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Cross Cultural Communications Theory : The Theory Of Cross-Cultural Communication Theory

Decent Essays

Cross cultural communication theory (CCT) implies the idea of the communication of people who differ from one another. These differences can include the age, race, financial status, ethnicity, and gender of an individual (“Cross Cultural Communication”). The theory looks at how a culmination of individuals with conflicting traits interact together and how their culture impacts said interaction. Body language, gestures and language are all used to find a common ground between two or more individuals. Finding the balance and compromise between cultural differences makes it possible to communicate effectively and efficiently with each other, which can only assist in coherent dialogue.
Edward Hall was an anthropologist who is known for his high and low context cultural factors.
Richard D. Lewis is a British novelist and creator of the self named “Lewis Model”. Lewis visited 135 countries and concluded “that humans can be divided into three clear categories, based not on nationality or religion but on behavior (“Cross Cultural Communication”). He proceeded to create “The Lewis Model” in the 1990s with the intent to “define and simplify inter-cultural analysis, with the aim to improve interaction between different cultures,” (“The Lewis Model”). In this model, the three categories in which he differentiated humans were linear-active, multi-active and reactive. The linear-active group is comprised of regions where English is spoken. Some of the qualities which define this group include rarely interrupting, being job oriented and maintaining a limited body language. The multi-active category is the most varied category in terms of location. “Southern Europe, Mediterranean countries, South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Arab and other cultures in the Middle East, India and Pakistan and most of the Slavs”.(“The Lewis Model”) The qualities which define this group are usually interrupting, people-oriented and a focus on unlimited body language. The last category is the reactive group, comprised of “all major countries in Asia except the Indian sub-continent” (“The Lewis Model”). That being said, each country or region of the world doesn't necessarily fit into one of these categories completely and instead could be a mix

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