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Summary Intercultural Communication

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Summary of 'Introducing Intercultural Communication, 2nd Edition' by Shuang Liu, Zala Volcic, and Cindy Gallois. Includes information from the lectures; CH 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13; article by Hendriks et al. (2005); article by Berry (2005); and article Van der Zee et al. (2013)

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  • C1, c2, c3, c4, c5, c6, c7, c8, c9, c10, c13, articles by hendriks et al. (2005), berry (2005), and
  • March 20, 2018
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  • 2017/2018
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Intercultural communication

Chapter 1 | Introduction

Small world experiment (Milgram, 1967)
- Six degrees of separation (network theory)
o How many steps (via other people) does it take to connect two random people in the
world?
o Participants in various cities in the US were asked to send a letter to a person in Boston
 Only via people that they knew personally
 Result: on average 5/5 steps (people) to get from starting point to end point
Small world experiment 2.0 (2012)
- Facebook calculated the distance between two random FB users
 if you pick any 2 FB users, it’s been calculated there’s an average of 3.57 ‘degrees of
separation’ between them
 The world is getting smaller and smaller

The world as a village:
The global village (McLuhan, 1962)
- To describe a future world in which communication technology brings news and information to
the most remote parts of the world.
Situation today:
o Information is ubiquitous (=everywhere) – Mass media
o Communication is 24/7
o Communication is potentially global
 Interconnectedness and erosion of geographic borders make ‘village’ more global, but our world
more smaller

Why is it important to gain knowledge about intercultural communication?
- Every person can communicate with people around the globe
o But we are not all the same!
- Video: Influence of own cultural perspective
o Language
o Manners (formal/informal)
o Orientation towards time

Globalization
= ‘Process of interconnectedness between societies, so that events in one place of the world have
more and deeper effects on people and societies far away.’
= ‘The widening, deepening, and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of
contemporary social life. This interconnectivity breaks down the boundary between East and West.’
Globalization in business
= ‘Increase of trade around the world, especially by large companies producing and trading goods in
many different countries.’

,= ‘The idea that the world is developing a single economy and culture as a result of improved
technology and communications and the influence of very large multinational companies.’

Globalization is a process by which geographic borders as boundaries between nations and states are
eroding.

Measurement of globalization:
- KOF Index of globalization
o Economic: trade & investment flows, import/export
o Social: personal contact, information flows, number of McDonalds restaurants, IKEA
stores, etc.
o Political: foreign embassies in a country, membership of international organizations, etc.

Views/perspectives of globalization:
1. Globalists: inevitable development, can’t be resisted or significantly influenced by human
intervention.
2. Traditionalists: most economic and social activity is regional, rather than global, significant
role of nation-states.
3. Transformationalists: significant shift, but there is still significant scope for national, local and
other agencies.

Conflict between globalists and sceptics:
Globalists: emphasize possibility of transnational media systems and communication technology to
create a global public sphere.
Sceptics: stress persistent national features of the news media, and the continuing stability of the
nation-state paradigm.

Contributors to cultural diversity:
1. Advanced technology and transportation, and increased mobility:
o Easier to travel (increasing mobility and technology)  changes nature of society: makes
global village smaller, but more diverse
o Easier to interact (physically and e.g. through internet)
o Smaller, yet more diverse world
o Affect how we form relationships with others. Typically, social relationships were
circumscribed by how far one could walk  social relationships transformed and expanded
challenge: understanding other cultures
 However: strange increase in wall-building, in order to separate people. While changes in
technology have facilitated exchange of ideas, they also magnified possibility for
misunderstandings
2. Global economy and business transactions
o Global transformation= ‘worldwide economic and technological changes that influence
how people relate to one another’. Local market as diverse as global market (e.g.
everybody in the world can buy an iPhone)
o Cultural diversity shapes market demand and economic behaviours
o International expansion: MNC’s operating globally, outsourcing to low-wage countries

