Culture & Effective Communication Pamela Heatlie Office of Institutional Equity

1. Culture & Effective Communication Pamela Heatlie Office of Institutional Equity University of Michigan http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1061776432653343493&q=intercultural+communication&total=72&start=10&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

2. Beginning Points • Generalizations, not stereotypes • Automatic pilot • Culture clash has emotional impact • Ethnocentrism - things are right or wrong viewed from the perspective of your culture • Differences, not better than and worse than

3. Culture is like an iceberg… Cultural Artifacts (e.g., fashion, popular culture) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Language and Verbal Symbols Nonverbal Symbols Symbolic Meanings Cultural Norms Cultural Values Cultural Beliefs Cultural Traditions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - UNIVERSAL HUMAN NEEDS

4. American Culture • Value individual freedom • Value achievement, hard work and action (and material results) • Value time • Value equality • Value privacy (but are open) • Value directness • Value informality • Future Oriented

5. Film Clip http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1061776432653343493&q=intercultural+communication&total=72&start=10&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

7. Culture is like an iceberg… Cultural Artifacts (e.g., fashion, popular culture) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Language and Verbal Symbols Nonverbal Symbols

16. Are you speaking English or are you speaking English?

18. Moving down the iceberg… Cultural Artifacts (e.g., fashion, popular culture) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Language and Verbal Symbols Nonverbal Symbols Symbolic Meanings Cultural Norms Cultural Values Cultural Beliefs Cultural Traditions - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - UNIVERSAL HUMAN NEEDS

19. Collectivism ↔Individualism http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2098296093114652442&q=intercultural+communication&total=72&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4

20. Emphasis on Collectivism↕Emphasis on Individualism China Countries in the Middle East Countries in South America Ethiopia Greece and Portugal Finland France Scandanavian Countries Australia United States

21. High Context ↔Low Context http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-949673987039303775&q=intercultural+communication&total=72&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=8

22. High Context↕Low Context Japan Countries in the Middle East Greece Spain Italy England France US/Canada Scandinavian Countries Germany

23. How loud do you talk?

24. Proxemics

25. To interrupt or to not interrupt

26. Achieved v. Ascribed Status

27. Time

28. Expressing Emotions

29. Touch

30. Symbolic Meaning

31. Eye Contact

32. The 8 Habitsof Interculturally Competent Communicators • Be aware that what you understood may not be what was meant • Try not to assume sameness, especially when you share a language • What you think of as “normal behavior” maybe only be cultural • be aware that familiar behaviors may have different meanings • It’s okay not to feel good about “different” behavior, but try to understand where it comes from • Keep in mind that people from other cultures are not acting a certain way just to make you mad. Most people behave rationally; you just have to discover the rationale. • If you know that you’re going to be interacting with another culture, try to learn as much as you can about what makes up that culture’s iceberg. • Allow yourself (and others) to make mistakes

33. Questions?