Lesson 1: Intercultural Communication
Culture
A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. Culture is symbolic communication.
Communicators as Cultural Beings
Each person is a cultural being. The values, traditions, and social and political views shared by a group of people are also part of an individual’s culture. Cultural Identity is learned.
Intercultural communication happens when individuals interact, negotiate, and create meanings while bringing in their varied cultural backgrounds (Ting-Toomey, 1999).
For some scholars, intercultural communication pertains to communication among people from different nationalities (Gudykunst, 2003). Still, others look at intercultural communication as a communication that is influenced by different ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations.
DEFINITION AND NATURE OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Both interpretations show that intercultural communication takes place when people draw from their cultural identity to understand values, prejudices, language, attitudes, and relationships (Gudykunst & Kim, 2003).
Moreover, this facet of communication can also be seen as a bargained understanding of human experiences across diverse societies. Simply put, intercultural communication is the sending and receiving of messages across languages and cultures.
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Intercultural Communication is the sending and receiving of messages across languages and cultures (Arent, 2009).
•Intercultural communication refers to the communication between people from two different cultures. Intercultural communication is a symbolic, interpretive, transactional, contextual process in which people from different cultures create shared meanings.
The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) offers a structure that explores how people experience cultural differences. According to Bennett and Bennett (2004), it has six stages. These are the following:
Stage 1: Denial. The individual does not recognize cultural differences.
•An individual in the denial stage might be heard saying:
“All cities are the same; they all have tall buildings, fast food chains, and coffee shops.”
Stage 2: Defense. The individual starts to recognize cultural differences and is intimidated by them, resulting in either a superior view on own culture or an unjustified high regard for the new one.
•An individual in the defense stage might be heard saying:
“This culture does not view life the way we do; our culture is certainly better.”
“Their ways are better than my own; I wish I were one of them.”
Stage 3: Minimization. Although individuals see cultural differences, they bank more on the universality of ideas rather than on cultural differences.
•An individual in the minimization stage might be heard saying:
“Once we see through the cultural differences, we really are just the same!”
Stage 4: Acceptance. The individual begins to appreciate important cultural differences in behaviors and eventually in values.
•An individual in the acceptance stage might be heard saying:
“These people and I have different values and experiences, and I think we can learn from one another.”
Stage 5: Adaptation. The individual is very open to world views when accepting new perspectives.
•An individual in the adaptation stage might be heard saying:
“To address our issue, I have to adjust my approach to consider both my own and my counterpart’s background.”
Stage 6: Integration. Individuals start to go beyond their own cultures and see themselves and their actions based on multifarious cultural viewpoints.
•An individual in the integration stage might be heard saying:
“I can look at things from the perspective of various cultures.”
Intercultural Competence
It enables a communicator to understand and interact with other cultures by applying attitudes and values, and understanding interaction skills (Huber & Reynolds, 2014).
It entails acceptance of and respect for one’s cultural identity and open-mindedness and sensitivity to others.
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
(Brent Ruben, 1976)
Display of Respect
Orientation of Knowledge
Empathy
Interaction Management
Task Role Behavior
Relational Role Behavior
Tolerance of Ambiguity
Emotional Expression and Interaction Posture
Barriers to Intercultural Communication
Lehman and Dufrene (2012) identify the following barriers which lead to communication breakdown when people with different cultural backgrounds interact.
Ethnocentrism
Stereotypes
Interpretation of Time
Personal Space Requirements
Body Language
Translation Limitations
Characteristics of Competent Intercultural Communicators
CHARACTERISTICS:
World Bank (2010) identifies the following traits that define a competent intercultural communicator.
flexibility and the ability to tolerate high levels of uncertainty
reflectiveness or mindfulness
open-mindedness
sensitivity
adaptability
ability to engage in divergent thinking (or thinking creatively) and systems-level thinking (or thinking how each one in a system or organization influences each other)
politeness
Note that in addition to culture, other elements such as gender, age, social status, and religion must also be taken into consideration when communicating with others. Refrain from showing bias when talking to someone by following the tips below.
Avoid stereotypes, i.e., generalizations about a certain group. Challenge gender norms; avoid using “he” and “man” to refer to a general group of people. To remedy this, you may use plural pronouns or rewrite a sentence to avoid using pronouns. The use of his/her is also acceptable.
Do not talk down on younger people and the elderly.
Be sensitive to the religious practices of others.
Be polite at all times; do not belittle people you perceive to be on a lower social class than you.
