Introduction
Rochester, New York. Where Wegmans isn’t just a store, it’s a way of life. Where the residents eat plates of garbage. Where you can get frostbite and sunburn in the same week and “snow days” are an urban legend. Where most people leave and, like a boomerang, come right back because there’s no place we’d rather call home than Ra Cha Cha. Throughout my life, I have travelled to other countries, experienced different cultures and communicated with the individuals within those cultures. I have also moved within the United States, from New York to Utah, and become so immersed in another culture that I could see past the obvious differences from where I grew up and see the differences of everyday life as well. Since moving to Salt Lake City, I’ve become hyperaware of the rituals that have shaped my identity as a Rochestarian in a way that simply spending a few weeks in another country never has. The stark cultural differences between New York and Utah have shaped how I’ve interacted with people here, in both positive and negatives ways. The concepts in James W. Neuliep’s book “Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach”, Raymond William’s piece “Culture is Ordinary”, and the piece by Judith N Martin, Thomas K Nakayama, and Lisa A. Flores, “A Dialectical Approach to Intercultural Communications” can help explain and understand the intercultural interactions I’ve had and the challenges associated with them since moving to Utah, as well as interactions I’ve had
It is always troublesome not to understand another culture, especially, in New York City where we live in a society that is rapidly changing. The City has increasingly brought people of various cultures, to interact closer with each other. This interaction can be either positive or negative depending on the level of sensitivity and respect people have for other culture groups. These two types of behaviors are related to two important concepts known as ethnocentrism and cultural relativity.
Due to their cultural differences, it has an effect on the communication event they are taking part in (Jackson, 2014). It is important to understand intercultural communication, as it allows one to be able to, as Jackson (2014) describes, “adapt and thrive in unfamiliar environments, and contribute to our planet in a constructive, peaceful manner” (p. 46). In the multicultural society of today, by learning more about this form of communication, we are able to gain a deeper understanding
This text is a good reference point. This text is used to understanding communication within culture. This source also gave a better understanding
You know that feeling of home whether it’s with family members or even your loved ones? I don’t think that home is something that is automatically there, I believe that it is something that’s created. I learned that lesson through the eyes of one of my older friends who came from India with his brother when he was 16 in order to make a living. My friend Vikas, told me everything he had to do and the struggles he conquered in order to make his own successful business here in the U.S. Some things he told be reminded me of interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and intracultural communication. He had to have a lot of communication with his friend who also happened to be from India and some new friends and colleagues he met through his journey. Of course there was homesickness and the occasional depression, but that didn’t stop him from creating his now successful business.
The theorist of intercultural communication that could help solve the problem with communication with the United States and Mexico can come from different fields such as psychology, anthropology, and sociology (Chen & Starosta, 2000). It has been numerous theories use to help intercultural communication to primarily focused on the adjustment, adaptation, and research on each country (Huntington, 2005).
Growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, I was unaware of other cultures. My parents were white middle-class, Anglo-Saxon, American’s. The world I was brought up in
When arriving in Boulder, I was faced with more intercultural communicative interactions than at any other time throughout my life in Michigan. While both my roommates were from California, they had shared meanings of certain phrases that I was unfamiliar with before socializing with my roommates. In the greater context, the majority of the intercultural communication that I had practiced back in Michigan were inapplicable while dealing with these new cultures that I was unfamiliar with; however, due to the large amount of immigration to the United States, I was able to adapt to and understand most people I communicated with because of my wide variety of past experiences. Spencer (2002) suggests in one publication that multicultural communication is “virtually unavoidable” within the United States ( p. 610). Although I agree with Spencer, I would take it a step further to argue that students at the University of Colorado Boulder in particular have the one of the highest rates of intercultural communication interactions based on the wide variety of locations students originate from, the many different belief systems, and the natural open-mindedness of the Boulder citizens harnesses the myriad of subcultures that strive in such an accepting
Intercultural Communication can be defined as communication between different cultures or how being from a different culture can affect communication between different people. I was born in Huntington, West Virginia. Except for a few years spent away for college in Lynchburg, Virginia, I have spent my life in West Virginia. I never had the opportunity to travel, expand my horizons, or meet people from different cultures. My small world was all I knew. That changed five years ago.
