Chapter 7 Objectives

2. Chapter 7 Objectives • Explain why you should study intercultural communication • Distinguish between cultures and co-cultures • Provide examples of co-cultural strategies

3. Chapter 7 Objectives • Explain potential intercultural communication problems • Identify broad cultural characteristics • Practice strategies for improving communication with people from other cultures and co-cultures

4. What is Intercultural Communication? The exchange of information between individuals who are unalike culturally

5. Reasons for Studying Intercultural Communication • Communication with people from other cultures & co-cultures is common • Money • Curiosity • Convergence of technologies • Immigration has changed the face of America

6. What is a Culture? A unique combination of rituals, religious beliefs, ways of thinking, and ways of behaving that invite outsiders to see others as a unified member of a human group

7. What is a Co-Cultural Group? A group that exists within a larger dominant culture but differs from the dominant culture in some significant characteristic

8. Communication Goals for Marginalized Groups • Assimilation goal • Attempts to fit in with dominant culture • Accommodation goal • Keeps a co-cultural identity while striving for positive relationships with dominant culture • Separation goal • Relates exclusively with its own group and avoids contact with dominant culture

9. Intercultural Communication Problems • Attribution and Perceptual Errors • Ethnocentrism • Stereotyping

10. Individualistic Value individual freedom, choice, uniqueness and independence Collectivist Value the group, family, tribe, clan and culture over the individual Characteristics of Different Cultures

11. Low Context Communication style emphasizes the source of the communication Intentions overtly stated High Context Much of the information about the source and intentions is understood and not explicitly stated Characteristics of Different Cultures

12. Uncertainty-accepting Tolerate ambiguity and diversity Uncertainty-rejecting Less tolerant of ambiguity and diversity Characteristics of Different Cultures

13. Implicit-rule Implied rules for behavior are implicitly known to all members of the culture Explicit-rule More likely to openly discuss procedures for action and expectations for behavior Characteristics of Different Cultures

14. Monochronic View time as compartmentalized between task, personal, and social dimensions Polychronic View time as culturally based and relationally oriented Characteristics of Different Cultures

15. Strategies for Improving Intercultural Communication • Conduct a personal self-assessment • Practice supportive communication behaviors • Develop sensitivity toward diversity • Avoid stereotypes • Avoid ethnocentrism • Develop code sensitivity

16. Strategies for Improving Intercultural Communication • Seek shared codes • Use and encourage descriptive feedback • Open communication channels • Manage conflicting beliefs and practices • Learn to be reflexive