Module 3: COMMUNICATING IN A MULTICULTURAL

SOCIETY AND WORLD

• Multicultural - relating to or constituting several cultural or ethnic
groups within a society (Oxford Dictionary)
• Multicultural society - a society, where people with different
nationalities, languages, religions and ethnicities live together.
• Multiculturalism - the view that cultures, races, and ethnicities,
particularly those of minority groups, deserve special
acknowledgement of their differences within a dominant political
culture. It seeks the inclusion of the views and contributions of
diverse members of society while maintaining respect for their
differences and withholding the demand for their assimilation into
the dominant culture.
• Diversity- the recognition and valuing of the difference,
encompassing such factors as age, gender, race, ethnicity, ability,
religion, education, marital status, sexual orientation and income.
 Cross Cultural Communication

❖ the communication between people who have

differences in any one of the following: styles of
working, age, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender,
sexual orientation, etc.

❖ it is how people belonging to different cultures

communicate with each other.
 Cross Cultural Communication

❖ refers to the attempts that are made to

exchange, negotiate and mediate cultural
differences by means of language, gestures and
body language.

❖ creates a feeling of trust and enables

cooperation.
 Importance of
Cross Cultural Communication
❖ Globalization
❖ Business opportunities
❖ Job opportunities
❖ Sharing of views and ideas
❖ Talent improvisation
❖ Better understanding of diverse market
Local Communication
is being able
to communicate (verbal and
non-verbally) with the
members of
your local area/community.
Local Community
a group of interacting people sharing an
environment. In human communities, intent, belief,
resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number
of other conditions may be present and common,
affecting the identity of the participants and their
degree of cohesiveness.
Global Communication
❖ communicating with
people across the globe;
❖ exchanging of knowledge,
ideas, and information
and interaction of
individual across the
borders instead of a
limited or local area.
Global Communication
is the development
and sharing of
information, through
verbal and non-verbal
messages, in
international settings
and contexts.
Global Communication
Examples

1. Government-to-government
Communication between two or more governments related to different countries.
Maybe a discussion about current affairs and conflicts.

2. Business-to-business
Involves interaction between two or more international business parties. Maybe any
deal contract.

3. People-to-people
Refers to communication between two or more people living far away across the
borders. Like talk of two best friends. One in USA and other in the UK.
 Difference of Local and Global Communication
LEVEL
ASPECT
LOCAL GLOBAL
o Equality between participants o No equality between participants
Degree of
o Similar types and amounts of goods o Dissimilar types and amounts of goods and
Equality and services are exchanged services are exchanged

o High emotional involvement o No emotional involvement

o Confidences exchanged are high o Confidence exchanged are low

o All participants initiate o Participants with more influence initiate

communication communication
o Information and knowledge flows • Information and knowledge flows one way
both ways
 Difference of Local and Global Communication
LEVEL
ASPECT
LOCAL GLOBAL
o The context is simple o The context is complex
Context
o One, or a few cultures are involved, o Multi-cultural and multi-language context
and the cultural context are known are involved and participants do not know
to participants the other cultural contexts
They share contextual reference
for interpreting communicative
behavior
o Communication is multiplex o Communication is not multiplex

o Frequency of communication is high o Frequency of communication is low

o Duration is long • Duration is short

Communicating effectively with culturally diverse persons

Communication is essential in any workplace. Without

communication it is not possible to know a client’s
wants or needs or how best to offer care.
However, communicating effectively with people with whom you do not share a
language can be very challenging.

Language is a very important component of the communication process!!!

Communicating effectively with culturally diverse persons

There are many other factors that play a part in how we communicate. In fact, these other
factors can be even be more powerful than words. The way we go about communicating
with another person—even when we do not speak the same language—can have an
enormous impact on the way we make that person feel and the way they will respond to
us.