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Lesson 2: Types of Speech Contexts
Speech Context
Situation or environment & the circumstances in which communication occur
Intrapersonal - where there is only one speaker & reciever which is the person him/herself. Talking to yourself
Interpersonal - communication with other people. The 2 types of interpersonal communication are: Dyad & Small group
Dyad - involves 2 people
Small group - 3 or more people limited to 12
Public Communication - delivering a speech or message to many people
Mass Communication - BIGGER than public communication; refers to connecting with the masses (majority of people) via Tv, radio, books, billboards, etc
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Lesson 3: Types of Speech Styles
According to Martin Joos (1976), speech style refers to the form of language that the speaker uses which characterized by the degree of formality from the most formal to the least formal style.
Speech Style is usually influenced by the:
The intended effect
The relationship with the participants
The purpose of the communication
Frozen (Oratorical Style)
Most formal style of communication
A communication that does not need any feedback
Never changes & the standard of correctness is high
Other examples included
•Marriage vow
•Biblical passages
•Judicial sentencing
•Allegiance to the country of Flag
•Prayer (The Lord’s Prayer)
•National and international laws
Formal Style (Deliberative Style)
main objective is to inform & captivate the audiences
Does not require feedback for it is a one-way interaction & doesn’t allow interuption
Examples are:
•Sermon
•Graduation speeches
Formal questions
•Pronouncement made by judges
•Announcement in school
Consultative Style/Semi-formal
Conversation is interactive, the speaker needs a feedback from the receiver
FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT
EXAMPLES:
Communication between
•Teachers and students
•Employers and employees
•Doctor and patient
•The President and his/her constituents
Casual Style
uses Jargon or slang
Modt informal style
Used for close friends, family in a relax & normal way
Examples:
•Internet chatrooms
•Tweets
•Personal emails
•Blogs
Intimate Style
private conversations & should never be shared to public
Used by close family or spouses
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Lesson 4 : Types of Speech Acts
Speech Act By J. L. Austin (1962)
is an utterance that a speaker makes to achieve an intended effect. Some of the functions which are carried out using speech acts are offering an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal.
Locutionary Act
refers to the utterance of words or performing an act of saying something
“Duh”, “What”, “Sorry”
illocutionary Act
refers to performing an act in saying something. the illocutionary act communicates the speaker's intentions behind the locution; it is what a speaker does in saying an utterance.
the intention is the purpose of the speaker in saying such an utterance
Perlocutionary Act
refers to performing an act by saying something. This act reveals the effect that the speaker exercises over the hearer; it is the response of a person to a speech act
response to the intention
Classifications of Speech Act By John Searle (1976)
Assertive
Directive
Commissive
Expressive
Declaration
1. ASSERTIVE
A type of illocutionary act in which the speaker expresses belief about the truth of a proposition.
Examples: suggesting, putting forward, swearing, boasting, and concluding
No one makes better pancakes than I do.
Claiming something to be true
2. DIRECTIVE
A type of illocutionary act in which the speaker tries to make the addressee perform an action.
Examples: asking, ordering, requesting, inviting, advising, and begging
Please close the door. Classifications of Speech Act By John Searle (1976)
3. COMMISSIVE
A type of illocutionary act in which commits the speaker to doing something in the future.
Examples: promising, planning, vowing, and betting.
From now on, I will participate in our group activity. Classifications of Speech Act By John Searle (1976)
4. EXPRESSIVE
A type of illocutionary act in which the speaker expresses his/her feelings or emotional reactions.
Examples: thanking, apologizing, welcoming, and deploring.
I am sorry for not helping out in our group projects and letting you do all the work. "
5. DECLARATION
A type of illocutionary act which brings a change in the external situation.
Examples: blessing, firing, baptizing, passing a sentence, and excommunicating.
You are fired!
Performatives act
Declaring but with a huge change cause by the right person
Tommorow we will have a school fair - principal
Types of Speech Act
Locutionary - What we say (literal na pagbigkas) do the dishes
llocutionary - What we mean when we say it , requesting
Perlocutionary - What we accomplish by saying it, will wash the dishes
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Lesson 5 : Types of Communicative Strategy
Communicative Competence
can be defined as a learner's ability to use a target language (the language a speaker aims to learn) correctly and aptly in terms of grammar and given a situational context while being able to deal with potential lapses (Yule, 2010).
