smile when feeling happy. As babies age they learn words; eventually learning to compose sentences allowing them to express their feelings or desires. Humans finally learn to communicate within different parts of their life with different forms of communication such as letters, spoken, visual, and more. As one ages, they become aware of the different rules of communication used with certain people and situations; such as learning to speak to a teacher in a different manner than how one talks to their friends. While doing this, people are unconsciously starting to learn how to conform in the different discourse communities. Discourse communities are an essential part of life, and learning to communicate in those communities is just as vital.
There are many co-cultures in the world. I am a twenty nine year old Caucasian mother of two girls with an annual income of around thirty thousand a year. I am a wife in a Methodist household, where my job is a home maker; as well as, I am a college student. I am a French Canadian, German, Native American, and Polish breed.
Communication is always a good way for one to express their thoughts. I interviewed two different people who were of separate races and ethnicities to learn about their experiences in the U.S. healthcare system. The interviews asked questions that centered around their racial and ethnic background and how their identities influenced their privileges or discrimination of or by health care officials. The two people I interviewed were from my physical therapy building. This was a great way to determine race and ethnicity seeing how the physical therapist is Indian and his assistant is Pacific Islander Filipino. Within public health, we see plenty of different races and ethnicities all around us. It is safe to say that an issue that emerged from the interviews was a lack of communication during a health related visit between different races and ethnicities. It became
Communication is something we do without thinking as it comes naturally. As babies we communicate through sign language. Our hands go out to pick a baby up, the baby soon learns that this language of communication gets results. Crying is another form of attention. As babies age they also learn to talk. They soon learn that saying the correct words along with body language, gets them what they want. Communicating with people I find is my strongest asset and using verbal and nonverbal communication can be testing, but beneficial used in the correct way.
Everything we do in our life involves communication because it is a way for a sender to send message to the receiver by verbal and non-verbal communication. However, in some parts of the world messages that are delivered sometimes are not received in a way it is supposed to. A way to solve this is by using competent communicator and intercultural communication because it makes it easier for people from other cultures to communicate in general. On the other hand, there are also some problems faced because different cultures have different ways to express their way of communication. By understanding these types of communication and by defining them may solve this dilemma. In addition to that, there are also types of communication to consider that are commonly used, which is Proxemics, Gestures and body language.
Another major aspect of communication style is the degree of importance given to non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication includes not only facial expressions and gestures; it also involves seating arrangements, personal distance, and sense of time. In addition, different norms regarding the appropriate degree of assertiveness in communicating can add to cultural misunderstandings. For instance, some white Americans typically consider raised voices to be a sign that a fight has begun, while some black, Jewish and Italian Americans often feel that an increase in volume is a sign of an exciting conversation among friends. Thus, some white Americans may react with greater alarm to a loud discussion than would members of some American ethnic or non-white racial groups (Lantieri, Patti, 1996).
unknown. (n.d.). The relationship between Culture and Communication. Retrieved November 20, 2010, from jrank.org: http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6491/culture-and-communication.html
Therefore, it is essential to study nonverbal and verbal communication Nonverbal communication is all forms of communication other than words themselves, which includes “body motions; vocal qualities; and the use of time, space, and even smell” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 269). On the other hand verbal communication or language “consists of symbols in the form of spoken or written words (Wood, 2014, p. 67). Thus cultures have different representations of symbols and what one culture interprets another may define or view differently. Communication is closely related to culture because communication expresses and alters culture. In a culture you learn behaviors and acceptable ideologies. This can be seen in verbal and nonverbal communication. For example, the tone of your voice is based on culture. Without communication you are unable to establish cultural differences. Your own culture directly shapes how one communicates, such as when it is appropriate to make eye contact. We are not born knowing when and how we should speak; this is a learned behavior that is taught by interaction with others. This is not an easy task because nonverbal signals differ from culture to culture. Charles Braithwaite stated, “One of the fundamental components of cultural and linguistic competence is knowing how and when to use silence as a communication tactic” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 64). Before one can communicate effectively one must understand the context in which the culture exchanges information. One must have a working awareness of how each society conveys meaning, hence high vs. low context cultures. According to the Central Michigan University text, organizational dynamics and human behavior (2009), to become a successful international manager one must develop “cross-cultural skills”. One part of the skill set involves the comprehension of the difference between high-context and low-context
In our growing, diverse society it’s very important to have diverse communication skills. The reason for this is because it brings richness in our society. Effective communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish (Robinson, Lawrence, and Jeanne Segal). It helps our society flourish. Communication is the process of understanding information through the transmittal of words, actions, hidden messages, signals or thoughts. Communicating in a world of diversity may require more than just a transmittal of words. Communication sometimes require more than one process depending on who you are communicating to. Communicating in a world of diversity has many benefits. Communication is split into two parts which is listening and speaking. Speaking as well as listening goes hand in hand with each other. Speaking and listening is verbal and nonverbal. Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective communication (Robinson, Lawrence, and Jeanne Segal). It’s not always what is being said but rather what is being done. Non-verbal communication is a big part in communication also. Both the talker and listener are participating in non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is depicting the body language, body movement, gestures, postures, eye contact, or either one of the five senses. Developing the ability to understand and use nonverbal communication can help you connect with others, express what you really mean, navigate challenging situations, and build better relationships at home and work (Robinson, Lawrence, an...
Culture has been a pervasive part of humanity since the beginning of civilization. Wood (2010), professor of communications, defines culture as "the totality of beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a number of people" (p 78). The way I see it, culture shapes an individual and creates their worldview. Each culture emphasizes an important aspect of the humans and displays the complexities of our species. Even though culture includes many elements, I will discuss one of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, Individualism, and explain how it creates a high or low context culture.
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
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.
Interpersonal communication is very important in everyday life. It helps us build a relationship with another, also it helps us to satisfy our physical needs, identity needs, social needs and practical goals. Communication lets people exchange their feeling and information through verbal and non-verbal communication through social media or face to face communication. Communication can be effective and ineffective depend on the individual communication skills. The ways we communicate with another can be influenced by family, friends, significant other also within the culture and region where we stay. Each person has a different set of rule to communicate with another, so this is how miscommunication happen. There are some expectation and way
Communication is essential to human life. Every aspect of our daily lives is affected by our communication with others. It can be different types such as verbal, nonverbal and written communication. It is indeed a complex process filled with countless elements, all of which play an important role. The process of communication between human beings has been studied and analyzed outwardly since the beginning of time. The term itself cannot be defined in only one particular way because communication exists in a certain context and is dependable on the communicator and the audience. Example of describing communication is as “the transmission of information, ideas, attitudes or emotions from one person or group to another (or others) primarily through symbols” and “social interaction through messages” (McQuail, 1993). Furthermore, Watson and Hill describe the process of communication as “one which begins when a message is thought up by a sender, who then encodes the message before transmitting it through a particular channel to a receiver, who in turn decodes the message with a certain effect as an outcome” (Price, 1998).The complexity of the whole process is seen through the use of verbal and nonverbal communication on a daily basis, as well as the ability to interact with other human beings on multiple levels, mentally and emotionally. We begin communicating the moment we come out of the womb and do not stop communicating until death. This essay will try to compare and contrast two different communication contexts- interpersonal and mass communication, by using relevant communication models.