Show respect for cultural diversity in all

communication with clients, families, staff, and
others
Communicating effectively with culturally diverse persons

Tone: the way we speak ∙ fast or slow

∙ gentle or aggressive
∙ pauses.
Body language: our ∙ facial expressions
mannerisms and ∙ gaze—looking at the other person or away from them;
demeanour paying attention or not
∙ gestures—arm and hand movements
∙ posture—leaning forward or back; relaxed or stiff
∙ distance from the other person—too close or too far
Communicating effectively with culturally diverse persons
Communicating effectively with culturally diverse persons
 Cultural Sensitivity
is being aware that cultural differences and similarities
between people exist without assigning them a value-
positive or negative, better or worse, right or wrong.
a set of skills that allows you to understand and learn about
people whose cultural background is not the same as yours.

It simply means that you are aware that people are not all the same and that you
recognize that your culture is no better than any other culture.
Example:

• Jane is an international business woman whose company has

decided to open an office in Japan. Jane is preparing for her first
meeting in the new office.

• Jane is preparing for her first meeting in the new office. Jane has
several Japanese assistants working with her to help her get ready.

• Jane tries to beckon one of the assistants to come into her office.
Instead of pointing her index finger at the assistant, Jane walks
over her assistant and politely ask her to join her in the office.
How is Jane being culturally sensitive?
• How is Jane being culturally sensitive? While it is okay to beckon
someone in the U.S. by curling or pointing your index finger at
them, In Japan this behavior is seen as offensive

• It is obvious that Jane has taken the time to educate herself about
Japanese culture and adjust her behavior to the culture.

• Jane is not placing value on these cultural differences, i.e. Jane is

not saying that her culture is better than the Japanese culture.
Rather, she is being respectful of her assistants’ culture, keeping an
open mind, and educating herself about the culture so that she can
run a better business.
What is Cultural Sensitivity in the context of a
dominant culture?

In life and work environments, we frequently face

situations where there is a dominant and a secondary
culture.
For instance, in the U.S. the European American is
the dominant culture whereas Hispanic, African
American and Chinese cultures are all secondary
What is Cultural Sensitivity in the context of a
dominant culture?

Cultural sensitivity implies that both groups

understand and respect each other’s characteristics.

This is always a challenge, and even more so in large

corporations where the dominant culture is the one
employees are expected to adopt.
 Stages of Intercultural Sensitivity

1. Ethnocentric stage

Denial Defense Minimization

Denial – people don’t recognize cultural differences and
experiences
- they believe their culture is the only “real” one and
they tend to interact in homogenous groups and to
stereotype everyone else

Example: People say, “We are all the same and I don’t understand
why we have to learn about different groups in the company. Why
don’t they just learn how we do things in America?
Defense – people don’t recognize some differences, but see
them as negative because they assume that their culture is
the most evolved and the best one.

Example: People say, “In Latin America you can’t just get to the point
and talk business. They want to tell you their life story. I don’t
understand why they can’t just learn to be more direct and save
everybody’s time.
Minimization – individuals are unaware that they are
projecting their own cultural values.
They see their own values as superior. They think that
the mere awareness of cultural differences is enough.
- These people think we are all the same because we are
more similar than different, we all have similar physical,
biological, psychological needs.

Example: Statements such as, “In the end, we all want to be liked,” or
“We are all people”
 Stages of Intercultural Sensitivity

2. Ethnorelative stage

Acceptance Adaptation Integration

Acceptance – people are able to shift perspectives to
understand that the same “ordinary” behavior can have
different meanings in different cultures.
- They are able to identify how experiences are influenced by
one’s culture.
- They may not agree or even like the differences they observe
but they are interested in finding out and learning about another
culture.

Example: People who approach others with genuine interest and

curiosity about how they experienced the same situations. They
asked questions such as, “How do Dominicans do it?” or, “What
would your family do in a situation like this?”.
Adaptation – individuals become more competent in their
ability to communicate with other cultures.
- They can evaluate other people’s behavior from these
people’s frame of reference and can adapt behavior to fit the norms
of a different culture.

Example: People who seamlessly interact with others from different

cultures by following the norms of that culture.
They feel that they can respect their own values while
adapting to the values of other cultures they interact with. They use
empathy effectively.
Integration – people are able to shift easily from one
cultural frame of reference to another.
- They develop empathy for other cultures.

