Chapter 1: Introduction to Intercultural Communication
●Intercultural communication (ICC) is the term first ud by Edward T. Hall in 1959 and is
simply defined as interpersonal communication between members of different cultures.
●ICC includes international, interethinic, interracial, and interregional communication
●International communication（跨国交际）takes place between nations and governments
rather than individuals; it is quite formal and ritualized.
●Interethnic communication（跨民族交际）refers to communication between people of
the same race but different ethnic background.
●Interracial communication（跨种族交际）occurs when people exchanging messages are
from different races which pertains to physical characteristic.
●Interregional communication（跨地区交际）refers to the exchange of messages between
members of the dominant culture within a country.
Features of ICC as a phenomenon
●It is a universal phenomenon;
●The communication between cultures has been going on for thousands of years;
●Intercultural communication is a common daily occurrence
The rapid increa of intercultural communication
●Improvements in transportation technology;
●Developments in communication technology;
●Changes in mass migration patterns;
●Globalization of the world economy.
Example 1:An American supermarket, trying to impress Japane visitors, rved sushi and tea to its guests. Unfortunately, the fish was rved cooked and the tea was Chine.苹果手机屏幕不亮了但能听到声音怎么办
Example 2:
●A leading U.S. golf ball manufacturer targeted Japan as an important new market for its
product, The firm had offered its product in white packaging and it had packaged the balls in in groups of four. But even after heavy advertising, the sales of the company’s golf balls were well below average. Why?
●White is a color often associated with mourning
●Four is a number signifying death in Japan
Example 3:Characters:Kenneth--an American student
V ernon--a stu. recently arrived from Malaysia
●Place: University cafeteria.
●Event:
Kenneth ordered a pizza and some other food for their dinner. When the food was nt to them, Ken
neth tore the pizza into pieces and handed one piece to V ernon, using his left hand. V ernon took that piece of pizza and put it on his plate without eating it.
The development of intercultural communication study
The development of intercultural communication study in the U.S.
●ICC first started in the U.S.
●Edward T. Hall, conceptualized, 1950s
●popularized, 1959, The Silent Langugae, the founder of ICC study.
Intercultural communication studies in China
●First introduced into China during the early 1980s, some English teachers, e.g. prof. Hu,
春节是哪一天Wenzhong, prof. Xu, Guozhang
虚无假设●Up to now, many univ. have developed cours in ICC for both graduates and
undergraduates.
我想对你说作文500字The complexity in learning ICC
The multidisciplinary nature of ICC study:
●L—linguistics and language
●A—Anthropology
●P—Psycholiguistics and Psychology
●S—Sociolinguistics and Sociology
●E—Education and English
●C—Communication studies
●C—Cultural studies, etc.
A new hybrid of linguistics anthropology sociology history is Cultural Communication.
鸭掌的热量
Basic Communication Theories
Definition of “communication”
●Communication can be defined as actions whereby 'actors' impart information to one
another.
●Communication can be defined as “an interdetermining process in which we develop a
mutually dependent relationship by exchanging symbols.”
Eight ingredients of communication
●Sender (encoder)
●Encoding
●Message
●Channel
●Receiver (decoder)
●Decoding
●Feedback
●Noi
Characteristics of communication
●Communication is dynamic;
●Communication is irreversible;
●Communication is symbolic;
●Communication is systematic;
●Communication is lf-reflective;
●Communication is interactive;
●Communication is complex.
Cultural Values
Hofstede’s Value Dimensions
•Individualism vs. Collectivism
•Power distance
•Uncertainty avoidance
•Masculinity vs. Femininity
Individualism vs. Collectivism
•Collectivistic cultures emphasize community, collaboration, shared interest, harmony, tradition, the public good, and maintaining face. Individualistic cultures emphasize personal rights and responsibilities, privacy, voicing one’s own opinion, freedom, innovation, and lf-expression.
Manifestations of individualism
•Basic components of individualism (P.141):
• 1. the individual is the single most important unit in any social tting;
• 2. independence rather than dependence is stresd;
• 3.individual achievement is rewarded;
• 4. the uniqueness of each individual is of paramount value.
•U.S., Australia, U.K., Canada, the Netherlands
The other end of the continuum
•Collectivism means greater emphasis on:
• 1. the views, needs, and goals of the in-goup rather than onelf;
• 2. social norms and duty defined by the in-group rather than behavior to get pleasure;
• 3. beliefs shared with the in-group rather than beliefs that distinguish lf from in-groups;
• 4. great readiness to cooperate with in-group members.
