Effective communication in different cultures
Effective communication in different cultures
Introduction
more and more companies
globalizing, employees in various international locations now have day-to-day
communications with each other. Given different cultural contexts, this brings
new communication challenges to the workplace. Even when these employees speak
the same language (for instance, correspondences between English-speakers in
the U.S. and English-speakers in the UK), there are some cultural differences
that should be considered in an effort to optimize communications between the
two parties. In such cases, effective communication strategy begins with the
understanding that the sender of the message and the receiver of the message
are from different cultures and backgrounds. Of course, this introduces a
certain amount of uncertainty, making communications even more complex.getting
into cultures and sub-cultures, it is perhaps most important to realize that a
basic understanding of cultural diversity is the key to effective
cross-cultural communications. Without intently studying the individual cultures
and languages, we must all learn how to better communicate with individuals and
groups whose first language, or language of choice, does not match our own.
Learning the basics about culture and at least something about the language of
communication in the host country are necessary.is necessary even for the basic
level of understanding required to engage in appropriate greetings and physical
contact, which can be a tricky area inter-culturally. For instance, kissing a
business associate is not considered an appropriate business practice in the
U.S, but in Paris, one peck on each cheek is an acceptable greeting. And, the
handshake that is widely accepted in the U.S. is not recognized in all other
cultures. While many companies now offer training in the different cultures
where the company conducts business, it is important that employees being
thrust into communicating across cultures practice patience and work on their
own to increase their knowledge and understanding of the different culture.
This requires the ability to see that a person's own behaviors and reactions
are oftentimes culturally driven.
Verbal
communication in different cultures
an appropriate
language
Effective communication
with people of different cultures is especially challenging. Cultures provide
people with ways of thinking--ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting the
world. Thus the same words can mean different things to people from different
cultures, even when they talk the "same" language. When the languages
are different, and translation has to be used to communicate, the potential for
misunderstandings increases. Using an inappropriate language can lead to a
serious conflict in multicultural society.example, the biggest barrier that
native English speakers face in trying to learn other languages is overcoming
the all devouring melting pot culture that the British, and de facto American
Empires have been so succesful at spreading around the world. When we live in
countries and cities with migrants who come from all over the world, we tend to
be lulled into believing that the migrants coming have spent most energy on
learning language, and that cultural adaptations amount to basically just
learning the local rules and customs. Although we perceive culture in terms of
race, age and class, I think many native English speakers have a huge blind
spot for national cultures, either equating them with race, or dismissing such
differences when faced by them as being excuses for doing something
"wrong", as is often seen within frustrated foreign businesspeople
operating in Japan.languages, now understood as the particular set of speech
norms of a particular community, are also a part of the larger culture of the
community that speak them. Humans use language as a way of signalling identity
with one cultural group and difference from others. Even among speakers of one
language several different ways of using the language exist, and each is used
to signal affiliation with particular subgroups within a larger culture. In linguistics
such different ways of using the same language are called
"varieties". For example, the English language is spoken differently
in the USA, the UK and Australia, and even within English-speaking countries
there are hundreds of dialects of English that each signal a belonging to a
particular region and/or subculture. For example, in the UK the cockney dialect
signals its speakers' belonging to the group of lower class workers of east
London. Differences between varieties of the same language often consist in
different pronunciations and vocabulary, but also sometimes of different
grammatical systems and very often in using different styles (e.g. cockney
Rhyming slang or Lawyers' jargon). Linguists and anthropologists, particularly
sociolinguists, ethnolinguists and linguistic anthropologists have specialized
in studying how ways of speaking vary between speech communities.community's
ways of speaking or signing are a part of the community's culture, just as
other shared practices are. Language use is a way of establishing and
displaying group identity. Ways of speaking function not only to facilitate
communication, but also to identify the social position of the speaker.
