Intercultural communication summary
Chapter 1 – Challenges of living in a global society
Definition
Intercultural communication is the verbal and nonverbal interaction between people from different
cultural backgrounds.
Marginality
Robert Park used the term marginal man in his theory to describe an individual who lives in two
different worlds, and is a stranger in both, a cultural hybrid (e.g. child of European immigrant in US)
Small world experiment
- Six-degree separation (network theory)
- How many steps/links (via other people)
does it take to connect two random people
in the world
- Asked various participants in the US to
send a letter to a person in Boston
- On average it took 5 to 6 steps to get to the
end point, so people were separated by 6
connections (six-degree separation)
Facebook repeated the experiment in 2012 and the results are ´´if you pick any two Facebook users
it’s been calculated there´s an average of 3.57 degrees of separation between them (3 to 4-degree
separation).
This shows that the world is getting smaller and smaller.
The world as a village
The ´´global village´´ (McLuhan, 1962)
- Marshall McLuhan coined the term ´´global village´´ to describe a future world in which
communication technology brings news and information to the most remote parts of the
world
,We have access to information around the world (mass media) and connect to people worldwide
24/7.
Globalization is …
The 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.
In business there is an increased trade around the world, especially by large companies producing or
trading goods in many different countries (manufacturing etc.).
There is the idea that there will be a single economy and culture (complete globalization) which
many people are against at.
Do we live in a unified world?
KOF Index of globalization measures how unified the
world is depending on
o Economic globalization (trade flows,
import /export)
o Social globalization (personal contacts,
number of McDonalds restaurant…)
o political globalization
Globalization = diversity?
Is globalization leading to a more diverse or a more uniformed world?
It brings certain advantages (clothes, products, economy) but many also are afraid that we lose our
cultural identity.
There are three main perspectives on globalization:
1. Globalists: inevitable development, cannot be resisted or significantly influenced by human
invention
2. Traditionalists: most economic and social activity is regional, rather than global, significant
role of nation-states, want things to stay as they are
3. Transformationalists: significant shift, globalisation is seen as a given, but there is still
significant scope for national and local agencies
Contributors to cultural diversity
What has led to cultural diversity?
1. Advanced technology and transportation (increased mobility)
- Easier to travel and interact
- Smaller, yet more diverse world
2. Global economy and business transactions
- Global transformation: local markets become as diverse as global markets
, - International expansion: MNCs operating globally and outsourcing to low-wage countries
- Diverse workforce: migrant workers, expats
- BREXIT, TTIP, EU, NATO
3. Mass (im)migration and international exchange
- Immigration flow, from developing to developed countries
- Migrant workers who move to a host country temporaily (UAE)
- Student exchanges
→With that, understanding other cultures is a challenge we face on an everyday basis.
Necessity and benefits of intercultural communication
1.Multiculturalism definitions:
- The composition of a society made up of diverse
cultures (descriptive level)
- A society´s tolerance to diversity and acceptance
of equal societal participation of diverse groups
(multiculturalism as an attitude)
2.Building intercultural understanding
- Become aware of cultural rules
3. promoting international business exchange
- communicating with unfamiliar cultures does not simply
mean finding a translator, employees must be able to understand the cultural differences
- collaboration with other companies
4. Facilitating cross-cultural adaptation
- the tension between immigrants and host nationals often centres on the use of cultural
maintenance (melting pot or salad bowl?)
- for some host nationals multiculturalism can be interpreted as a threat to their cultural dominance
Chapter 2 - Understanding Communication
,,Communication is sharing who we are and what we know.’’
Advances in information technology have brought tremendous changes to communication media and
to the role of communicators.
Defining communication
Communication has a multifaceted nature, which makes it difficult to find a concrete definition. One
definition is to see communication as the process by which people use shared verbal or nonverbal
codes, systems, and media to exchange information in a particular cultural context.
Effective communication
The closer the interpreted meaning (receiver) is to the intended meaning (source), the more effective
the communication.
Otherwise you have miscommunication.
Components of communication
