Surname: JOBE

First Name: RUTH

Registration Number: 2022/2/035

Mode of Study: ONLINE

Study Programme: BACHELOR OF ARTS IN COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY

Year: 3 Semester: 1

Phone Number: +265 997 68 71 75 Email: [email protected]

Course Name: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Course Code: JRN211

Assignment Number: 2

Assignment Due Date: 13/10/2022

Lecturer: MISS B. KAPHWIYO

Introduction

In an ever-changing world, communication becomes a very important aspect to pay attention to.
Different scholars have defined communication in different ways. The Oxford English
Dictionary (2019), has described communication as 'The transmission or exchange of
information, knowledge, or ideas, by means of speech, writing, mechanical or electronic media'.
However, we live in a culturally diverse world where people differ in a number of areas
including culture or ethnicity, gender, nationality and or social class. These factors at large also
affect the way in which communication is done. Thus, in this paper, the focus will be on how
culture, gender, nationality and or social class affect the communication process.

Culture

According to Giri (2018), Culture an8d communication reciprocally influence each other. He
further adds that the culture in which individuals socialize influence the way in which they
communicate. It is for this reason that Bart (2018) defines Culture as the set of values, attitudes,
and ways of doing things that a person brings with them from the particular place where they
were brought up as a child. These values and attitudes can have an impact on communication
across cultures because each person's norms and practices will often be different and may
possibly clash with those of co-workers brought up in different parts of the world.

As cited by Kelly (2021), Culture affects communication in verbal and nonverbal ways. He
further argues that, Culture can influence how we communicate verbally via the words, phrases,
metaphors, and culture-specific slang between two or more people. It also affects what topics are
deemed appropriate for conversation based on cultural norms/values present within a culture’s
social environment. For example, if someone within the culture uses profanity, this would likely
be an appropriate topic of conversation among members of that culture. In Japanese culture,
silence is often considered a more polite way to communicate than speaking one’s mind verbally
(UKEssays, 2018).

Gender

Gender also affects the communication process. Starting in childhood, girls and boys are
generally socialized to belong to distinct cultures based on their gender and thus speak in ways
particular to their own gender’s rules and norms (Fivush; Hohnson; Tannen;, 2006). This pattern
of gendered socialization continues throughout our lives. As a result, men and women often
interpret the same conversation differently. According to Bucher (2015, pp. 130), culturally
diverse ways of speaking based on gender can cause miscommunication between members of
each culture or speech community. He further assets that tthese cultural differences are seen in
the simple purpose of communication. Although gender roles are changing and gender itself is
becoming a more fluid concept, traditional roles still influence our communication behaviors
(David, 2014). For those socialized to traditional female gender norms, an important use of
communication is to create and foster relational connections with other people (Johnson;
Stamou, 2009). In contrast, the goal of men’s communication primarily to establish identity. This
is accomplished by demonstrating independence and control and entertaining or performing for
others (Curran, 2019). Thus, gender not only impacts the language we use but the language used
to describe us. Although changing demographics and social trends have begun to erode the base
of white male privilege, there are still strong cultural norms that resist this change in the status
quo (Penza, 2019).

nationality

Nationality identity can greatly affect the effectiveness of communication. Different nationality
means different in cultures and in most cases languages. Samovar, Porter & McDaniel (2008)
puts it that people from different countries tend to have different ways of understanding the
world around them. It affects the way people think and behave in different situations. People
who have different nationalities are likely to have different ways to exchange information and
perform various activities that are unique to their countries (Lyerly 1997). This may lead to
misunderstanding when people from different countries trying to communicate with each other.
Regional differences create even more cultural gaps between human. Thus, its effect on
communication is even significant than that of nationality (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel; 2008).
He further stated that the differences in geography, environment and culture are often too large
that people tend to suffer from severe cultural shocks when they travel from one region to
another. And that is the main force that affects the efficient communication between peoplee.

Language is arguably the most important element of communication. Language is mean, in

which the content of the communication is transferred and received. Or as Samovar, Porter &
McDaniel (2008) put it: “Language is the medium through which a culture expresses its world
view”. Language is also considered as a communication tool that needs to be learned and used
effectively in order to achieve successful intercultural communication. And if language is a tool
then culture may be considered as the environment that has all the effects on language. Since of
that, culture is, in many circumstances, what defines the meaning of language. That is why, in
some situations, the8 same word can bring diverse meanings due to the differences of cultures.
The matter is even worse when two cultures talk in different languages. In this case, a translation
tool is needed, however the potential of misunderstanding is also raised as a word translated
between two different languages between two different cultures may result in totally different
meaning. For that, language and culture must be thoughtfully considered in intercultural
communication. Or as Sarbaugh (1988) concluded the most important element in effective
intercultural communication concerns language.

Social Class

Social class has been one of the key elements that directly affect communication since the dawn
of time. Social class is to some extend still creating boundaries between human, thus creating
obstacles in effective communication (Holliday, Kullman & Hyde 2004). The conflicts between
the rich and the poor, management and working class were often created by those
misunderstanding in communication. People in different social class used to be significantly
affected so much that they naturally create a barrier to prevent communication with other social
class. It is perhaps in many ways shared the same properties with religion differences. Religion
identity is sometimes improving communication where it shares a similar interest. It is also the
main cause of conflict when its interest is not satisfied by those of different religion (Frankfult,
2018). Throughout history, people always keep trying to solve these significant differences;
however, the conflicts with the core causes still remain intractable for many societies until even
now. This issue may only be solved if we can change the core of how human perceive and
understand the world.
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