Linguists call different ways of speaking language varieties, a term that encompasses
geographically or socioculturally defined dialects as well as the jargons or
styles of subcultures. Linguistic anthropologists and sociologists of language
define communicative style as the ways that language is used and understood
within a particular culturedifferences between languages does not consist only
in differences in pronunciation, vocabulary or grammar, but also in different
"cultures of speaking". Some cultures for example have elaborate
systems of "social deixis", systems of signalling social distance
through linguistic means.] In English, social deixis is shown
mostly though distinguishing between addressing some people by first name and
others by surname, but also in titles such as "Mrs.",
"boy", "Doctor" or "Your Honor", but in other languages
such systems may be highly complex and codified in the entire grammar and
vocabulary of the language. In several languages of east Asia, for example
Thai, Burmese and Javanese, different words are used according to whether a
speaker is addressing someone of higher or lower rank than oneself in a ranking
system with animals and children ranking the lowest and gods and members of
royalty as the highest . Other languages may use different
forms of address when speaking to speakers of the opposite gender or in-law
relatives and many languages have special ways of speaking to infants and
children. Among other groups, the culture of speaking may entail not
speaking to particular people, for example many indigenous cultures of
Australia have a taboo against talking to one's in-law relatives, and in some
cultures speech is not addressed directly to children. Some languages also
require different ways of speaking for different social classes of speakers,
and often such a system is based on gender differences, as in Japanese and
Koasati
Using polite words
Knowledge of the
so-called speech culture and speaking according to this knowledge is of great
importance when success in communication is concerned. Speech culture naturally
differs from country to country, from nation to nation, from different social
group to another. Other than that there are certain universal rules about how
to speak so that you will get what you ask for and at the same time speak so
that your interlocutor will not be offended. General rules of politeness are
not interrupting your interlocutor while he or she is speaking, speaking quite
loudly and distinctly though not yelling, using normative language
etc.politeness category is normally reflected in a language in a set of speech
formulas characteristic of a certain communication sphere or situation (for
instance, there are lots of those concerning speaking over the telephone).
Quite formulaic is also speech communication between a client and a provider
(seller). Politeness in formal situations tends to be reflected in a great
number of such formulas, unlike politeness in an informal context. Undoubtedly,
common rules of being polite in everyday communication should be acquired by
English learners. To that belongs knowledge of the following:usage of a certain
type of a speech act (e.g. request vs. command), implying certain content
(excluding taboo questions like those about income, religion, nationality) and
others. According to the data given by several American people, to speak
politely means to:
use good manners in
everyday communication (e.g. not have food in your mouth when speaking)- use
respectful language: use kind words and not swear, use certain form of an
utterance (“when asking for something say 'May I please have that' - not 'give
me that.'”)- “use a proper tone in your voice so as not to be condescending to
the other person”- look at the person (make eye contact)- say greeting words,
say ‘good-bye’, ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ when it is necessary- introduce
yourself/a new person- not interrupt when someone else is speaking- listen when
someone else is speaking and hear what they are saying- apologize and ask for
forgiveness when impoliteness happens, and try not to do it againexist some
theories of politeness, one of those being Brown and Levinson’s whose basic
notion is ‘face’, or ‘individual’s self-esteem’ [1]. In other words, it implies
people’s desire, on the one hand, for freedom to act (negative face), and, on
the other hand, to be liked, approved of and included (positive face) [3].
Successful social interaction requires that speakers pay attention to both
negative and positive face of their interlocutor; when either is potentially at
risk, the speaker must take steps to minimise the threat by saying something in
a way that offends as little as possible. So we can state that the greater the
imposition and the greater the social distance between participants, the more
‘face-work’ is required [3].speech act that is a potential threat to an
interlocutor’s face is the request [3]. Politeness is connected with mitigating
a direct form of asking for something and expressing an idea “non-directly”
which means one applying a different grammatical form in the sentence, in this
case the form of a question, most often a modal one. If you want somebody to
bring you a definite book you would sooner say “Can you bring me the book?”