Previous researchers have found that for a person to achieve better and more effective communication competence, it is necessary to develop skills that allow an appropriate participation in specific situations. The ability to listen, ask questions, and express concepts or ideas effectively is an important part of communication competence. Intercultural communication presents an unexplored and challenging field that needs to be understood for a better development in communication. (Dillon and McKenzie, 1998). The variables of listening depend on the different perceptions that a person obtains through their cultural background. Furthermore, culture often affects the structure of consciousness in the act of listening. When a person seeks to
Intercultural communication is commonly explained as an interaction between people of 'different cultures whether defined in terms of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic differences.' Human communication consists of verbal and nonverbal messages (language and gestures) which are shaped by gender, social class or culture. Thus, what perimeters define the intercultural exchange and what primary messages do we need or try to convey?
Intercultural communication competence refers to the ability of an individual to adapt and communicate appropriately and effectively across a wide array of cultural contexts. That is to say, for an individual to be considered an intercultural communicator they must understand other’s cultures as well as they understand their own, and apply this understanding to communication (Chen 1-2). With the increasing diversity at the workplace, school and other social settings, it has become increasingly important to learn how to communicate with people from a diverse array of cultures. More importantly, adapting to a more effective intercultural communication competence model provides us with learning opportunities occasioned by the interaction with people from other backgrounds. The intercultural communication competence model comes with some key components including tolerance for uncertainty, self-knowledge, and motivation. The greatest and most important of these aspects is motivation. An individual must be willing to foster relationships with people from a different cultural background. If an individual lacks the willingness to promote intercultural relationships, then other aspects of the intercultural communication model become moot.
While all of these sources are great and well accredited, the more direct questions were not able to be asked on this end. A personal interview will be conducted with Mr. Jim Whorley, a divorce lawyer who received his M.B.A. (1987) and his Juris Doctorate with Honors (1990) at The University of Texas located in Austin, Texas. Mr. Whorley is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization (1997), and has been practicing law for 27 years in the greater Central Texas area. Questions that are focused on how intercultural communication is emphasized in between the barristers will be asked through an exclusive interview. Hopefully he can give adequate insight into the educational purposes of intercultural communication in the legal communities.
Ethnicity—a term that is used to refer to a wide variety of groups who might share a language, historical origin, religion, identification with a common nation-state, or cultural system
All communication is cultural. It ties to where we 've grown up, how we have learned to speak, and even how we have learned to communicate nonverbally. That being said, intercultural communication or "the symbolic exchange process whereby individuals from two or more different cultural communities attempt to negotiate shared meaning in an interactive situation" is an ever evolving discipline (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012, p. 5). In today 's world, intercultural communication will be extremely important, because after all, diversity and the need for cultural awareness will only be increasing. In light of this, over the course of this semester I have partnered with an international student, to see just how intercultural communication actively takes place in everyday communication events. In the following few pages, I will talk about several communication events I have shared with this student so far, and evaluate them for what may or may not make them effective in intercultural communication.
Intercultural communication is a complex concept that encompasses and links to many other theories such as racism and verbal and nonverbal communication. Differing languages can dramatically affect intercultural communication between individuals due to language barriers however, due to some individuals uneducated and ignorant understanding of differing languages, it can also have other, more serious and negative consequences such as racism and discrimination of others. The links between language, intercultural communication and racism will be explored in this essay through an in-depth analysis of these concepts and their relation to our society with examples such as the film ‘This Is England’ (2006) and a brief discussion of the similar racist current events in England, due to the decision for England to leave the United Nations. An in-depth analysis of verbal and nonverbal communication and its relation to intercultural communication and a personal experience of this will also be explored.