Example: This stage is easy to see with perfectly

bilingual/bicultural individuals who almost change their personality
when they interact with one group ( their family) or another (Anglo
co-workers) but they are equally genuine in both situations.
 Which do you believe?
Understanding diversity and engendering
By emphasizing our differences we fuel
respect for differences can help erase the
potential conflicts.
tensions globalization creates.

We are better served spending our Need to spend more time learning
time focusing on American values about cultures

Globalization destroys our cultures Globalization enriches cultures

 Circle of Multicultural
Communications

Understand
Cultural competency is central
to changing behavior, inspiring
action, and connecting with
people.

Grow Culture Connect This can improve relationships,

build dialogue, increase
support and achieve
participation.
Trust
 ❑ Connect with people by understanding them.
❑ Expand your cultural lens. See the world through
Understand the eyes of your audience.
❑ Review demographic information, including
consumer buying and media consumption habits,
reading levels, educational backgrounds, health
data, and lifestyle decisions. Search for similar
needs, characteristics, and preferences.
❑ Know how ethnic and minority populations perceive
and interact with you and your organization.
❑ Learn the history of the communities that you
serve.
 ❑ Connect with people in their everyday
Connect environment.
❑ Take your message to the streets and the
communities that your organization serves. Engage
community leaders and influencers to help get the
word out.
❑ Think about media and the ways your audience
receives information.
❑ Identify effective communication channels that will
best connect.
 ❑ Form a positive relationship with people by earning
Trust
their trust. Be a good listener. Respect culture and
tradition.
❑ Know the protocols and nuisances of working with
diverse populations within their community.
❑ Establish a track record of success by consistently
delivering on your mission and promise.
❑ Communicate often and stay connected to the
community. Invite participation and be responsive.
 ❑ Mutually rewarding relationships grow. They get
stronger over time and result in a win-win for
Grow
everyone.
❑ Successful multicultural communications take
commitment and resources.
❑ It’s not a one-time deal, but a learning curve that
requires adjustments.
❑ Organizations that proactively reach out to
multicultural stakeholders will be better positioned
to serve the needs of a diverse population.
 Embrace your culture,
Understand other people’s
culture.
 Ask these questions to
yourself
1. Do you feel prepared to communicate in a nation of
minorities?
2. Do you have the understandings and sensitivity you need to
interact in a global community in which other persons may
look, act, and think differently than you?
3. Are you ready to embrace diversity?
 CULTURAL
IGNORANCE
• Communicators can be judged as insensitive, ignorant or
culturally confused when they fail to realize the people from
different cultures and whom they interact with.
• Culturally confused- lacking understanding of cultural
difference
• Cultural ignorance affects communication
 CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
• Showing the sole of a shoe means nothing to observers in the US or Europe. As a
result, when visiting KSA, the American and European delegates to a conference
thought nothing about crossing their legs and pointing their shoes toward the
speaker while listening to his presentation. The speaker, however, was horrified. In
Muslim cultures, the gesture is perceived insulting.
• US- crossing legs is to relax; Korea- it is a social faux pas
• Japanese view the business card as an extension of a person; American view it as
business formality and a convenience. Consequently, the Japanese handle business
cards with great care, making certain to put them in safe places, Americans are
quick to put them away thus often end up insulting the Japanese
 Forms of Multicultural Communication
❖ Interracial communication – interactants are of different races
(physical attributes)
❖ Interethnic communication- communicating parties have different
ethnic (cultural factors – nationality, regional culture, ancestry, etc)
origins
❖ International communication- communication between persons
representing political structures or nations, communication practice
that occurs across international borders
❖ Intracultural communication – includes all forms of communication
among members of the same racial or ethnic group or co-culture
groups
 INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
• Intercultural communication- interaction with individuals from
different cultures
– concern with the process of interpreting and sharing meanings with
individuals from different cultures
“To effectively communicate,
we must realize that we are
all different in the way that
we perceive the world and
use this understanding as a
guide to our communication
with others” — Anthony
Robbins
 Cultures and Co-Cultures