rather than “Bring the book”. The two phrases are likely to leave quite a
different impression on one and the same hearer, the former perceived naturally
as a request to bring the book, the latter a command. Phrase #1 serves a good
start for a probably successful minidialogue. Phrase #2 can make a native
speaker doubt the interlocutor’s intentions and make him or her think of the
speaker as a rude person., we can say that speaking politely means saying
sentences of the kind “Could you…?”, “Can you…?” and so on. However, once we
recall such an enormously important speech feature as intonation we could be
struck how significantly it may change our view of politeness. Just pronounce
the same sentence “Can you bring the book for me?” with different intonation
imagining that you are irritated or annoyed by your interlocutor who won’t
bring you the book though he had promised to. If you try this difference when
speaking to people, the effect is sure to be different. Intonation is
surprisingly powerful in making a conversation either a failure or success.
“Will you please sit down” can be pronounced with a lot of variations of voice
tone, timbre, loudness, accentuation and tempo and at the same time the speaker
will have a certain intention which is going to be reflected in these changes
of the intonation of the whole phrase.is first to be perceived by ear, rather
than the verbal component of an utterance. So any utterance or just sentence
has intonation because even if it is not pronounced it is meant to either out
loud or in the inner speech. Intonation is a complex phenomenon consisting of
pitch, or speech melody, intensity, or loudness, tempo, or rate of speech,
sentence stress, or accentuation, and rhythm (though different linguists
distinguish different number and quality of the components). It is not only
melodic characteristics that can make an utterance polite or impolite. For
example, if in reply to my having given her what she had asked for, my friend
will say “Thank you” rather quickly and quickly as well will leave me, I
wouldn’t consider such “Thank you” polite. There are general rules of speaking
politely that must exist in various cultures. They include speaking not very
loudly (using moderate intensity); speaking not very fast; speaking with a
certain melody (e.g. using not very high tone); speaking with not very high
emotion but in a more or less reserved way; not using gruff and rude
gestures.each language has a set of special rules of polite speaking including
rules of usage of vocabulary, grammatical forms and intonation patterns. The
way politeness is expressed in the English language must be very interesting to
know for non-native speakers. There exists a real problem with the word
‘please’ which can be considered a politeness marker though does not
necessarily make an utterance polite. English (as well as Russian) children are
taught that it is the ‘magic’ word to be used when asking for something. How
does this ‘magic word’ relate to politeness? According to Francis Lide,
‘please’ is a word more optional than necessary for polite communication [2].
If we take a modal question with ‘will’ inserting there ‘please’ and say
something like ‘Will you please sit down’ “the most likely situation for this
sentence would be when the speaker is angry at someone who refuses to sit down”
and would be pronounced with emphasis on almost each word [2]. According to
Anne Wichmann, ‘please’ occurs mainly in requests, but not all types of request
require ‘please’ [3]. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary says ‘please’
serves to “add urgency and emotion to a request”. On the other hand, the
addition of ‘please’ can be considered a further way of softening the force of
requests, particularly if they are in the form of imperatives, in which case
the force of command is reduced to that of a request [3]. ‘Please’ typically
occurs in ‘standard situations’ for example in service encounters, where the
right to ask for something and the obligation to give it is inherent in the
event [3]. It also occurs when what is being requested is a minimal imposition
on the hearer (such as passing the salt at table, e.g. Can you pass the sour
cream please). In situations where the imposition is greater or the rights and
obligations of the participants are not self-evident, please does not occur
[3].
Nonverbal
communication in different countries
1 Etiquette
Etiquette is dependent
on culture; what is excellent etiquette in one society may shock another.