, o Diverse workforce/cross-cultural teams: migrant workers, expats allows organizations to
make use of scarce resources and thus increase their competitive advantage
 Challenge: understanding cultural tensions in intercultural communication (e.g. BREXIT,
EU, NATO)
3. Mass migration and international exchange
o Immigration flow: from developing to developed countries
o Migrant workers who move to a host country temporarily
o Student exchanges
o Expats
- Increases cultural diversity for receiving countries, and contributes to social and economic
development in both countries
 Challenge: how to promote intercultural understanding so as to reap the benefits of
cultural diversity and reduce intercultural tensions.

Ethnicity
(Smith, 2007):
- Myths and memories as part of a culture
- Every ethnic group mythologized version of its past:
o Heroic events (victories/glories, sacrifices/traumas)
o Heroes (actual historical figures and/or mythologized characters)
 often evoked during different occasions and ceremonies to
 inspire its members
 Build social cohesion
 Particularize their common identity
 enhance sense of belonging and togetherness

Multi-ethnic environments provide not only constraints, but also opportunities. Ethnicity is important
for organizations at external (contextual) and internal (operational) levels.

Necessity and benefits of intercultural communication:
1. Multiculturalism (& diversity) = the composition of a society made up of diverse cultures
(descriptive level)
o ‘A society’s tolerance to diversity and acceptance of equal societal participation of diverse
groups’  attitude
 Necessary to study intercultural communication. Maintenance of nationalism and continuity of
the mainstream culture have been key issues of concern in all countries that receive migrants. 
migrants have long been forming associations to maintain their ethnic and cultural heritage and
promote survival of their languages within a host country’s mainstream institutions.
2. Building intercultural understanding: become aware of cultural rules by being confronted
with cultural rules (and laws) of others that are different. (e.g. imprisonment for insulting the
king)
- Understanding is the first step towards acceptance



3. Promoting international business exchange

, o Communicating with unfamiliar cultures does not simply mean finding a translator
o Understanding cultures and cultural differences is the key to successful business
exchange (e.g. Chinese believe non-economic factors, such as trust, may play bigger role
in influencing decision making)
4. Facilitating cross-cultural adaption
o Tension between immigrants and host nationals often centres on the extent to which
immigrants can maintain their heritage culture in host country – melting pot or salad
bowl?

Ethnocentrism = seeing own culture as the central and best one, and seeing other cultures as
insignificant or even inferior  lead to prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination
 foster ingroup survival, solidarity, conformity, loyalty, and cooperation
Cultural relativism = degree to which an individual judges another culture by its context. Try to
evaluate behaviours of a culture using that culture’s assumptions about reality.
 To understand another culture, we need to communicate and broaden our understanding of its
practices and beliefs  enhancing our cultural relativism

Intercultural knowledge
- Widens our vision to include an alternative perspective of valuing and relating
- By understanding beliefs, values, and worldviews, we can understand logic that motivates
actions/behaviours of others
- Cultural differences don’t prevent from communicating with each other, they enrich us through
communication.
- Culturally sensitive communication can increase relational closeness and deepen cultural self-
awareness
- Reduces anxiety and uncertainty  communication process smoother and more successful

Competencies essential in global workplace:
1. Intercultural communication skills
2. Problem-solving ability
3. Global leadership
e.g. Malay employees emphasize values of family togetherness, harmony in relationships, and respect
for seniority vs. North American employees value individuality and personal achievement.

Chapter 2 | Understanding communication
Communication = ‘the process by which people use shared verbal or nonverbal codes, systems, and
media to exchange information in a particular cultural context.’  ability to share ideas and feelings
- Source/sender: someone who sends a message encoded in signs or symbols
- Receiver: who interprets the message by decoding the signs or symbols
 Requires that all parties understand a common ‘language’ or code
 Don’t need 2 persons for communication during:
- Intrapersonal communication / interpersonal dialogue.

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