Intercultural communication

Micha Wesoowski
Wrocaw, 02/02/2010

INDEX

Introduction; What exactly is the intercultural

communication? How we can define it?
Non-verbal communication
Stereotypes
Own identity
The concept of time
Taste

Culture:
is linked to communication and a wide range of human
experience including feelings, identity and sense-making
provides people with different ways of thinking, seeing,
hearing and interpreting the world;
involves a number of man-made, collective artefacts
and is shared by the members of a social group;
is something that shapes ones behaviour or structures
ones perception of the world

t Scout Law

Culture and communication

Culture is often
defined in
interrelation to
Communication

Culture is
communication
and
communication
is culture

It means that Culture is passed on via communication and

communication reflects ones culture!

Intercultural communication

We may say that intercultural communication is

the communication among those people who
have so different cultural references that they
perceive themselves as pertaining to differnent
cultures.1
1Rodrigo Alsina, Miquel: Comunicacin
intercultural, Anthropos Editorial, Barcelona 1999, p.
12

Non-verbal communication

The shortest way

between
two people is a smile

Non-verbal communication
non-verbal language may have the
following basic functions:
1) to communicate attitudes and emotions
2) to support the sense of words
3) substitution of verbal language

It means that
1) to communicate attitudes and emotions
2) to support the sense of words
This may take place in different ways:
completing the sense of the words
controlling synchronisation
(among the different speakers of a group)
producing feed back
maintaining the attention

3) to substitute verbal language

body language, gestures
gaze behaviour
...
Non-verbal language, depending on
authors, makes from 50% to 70% of direct
communication among human beings.

Stereotypes
Stereotypes often reflect the differences in
socioeconomic status, religion or dialect;
It is important to suspend judgement, avoid
misconceptions, narrow perspectives and
immature reactions;
Stereotypes often contain a grain of truth, but
cannot characterize an entire culture;
Getting the whole picture of culture needs
active participation;

Identity
Identity

Is the relationship between the I and

the other

there is no identity without the other

so: when talking about the own identity, we
also have to consider the foreign identity

Two kinds of identity

Two kinds of identity
1. Personal identity:
based on the culture in which we were
socialized
2. Cultural identity
founded on the sense of belonging to a
community with certain characteristics

TIME BEHAVIOUR:
THE CONCEPT OF TIME
Monochronic Cultures

Polychronic Cultures

Also

Also

called: Rigid-time
culture
Do only one thing at the
same time
Appointments (time) are
inescapable
Punctuality is a norm of
conduct
Time is money

called: Fluid-time
culture
Do several things at the
same time
time engagements are
more flexible
work is considered less
important than being polite,
nice, helpful, etc. with other
people
Time is an opportunity

It means that
Two people, participating is the same task, one
monochronic and the other
polychronic:
will consider the whole process from very
different points of view
will have different objectives
will have different priorities

The concept of taste

What we have to take into account
There are no better and worse tastes
There are different culinary customs
Each culture establishes its culinary order and
marks food as eatable or uneatable
Each culture marks certain food as
unacceptable

The concept of taste

Food

is an element of cultural
identification. (We are what we eat.)
9
British call French frogs
Germans call Italian Spaghettifresser

Spend few minutes at the end of this session

answering these three reflective questions:
!What did you learn today?
!Why is that learning important to you?
!How can you make use of that learning
tomorrow?

Thanks for your attention!