• Culture is the system of knowledge, beliefs, values, customs,

behaviors, and artifacts that are acquired, shared and used by
its members during the daily living; within a culture as a whole
are co-cultures
• Co-cultures are composed of members of the same general
culture who differ in some ethnic or sociological way from the
parent culture
Co-cultures:
• Philippines – Igorots, Ilocanos, Bicolanos (Luzon)
• United States- Native Americans, certain Scandinavian American
groups, Middle Eastern Americans, some Latino groups (especially
those of Chilean, Peruvian, and Spanish ancestry), and some Asian
American groups (Chinese Americans and Taiwanese Americans).
• Disabled, gays and lesbians, cyberfunks, elderly
 Marginalized group- group whose members
feel like outsiders; different groups of people
within a given culture, context and history at
Marginalized risk of being subjected to multiple
group vs. discrimination due to interplay of different
personal characteristics or grounds (sex, gender
Dominant culture age ethnicity, religion or belief, health status,
disability, sexual orientation, gender identity
education or income, or living in various
geographic localities
Dominant cultures – being perceived as the
majority of the population and having a
significant presence in institutions relating to
communication, education, artistic expression,
law, government and business
 Strategies of co-culture members
to join in the dominant culture
• Assimilation – means by which co-culture members attempt to fit in with
members of the dominant culture i.e. they dress as members of the
dominant culture dress; give up their own ways in an effort to assume the
modes of behavior of the dominant culture
• Accommodation – means by which co-culture members maintain their
cultural identity while striving to establish relationships with members of
the dominant culture; a gay or lesbian who takes his or her partner to an
occasion in which members of the dominant culture will be present
• Separation- means co-culture members use to resist interacting with
members of dominant culture; prefer to interact with each other rather
than have a contact with persons they perceive to be outsiders
 Preferred strategies and communication approaches of
marginalized groups
STRATEGY COMMUNICATION EXAMPLE
APPROACH

Separation Passive Lunching alone, living in an

area with similar people

Accommodation Assertive Wearing kippah to work

or sari in a party

Assimilation Aggressive, confrontational Staging a protest

 Activity – Self Assessment
PREPARING TO COMMUNICATE ACROSS CULTURES
1. I enjoy communicating with persons unlike me as much as with persons like
me.
2. I am equally sensitive to the concerns of all groups in our multicultural
society
3. I can tell when persons from other cultures do not understand me or are
confused by my actions.
4. I do not fear interacting with persons from minority groups any more than I
fear interacting with persons from the dominant culture.
5. Persons from other cultures have a right to be angry at members of my
culture.
6. Persons from other cultures who don’t actively participate in a conversation,
dialogue, or debate with others may act that way because of their culture’s rules.

7. How I handle disagreements with persons from other cultures depends on the
situation and the culture(s) they are from.

8. My culture is not superior to other cultures.

9. I am knowledgeable of how to behave with persons of different cultures.

10. I respect the communication rules of cultures other than my own.

 CONGRATULATIONS!

The greater the number of statements you labelled TRUE, the

more prepared you are to enrich your communication arena by
welcoming people from different cultures
into it.
 Culture guides
communication
• Culture is the lens through which we see the world
• Ethnocentrism- tendency to see one’s own culture as superior
to all; this lacks cultural flexibility; (experiencing great anxiety
when interacting with persons from different cultures)
• Cultural relativism – the acceptance of other cultural groups as
equal in value to one’s own (trying to understand the behavior
of the other groups)
 DIVERSITY IN FOCUS

• Melting-pot philosophy- the view that different cultures should be

assimilated into the dominant culture
• Cultural pluralism- adherence to the principle of cultural relativism
– They advocate respect for
uniqueness, tolerance
for difference and
adherence to the
principle of cultural
relativity
 The Intercultural Communication Imperative:
Reduce the Strangeness of Strangers

We need to open ourselves to differences by adding our

storehouse of knowledge, by learning to cope with uncertainty,
and by developing an appreciation of how increasing our cultural
sensitivity will possibly affect our communication competence.
Accept the fact that our culture is not superior to others.
 References
Communicating in a Multicultural Society and World.
https://www.academia.edu/37113953/Communicating_in_a_Multicultura
l_Society_and_World. p24-45

https://www.google.com/