Cross Cultural Com Munication 2-3-310728

CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Challenges, Advantages, and Opportunities of Intercultural Communication

Posted on December 5, 2012
Every culture has its own unique way of greeting, holding a conversation, and their own
opinion of an insult or compliment. As someone in the business field or just in general, we
must learn to adapt to these cultural differences. You may ask, why we should adapt to
their cultural greetings, and why can’t they adapt to ours, especially if they come here to
Canada from their own country? Well the question is mutual between both parties, and it’s
most likely they’ve learned our ways of communication as well. Some challenges of
intercultural communication consist of having to coexist peacefully with these clients or
business partners and to beware of what they say, or do, so no one gets insulted.
Cultural influences everything from language, nonverbal signals, word meaning, time and
space issues, and rules of human relationships. The challenge that comes from this is the
fact you must have patience, and the ability to take precautions for each of these
differences.
Intercultural communication isn’t always a challenge, and it probably wasn’t a good idea
to bring the challenges up before the advantages and opportunities, so whoever is
reading this may think that intercultural communication is difficult. In a matter of fact,
intercultural communication has its positive benefits too. You will have the chance to
meet with people from all over and get a good understanding of what goes on in their
cultural. Who knows, you may even have the opportunity to go to that country someday!
Knowing the different types of intercultural communications, you will also build a
knowledge of diverse markets, a broader range of views and ideas. Using the challenges
and advantages of intercultural communications, many opportunities can be created. New
technology allows you to communicate straight from your computer to connect with
people all over the world, discussing new ideas and work on projects.
High-Context Culture
Anthropologist Edward T. Hall first discussed high-context culture in his 1976 book
titled Beyond Culture. High-context cultures are those in which the rules of communication
are primarily transmitted through the use of contextual elements (i.e., body language, a
person's status, and tone of voice) and are not explicitly stated. It is important to note that
no culture is completely high-context or low-context, since all societies contain at least
some parts that are both high and low. For example, while the United States is a low-
context culture, family gatherings (which are common in American culture) tend to be high-
context.
Members of high-context cultures usually have close relationships that last for an extended
period of time. As a result of these years of interacting with one another, the members
know what the rules are, how to think, and how to behave, so the rules do not have to be
explicitly stated. This makes high-context cultures difficult to navigate for those who do not
understand the culture's unwritten rules.
Characteristics of High-Context Cultures
Some common characteristics of high-context cultures include:
 Primarily use non-verbal methods to convey meaningful information in

conversations, such as facial expressions, eye movement, and tone of voice.
 The situation, people, and non-verbal elements are more important than the actual
words that are communicated.
 People are comfortable standing close to each other.
 The preferred way of solving problems and learning in groups.
 Members of the culture place emphasis on interpersonal relationships.
 Trust must be developed before business transactions can begin.
High-context cultures include: Japan and other countries located in Asia, South America
Individualism in Low-Context Cultures

Low-context cultures are individualistic. This means that individual achievements are
valued higher than group accomplishments. Members of low-context cultures are
independent of one another and are expected to look out for themselves, with the
exception of family. Privacy and having personal space is also valued.
Characteristics of Low-Context Cultures(Europe/Canada)
 Emphasis on logic and facts

 Facts are more important than intuition in the decision-making process
 Words are more important than body language
 Verbal messages are explicit, direct, and concise
 Tasks or goals are more important than relationships
 Most knowledge is explicit, visible, and can be easily conveyed to others
 Decisions and actions focus on the goal and dividing responsibilities
CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION (work in pairs) : Answer the questions below.
1. What are some aspects of cross culture?

2. What are language barriers?
3. What are the opportunities and innovative strategies in a work force?
4. What are some challenges and opportunities of intercultural negotiation?
5. How can we understand certain kind of religious beliefs that shapes behavior?

Cross Cultural Com Munication 2-3-310728

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cross Cultural Com Munication 2-3-310728

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cross Cultural Com Munication 2-3-310728

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Challenges, Advantages, and Opportunities of Intercultural Communication

 Primarily use non-verbal methods to convey meaningful information in

Individualism in Low-Context Cultures

Characteristics of Low-Context Cultures(Europe/Canada)

 Emphasis on logic and facts

CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION (work in pairs) : Answer the questions below.

1. What are some aspects of cross culture?

You might also like