THREE COMPONENTS:
GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE
SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCE
STRATEGIC COMPETENCE
Communicative Strategy:
It is the means or ways to overcome various problems in communication which may arise from linguistic lapses or lack of understanding (Mariani, 2010).
plans/ways/means of sharing information which are adopted to achieve a particular purpose.
Nomination
Restriction
Turn-taking
Topic control
Topic shifting
Repair
Termination
Nomination
A speaker carries out nomination to collaboratively and productively establish a topic.
Presenting a topic clearly, truthfully, and saying only what is relevant.
Through this way, communicators know the right time to contribute to the conversation.
When beginning a topic in a conversation, especially if it does not arise from a previous topic, you may start off with news inquiries and news announcements as they promise extended talk.
Restriction
restriction in communication refers to any limitation you may have as a speaker.
When communicating in the classroom, in a meeting, or while hanging out with your friends, you are typically given specific instructions that you must follow.
These instructions confine you as a speaker and limit what you can say. it constraints or restricts the response of the other person involved in the communication situation.
The listener is forced to respond only within a set of categories that isimade by the speaker. remember to always be on point and avoid sideswiping from the topic during the conversation to avoid communication breakdown.
Ex: They say that the Philippine economy is getting better. Do you agree?
Ex: The purpose of the meeting is talk about the project proposal.
Turn-taking
It requires that each speaker speaks only when it is his/her turn during an interaction
Others should be given the opportunity to taek a turn to speak.
Knowing when to take your turn depends on the context.
Remember to keep your words relevant and reasonably short enough to express your views or feelings.
Try to be polite even if you are trying to take the floor from another speaker.
To acknowledge others, you may employ visual signals like a nod, a look, or a step back, and you could accompany these signals with spoken cues such as "What do you think?" or “you wanted to speak?”
Ex. Let the other's talk
Ex: Do you want to say something or you want to add more?
Topic-control
This is simply a question-answer formula that moves the discussion forward.
This also allows the listener or the other participants to take turns, contribute ideas and continue the discussion It happens when the subject of the conversation is restricted by one of the communicators Topic control covers how procedural formality or informality affects the development of topic in conversations. Remember that regardless of the formality of the context, topic control is achieved cooperatively.
This only means that when a topic is initiated, it should be collectively developed by avoiding unnecessary interruptions and topic shifts. You can make yourself actively involved in the conversation without overly dominating it by using minimal responses like "Yes," "Okay," "Go on"; asking tag questions to clarify information briefly like "You are excited, aren't you?", "It was unexpected, wasn't it?"; and even by laughing!
Ex. Maybe we should reserve the topic for another time.
Ex. I'd like to remind the reporters to keep the discussion
Topic Shifting
This strategy is useful in introducing new topic.
The new topic may or may not be related to the previous subject.
Topic shifting, as the name suggests, involves moving from one topic to another. In other words, it is where one part of a conversation ends and where another begins.
When shifting from one topic to another, you have to be very intuitive. Make sure that the previous topic was nurtured enough to generate adequate views. You may also use effective conversational transitions to indicate a shift like "By the way," "In addition to what you said," "Which reminds me of," and the like.
Ex. Can we discuss Math instead? I need help in it.
Ex. Maybe we can continue that discussion for some other time. In the meantime, let's talk about the weather.
Repair
refers to how speakers address the problems in speaking, listening, and comprehending that they may encounter in a conversation
Repair is the self-righting mechanism in any social interaction (Schegloff et al, 1977).
If there is a problem in understanding the conversation, speakers will always try to address and correct it. Although this is the case, always seek to initiate the repair.
When miscommunication occurs, one can apply the Repair Strategy. It includes:
Requesting clarification
not acknowledging the idea
topic shifting
not responding
repeating
rephrasing adding
Ex. I'm sorry. I take back what I said. What I mean to say is that I like your smile.
Ex. That came out wrong. Let me rephrase that.
Termination
refers to the conversation participants' close-initiating expressions that end a topic in a conversation.
Most of the time, the topic initiator takes responsibility to signal the end of the discussion as well.
Although not all topics may have clear ends, try to signal the end of the topic through concluding cues. You can do this, by sharing what you learned from Aside from this, soliciting the conversation. agreement from the other participants usually completes the discussion of the topic meaningfully.
Use effective verbal and non-verbal cues to end the conversation
Ex. I 'm sorry. I'm not comfortable talking about this.
Ex. Excuse me, but I really need to get going. Let's talk again soon.
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