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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Lesson 1+ 2:
A brief Introduction to Intercultural Communication:
Some basic concepts
1. Communication:
2. Characteristics:
- Dynamic:
+ is an ongoing activity
+ involves a host of variables
+ receiver + sender = part of the process
- Symbolic:
+ no direct mind-to-mind contact between people, then only
infer what others are experiencing by what being seen and
heard
+ sounds, marks on paper, movements, etc. that you employ in
your attempt to share your reality with other people
+ a symbol is an expression that stands for or represents sth
else
- Contextual:
+ cultural context
+ environment context
+ occasion
+ times
+ number of people
“Context provides a prescription that indicates what behavior is
obligated, preferred, or prohibited”
- High context – Low context continuum
- Components of communication
- Functions of communication:

+ gather information about others
+ fulfill interpersonal needs
+ establish personal identities
+ influences others
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(2) Culture
The iceberg model of culture:
+ dress, art. holidays, language, architecture, literature, laws,
food, etiquette, hereos (outside)
+ values, traditions, beliefs, philosophy, ethics, customs,
morals, meaning of life (inside)
Component of culture
Culture tree: religion, history, value, social structure, language
 Communication is culture & culture is communication
“Cultures vary their ways of thinking…”
Functions of culture
“ Cultural exists as a vital, practical requirement of human lifeto structure a society so as to perpetuate the species, to pass
on the hand-learned knowledge and experiences of generations
past and centuries past to the young and inexperienced in
order to space the next generation the costly and dangerous
process of learning everything all over again from scratch
through trail & error including fatal errors”
In, humans, it is culture that sets the limits on behavior and
guide it along predictable paths
Characteristics of culture
- culture is learned in a variety of ways and from a host of
different sources
- culture is integrated- “you touch a culture in one place and
everything else is affected”

- corporate culture … “collective behavior of people in
organization where they share the same cooperative visons,
goals, values, customs and work procedure, a common working
languages and symbols”
Stereotype
Intercultural communication:
+ “… intercultural communication involves interaction between
people whose cultural perceptions and symbol system differ
enough to influence the communication event”
+ “The people of different civilizations have different views on
the relations between god and man, the individual and the
group, the citizen and the state, parents and children, husband
and wife, as well as differing views of the relative importance of
rights and responsibilities, liberty and authority, equality and
hierarchy”
Cultural similarities:
- cultural universals: patterns or traits that are globally common
to all societies  cultural commonality
eg: family unit, basic human survivals: food, clothing, housing
& human experiences (birth, death, illness, healing), music
(music as cultural universal)
Assuming similarities with one’s own culture
- tendency to assume similarities between the foreign culture &
one’s own culture  cultural conflict
(giving handkerchief as present)
Cultural differences
- Cultural differences are far more prevalent than cultural
universals
eg: greeting, ‘personal space’ in communication, cuisine

(breakfast)
- Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism


Ethnocentrism: a belief or attitude that one’s own culture is
better than all others, and should therefore serve as the
standard frame of reference
 either sense of community pride or culture shock
- Cultural relativism: the practice of assessing a culture by its
own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one’s
own culture
- Xenocentrism: the belief that another culture is superior to
one’s own
Cultural stereotyping
a group of beliefs and attitudes towards people from different
culture = pre-established expectations about how they are
likely to behave & what they believe in
Cultural shock
Cultural shock is a mental state caused by the transition that
occurs when you go from a familiar cultural environment to an
unfamiliar one and discover that your normative, established
patterns of behavior are ineffective
“That song is the best esteemed with which our ears are most
acquainted”
Cultural= a contribution to a feeling of familiarity
 vary widely among individuals and can appear at different
times: anxiety, depression, loneliness/ being homesick/
disturbed sleep patterns/ poor time management…)
* Phrases of cultural shock
1. Honeymoon: filled with excitement, hopefulness as being

exposed to a different culture
2. Uncertainty & doubt: recognize the reality of the new setting
(difficulties of language, poor housing, crowded
transportation…)
3. Adaptation: gain some cultural insight & make some
adjustments and modifications


4. Acceptance: understand key elements of new culture (special
customs, behaviors, communication patterns…) and feel
comfortable in the surroundings
Cross-cultural conflict  (cultural differences  stereotypes)
A cultural conflict is a dislike, hostility or struggle between
communities who have different philosophies and ways of living
resulting in contradictory aspirations and behaviors
What should be done to overcome cultural shock & cultural
conflict?
- show respect for other cultures
- search for commonalities among cultures
- respect cultural differences
- learn the language of the host culture