Communication Between Cultures

[Merlino Riviere]

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Working with the international community for economic survival means countries and cultures can no longer operate in a vacuum. Because of this, intercultural communication is no longer a choice but a must.

There are many ways in which people all around the world are similar, yet it is our differences that truly define us. To put it simply, communication is the exchange of ideas and information between individuals by any means, verbal or otherwise. Sharing knowledge with others requires familiarity with social norms, body language, and etiquette.

Having the ability to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries is critical for the success of any intercultural or multinational endeavor. Additionally, it helps improve relationships by facilitating two-way conversations, which in turn foster mutual understanding between people of diverse backgrounds.

There are several facets to intercultural communication competence, from language skills to knowledge of social practices and cultural norms. These capabilities are constantly used throughout organizations and in all forms of communication. Here are a few examples of intercultural communication in action:

Respecting the social norms of another culture requires an understanding that practices may vary. While Americans value making small talk with potential business partners, the British may try humor, while the Germans may jump right to the point.

When we investigate the cultural influences on communication, we gain a deeper understanding of both areas. Additionally, it aids in expanding our knowledge of who we are as individuals and as a society.

Understanding our communication styles, habits, and tendencies and how they may serve or work against us when interacting with others from other cultural backgrounds is a valuable personal benefit of studying intercultural communication.

When seen in a broader context, intercultural communication can shed light on a wide range of human experiences, from the process of defining the workings of the brain to the power of languages in bringing people together.

As the world gets more interconnected, the ability to communicate successfully across cultural boundaries is becoming more and more vital. Since we are now able to travel to more places, we are exposed to other cultures and ways of living.

The ability to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries is crucial for the successful collaboration and relationship-building of multiethnic and international communities. It is also essential for avoiding and resolving conflicts. If you want to learn about other people and their customs and find common ground around the world, this is how to do it.

Enhancing this experience can be as simple as grabbing a beverage from the drinks fridge, settling comfortably, and letting the cinematic journey unfold. Modern streaming platforms offer a treasure trove of international TV shows and films, granting viewers a window into distant cultures from the comfort of their homes.

When you have coworkers or neighbors from other countries, you gain access to a wealth of undiscovered possibilities. In-depth conversations with people about their backgrounds and the culture shock they may have felt upon arriving in your country can yield a great deal of valuable knowledge and perspective. If they are treated with respect and dignity, people all around the world are happy to have their voices heard.

There are a wide variety of ways to enhance your intercultural communication competence. Among these are learning when to ask open-ended questions, stick to yes/no answers, and decide when to use humor. The two most crucial pieces of advice for improving your communication skills are to listen attentively and to watch what others do.

Communicating across cultures is challenging. Each culture has set rules that its members take for granted. Few of us are aware of our own cultural biases because cultural imprinting is begun at a very early age. And while some of a culture's knowledge, rules, beliefs, values, phobias, and anxieties are taught explicitly, most of the information is absorbed subconsciously.

We are all individuals, and no two people belonging to the same culture are guaranteed to respond in exactly the same way. However, generalizations are valid to the extent that they provide clues on what you will most likely encounter when dealing with members of a particular culture.

All international communication is influenced by cultural differences. Even the choice of communication medium can have cultural overtones. The determining factor may not be the degree of industrialization, but rather whether the country falls into a high-context or low-context culture.

High-context cultures (Mediterranean, Slav, Central European, Latin American, African, Arab, Asian, American-Indian) leave much of the message unspecified, to be understood through context, nonverbal cues, and between-the-lines interpretation of what is actually said. By contrast, low-context cultures (most Germanic and English-speaking countries) expect messages to be explicit and specific.

Some cultures think of time sequentially, as a linear commodity to "spend," "save," or "waste." Other cultures view time synchronically, as a constant flow to be experienced in the moment, and as a force that cannot be contained or controlled.

In synchronic cultures (including South America, southern Europe and Asia) the flow of time is viewed as a sort of circle, with the past, present, and future all interrelated. This viewpoint influences how organizations in those cultures approach deadlines, strategic thinking, investments, developing talent from within, and the concept of "long-term" planning.

In international business practices, reason and emotion both play a role. Which of these dominates depends upon whether we are affective (readily showing emotions) or emotionally neutral in our approach. Members of neutral cultures do not telegraph their feelings, but keep them carefully controlled and subdued. In cultures with high affect, people show their feelings plainly by laughing, smiling, grimacing, scowling, and sometimes crying, shouting, or walking out of the room.

This doesn't mean that people in neutral cultures are cold or unfeeling, but in the course of normal business activities, neutral cultures are more careful to monitor the amount of emotion they display. Emotional reactions were found to be least acceptable in Japan, Indonesia, the U.K., Norway, and the Netherlands and most accepted in Italy, France, the U.S., and Singapore.

Reason and emotion are part of all human communication. When expressing ourselves, we look to others for confirmation of our ideas and feelings. If our approach is highly emotional, we are seeking a direct emotional response: "I feel the same way." If our approach is highly neutral, we want an indirect response: "I agree with your thoughts on this."

We all have an internal list of those we still don't understand, let aloneappreciate. We all have biases, even prejudices, toward specific groups. Inour workshops we ask people to gather in pairs and think about their hopesand fears in relating to people of a group different from their own. Fearsusually include being judged, miscommunication, and patronizing or hurtingothers unintentionally; hopes are usually the possibility of dialogue,learning something new, developing friendships, and understanding differentpoints of view. After doing this activity hundreds of times, I'm alwaysamazed how similar the lists are. At any moment that we're dealing withpeople different from ourselves, the likelihood is that they carry a similarlist of hopes and fears in their back pocket.

-- From Waging Peace in OurSchools,
by Linda Lantieri and Janet Patti (Beacon Press, 1996)

We all communicate with others all the time -- in our homes, in ourworkplaces, in the groups we belong to, and in the community. No matter howwell we think we understand each other, communication is hard. Just think,for example, how often we hear things like, "He doesn't get it," or "Shedidn't really hear what I meant to say." "Culture" is often at the root of communication challenges. Our cultureinfluences how we approach problems, and how we participate in groups and incommunities. When we participate in groups we are often surprised at howdifferently people approach their work together.

Culture is a complex concept, with many different definitions. But, simplyput, "culture" refers to a group or community with which we share commonexperiences that shape the way we understand the world. It includes groupsthat we are born into, such as gender, race, or national origin. It alsoincludes groups we join or become part of. For example, we can acquire a newculture by moving to a new region, by a change in our economic status, or bybecoming disabled. When we think of culture this broadly, we realize we allbelong to many cultures at once.

Our histories are a critical piece of our cultures. Historical experiences-- whether of five years ago or of ten generations back -- shape who we are.Knowledge of our history can help us understand ourselves and one anotherbetter. Exploring the ways in which various groups within our society haverelated to each other is key to opening channels for cross-culturalcommunication.

In a world as complex as ours, each of us is shaped by many factors, andculture is one of the powerful forces that acts on us. Anthropologists KevinAvruch and Peter Black explain the importance of culture this way:...One's own culture provides the "lens" through which we view the world;the "logic"... by which we order it; the "grammar" ... by which it makessense. 1In other words, culture is central to whatwe see, how we make sense of what we see, and how we express ourselves.

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