Collectivistic cultures
•Examples: Latin American and South American cultures; most Asian and African cultures
•Strict distinction between one’s ―in-group‖(family, clan, tribe) and ―out-group‖(others
•Focus on needs, desires of the group—not the lf
•―We‖ is more important than ―I‖
•Y our ―identity‖: pegged to social group, not you as individual
Collective co-cultures in US
• A dominant US cultural belief
–not shared by every other culture on Earth!
油菜的做法大全家常菜–Or by every co-culture in the US
•African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans
–More collectivistic than dominant US culture
•More value on family
–Family members often come first, before lf
Uncertainty avoidance “defines the extent to which people within a culture are made
nervous by situations which they perceive as unstructured, unclear, or unpredictable, situations which they therefore try to avoid by maintaining strict codes of behavior and a belief in absolute truths.‖
•High Uncertainty Avoidance cultures try to avoid uncertainty and ambiguity by providing stability for their members, establishing more formal rules, not tolerating deviant ideas and behaviors, eking connsus, and believing in absolute truths and the attainment of experti. (p. 145)
•Portugal, Greece, Peru, Belgium, Japan
•People in low uncertainty avoidance c ulture more easily accept the uncertainty inherent in life, tend to be tolerant of the unusual, and are not as threatened by different ideas and people.
•They prize initiative, dislike the structure associated with hierarchy, are willing to take risks, are flexible, think that there should be as few rules as possible, and depend not so much on experts as on themlves.
巴西男足
high uncertainty avoidance vs. low uncertainty avoidance
•In a classroom compod of children from low uncertainty-avoidance cultures, students feel comfortable in unstructured learning situations and also being rewarded for innovative approaches to problem solving. And students from high uncertainty avoidance cultures expect structured learning situations and right answers.
Power Distance
现在的你还好吗•Power distance defines the extent to which the less powerful person in society accepts inequality in power and considers it as normal.
•high power distance: Philippines, Mexico, India, Y ugoslavia, Singapore, Africa
•low power distance: Austria, Finland, Denmark, Norway, U.S
High power distance
•In organizations within high power distance cultures, you find a greater centralization of power, more importance placed on status and rank, a larger proportion of supervisory personnel, a rigid value system that determines the worth of each job, and subordinates adhering to a rigid hierarchy.
Lower power distance
•People in lower power distance cultures believe they are clo to power and should have ready access to that power.
•Subordinates consider superiors to be the same kind of people as they are, and superiors perceive their subordinates the same way.
•US dominant culture: low power distance
•They believe people should be (or appear) equal—all the same kind of people
•They believe they are—and should be—clo to power (easy access)
By contrast, high power distance cultures
•Accept power as part of society
•See power distinctions as natural and proper
•Have (and don’t challenge) hierarchical social structures
Masculinity vs. Femininity
•Masculinity: extent to which dominant values in society are male oriented
•Masculine cultures u the biological existence of two xes to define very different social roles for men and women. They expect men to be asrtive, ambitious, and competitive, and to strive for material success, and to respect whatever is big, strong, and fast.
Masculinity:
•Asrtiveness
•Acquisitiveness (ties in w/materialism)
•Dominant US culture values such traits
•Ireland, the Philippines, Greece, V enezuela, Austria, Japan, Italy, Mexico
Femininity:Extent to which values are female oriented
•Interpersonal relationships
•Nurturance
•Sexual equality
•Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands
In Japan, Germany, and other European and Asian countries, women face rious obstacles to achieving work place equality. They are expected to assist men and are given lower wages, less stable employment, and fewer opportunities for advancement.
•In contrast, feminine societies expect women to work and often provide the necessary social support systems.
Long- and short-term orientation
•The long-term/short-term dimension appears to be bad on items reminiscent of the teachings of C
onfucius, on both poles. It oppos long-term to short-term aspects of Confucian thinking: persistence and thrift to personal stability and respect for tradition.
•Long-term orientation: China, Japan, South Korea
•Short-term orientation: U.S., U.K., Canada, Philippines
•―On the long-term side one finds values oriented towards the future, like thrifty (saving) and persistence. On the short-term side one finds values rather oriented towards the past and the prent, like respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations.‖
Warning!
•No one person in any culture manifests all of the traits identifiable as a cultural pattern
– E.g., are ALL Americans bold, competitive individualists?
•We need to avoid ―esntialist‖ thinking
–The idea that the esnce of a person is captured (and determined) by his or her race, ethnicity, x, culture
•Cultural patterns may be internally inconsistent
•US dominant culture often described as individualistic and competitive
–Y et an important manifestation of their competitive ―nature‖ is their love for team sports
–How can the two traits co-exist?
High context/low context orientation