Etiquette evolves within culture. The Dutch painter Andries Both shows that the
hunt for head lice (illustration, right), which had been a civilized
grooming occupation in the early Middle Ages, a bonding experience that
reinforced the comparative rank of two people, one groomed, one groomer, had
become a peasant occupation by 1630. The painter portrays the familiar
operation matter-of-factly, without the disdain this subject would have
received in a 19th-century representation.can vary widely between different cultures
and nations. In China, a person who takes the last item of food from a common
plate or bowl without first offering it to others at the table may be seen as a
glutton and insulting the generosity of the host. Traditionally, if guests do
not have leftover food in front of them at the end of a meal it is to the
dishonour of the host. In America a guest is expected to eat all of the food
given to them, as a compliment to the quality of the cooking. However, it is
still considered polite to offer food from a common plate or bowl to others at
the table.such rigid hierarchal cultures as Korea and Japan, alcohol helps to
break down the strict social barrier between classes. It allows for a hint of
informality to creep in. It is traditional for host and guest to take turns
filling each other's cups and encouraging each other to gulp it down. For
someone who does not consume alcohol (except for religious reasons), it can be
difficult escaping the ritual of the social drink.]Etiquette is a
topic that has occupied writers and thinkers in all sophisticated societies for
millennia, beginning with a behavior code by Ptahhotep, a vizier in ancient
Egypt's Old Kingdom during the reign of the Fifth Dynasty king Djedkare Isesi
(ca. 2414-2375 BC). All known literate civilizations, including ancient Greece
and Rome, developed rules for proper social conduct. Confucius included rules
for eating and speaking along with his more philosophical sayings.Early modern
conceptions of what behavior identifies a "gentleman" were codified
in the 16th century, in a book by Baldassare Castiglione, Il Cortegiano
("The Courtier"); its codification of expectations at the Este court
remained in force in its essentials until World War I. Louis XIV established an
elaborate and rigid court ceremony, but distinguished himself from the high
bourgeoisie by continuing to eat, stylishly and fastidiously, with his fingers.
An important book about etiquette is Galateo, overo de' costumi by
Monsignor Giovanni della Casa; in fact, in Italian, etiquette is generally
called galateo (or etichetta or protocollo). As noted
above, across the world, Debrett's is considered by many to be the arbiter of
etiquette; its guides to manners and form have long been and continue to be the
last word among polite society. In the American colonies Benjamin Franklin and
George Washington wrote codes of conduct for young gentlemen. The immense
popularity of advice columns and books by Letitia Baldrige and Miss Manners
shows the currency of this topic. Even more recently, the rise of the Internet
has necessitated the adaptation of existing rules of conduct to create
Netiquette, which governs the drafting of e-mail, rules for participating in an
online forum, and so on. In Germany, there is an "unofficial" code of
conduct, called the Knigge, based on a book of high rules of conduct
written by Adolph Freiherr Knigge in the late 18th century entitled exactly Über den
Umgang mit Menschen (On
Human Relations). The code of conduct is still highly respected in Germany
today and is used primarily in the higher society. Etiquette may be wielded as
a social weapon. The outward adoption of the superficial mannerisms of an
in-group, in the interests of social advancement rather than a concern for
others, is considered by many a form of snobbery, lacking in virtue.
Examples of
etiquette in different cultures
The Japanese are very
formal. Moments of silence are far from awkward. Smiling doesn’t always mean
that the individual is expressing pleasure. Business cards are to be handed out
formally following this procedure: Hand card with writing facing upwards, bow
when giving and receiving the card grasp it with both hands and read it
carefully. Put it in a prominent place. The Japanese feel a “Giri” an
obligation to reciprocate a gesture of kindness. They also rely on an innate
sense of right and wrong.
Some DO's and DONT’ts: •
DO NOT mix sake with any other alcohol. • Do not stash away a business card in
a pocket or in a place where it is likely to be misplaced or damaged. Kenyans believe
that their tribal identity is very important. Kenyans are also very
nationalistic. It is rare that you will find a Kenyan that prefers to be alone,
most of the time they are very friendly and welcoming of guests. Kenyans are
very family oriented.
Cultural use of
space
Culture also tells us
how to organize space in such a way as to control the nature of interaction. In
North American corporate offices, for instance, the boss is usually physically
isolated in a very separate private room. This tends to minimize his or her
personal contact with ordinary workers. In contrast, Japanese offices commonly
are set up with the boss's desk at the end of a row of pushed together desks
used by subordinate employees. This maximizes his interaction with them.North
American Office Typical Japanese Officecourt room similarly alters behavior. In
the United States, the judge usually wears a black robe and sits behind an
elevated desk. The other desks and chairs in court are positioned so that all
attention is focused on the judge. This intentional setting makes those present
feel respectful and subservient to the judge, thereby making it easier for him
or her to control the proceedings.also guides our perception of space by
defining units of it. In the industrial world, space is divided into
standardized segments with sides and position. Acres and city lots with uniform
dimensions are examples of this in the United States. Our property boundaries
are referenced to such segments of space. As the density of population increases,
the importance of defined spatial boundaries grows. Land owners in densely
occupied neighborhoods have been known to get angry enough to kill each other
over disputed fence lines between their properties. In less dense rural areas
of the American West, where people own ranches of hundreds and even thousands
of acres, the movement of a fence three feet one way or another is rarely of
consequence
Culture tells us how to
manipulate time in order to communicate different messages. When people appear
for an appointment varies with the custom, social situation, and their relative
status. In North America, if you have a business meeting scheduled, the time
you should arrive largely depends on the power relationship between you and the
person who you are meeting. People who are lower in status are expected to
arrive on time, if not early. Higher status individuals can expect that others
will wait for them if they are late. For instance, most people who have medical
appointments are expected to arrive early and to wait patiently for their
doctor to see them rather than the other way around. An invitation to a party
is an entirely different matter. It is often expected that most guests will
arrive "fashionably late." It generally takes a North American child
at least 12 years to master these subtle cultural aspects of time. By 5-6 years
old, they usually only know the days of the week, the difference between day
and night, morning and afternoon, meal and nap time. By 7-8 years old, most can
consistently use the clock to tell time. However, it is not until about 12
years or older that they begin to know the situational aspects of time, such as
when to arrive at a party.people come together with very different cultural
expectations about time, there is a potential for misunderstanding,
frustration, and hurt feelings. This could occur, for instance, if a Brazilian
businessman does not arrive "on time" for a meeting with a potential
North American customer in New York and fails to give an apology when he
arrives. For the Brazilian, time may be relatively "elastic" and the
pace-of-life a bit slower. He believes that he was sufficiently prompt for the
scheduled business meeting, having arrived within a half hour of the
appointment. It is not surprising that he is astonished and offended when he is
treated coldly by the North American who also feels slighted by what he
perceives as rudeness. Compounding the situation is likely to be differences in
their comfortable physical interaction distances. This dismal scenario can be
avoided, of course, by foreknowledge about the other culture and a willingness
to adopt a cultural relativity approach. The old saying "when in Rome do
as the Romans do" is still good advice.
Conclusion
communication
process norm
Communication
in itself is a complicated process, but when you introduce different cultures
into the mix, the amount of ‘disturbing’ factors gets so large that it’s a near
miracle that we usually more or less understand each other!cultural barriers to
effective communication are:
Language:
Often, two parties do
not have a language in common, or not enough knowledge of a language to
effectively communicate. Especially if one party speaks his/her native tongue
and the other party has a limited or reasonable command of that language,
miscommunication can easily occur, especially by use of ambiguous or difficult
terms, use of expressions or slang. Often, parties have a third language in
common; in business this is often English. Using a third language with both parties
not knowing much of the cultural context of their conversation partner,
misunderstandings are very common.
Cultural
norms:Attitudes, etiquette and
the divisions within a cultural background can prevent effective communication.
Culture-specific restrictions on the communication between genders or between
age groups may affect effective communication. Unintended breaches of etiquette
and behavioral norms can inadvertently send a wrong signal.
History
between groups:Negative aspects of
a shared history between two cultures can effective communication. Competition
for resources, political disputes and the effects of past conflicts can create
such strong opinions and prejudices that effective communication is not
possible.
List of literature
.RACIAL AND ENTHNIC GROUPS Richard T. Schaefer ( New Jersey 2008)
.website sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_culture#Sociology_of_culture
.http://globalizen.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/barriers-to-effective-intercultural-communication/
. http://www.lanqua.eu/theme/intercultural-communication