Intercultural Business
Communication
Week 10
Contents


Communication Strategies
- Non-verbal Communication
(Continue)
Intercultural Communication
–Definition & Features
–Cultural Barriers
–Competence
N-V Communication
Classification- Paralanguage

Paralanguage means the set of
nonphonemic properties of speech, such
as speaking tempo, vocal pitch, and
intonational contours, that can be used
to communication attitudes or other
shades of meaning.

E.g. Whistling/ Tempo/ Volume/ Silence
Communication Strategies

Definition
- Two Approaches
(Psycholinguistic & Sociological/Interactional)

Approaches
* P- The potentially conscious plans for
solving what to an individual presents itself
as a problem in reaching a particular
communication goal
* S- A mutual attempt of two interlocutors to
agree on a meaning in situations where
requisite meaning structures do not seem to
be shared
Face Theories

Brown & Levinson
- 3 Basic Notions
(Face/ Face Threatening Acts/ Politeness
Strategies)
- 2 Categories of FACE
* Positive- the desire of every person that
his ideas should be liked and admired by
others
* Negative- the desire of every competent
adult person that his actions should not be
impeded by others
Face Theories
 Scollon
& Scollon
- 3 Politeness Systems
(Deference/ Solidarity/ Hierarchical
Politeness System)
- 2 Strategies
* Involvement-
the communicators are on common
ground, and attend to involving an individual as a normal,
contributing or supporting member of society
* Independence-
individuality of the communicators,
and can be realized by using formal names and titles, making
minimal assumptions
Politeness Principle

Definition
Politeness is realized linguistically by means of
various strategies across cultures. Face is
invested, something that can be lost, and must
be constantly attended to in interaction
 Function
Maintain the social equilibrium and the
friendly relations which enable us to
assume that our interlocutors are being
cooperative in the first place
Cooperative Principle
 Cooperative
Principle
Make the contribution such as is
required, at the stage at which it occurs,
by the accepted purpose or direction of
the conversational exchange in which
people are engaged
 4 Maxims
 (Quality/ Quality/ Relation/
Manner)

Intercultural Communication


Edward T. Hall (1959)
Intercultural Communication (ICC)
Communication between people from
different cultures
Includes:
- Interracial Communication
- Interethnic Communication
- International Communication
- Intercultural Communication
- Contra-cultural Communication
Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication Model
Channel
Encoding
(in Code System A)
Response
Decoding
(in Code System A)
Message
Channel
Feedback
Decoding
(in Code System B)
Response
Encoding
(in Code System B)
Receiver from Culture B
Sender from Culture A
Sending
Message
Intercultural Communication

Features
- It is a universal phenomenon.
- It has been going on for years.
- It is a common daily occurrence.

Elements
Physical/Cultural/Perceptual.
Motivational/Experiential/ Emotional/
Linguistic/Nonverbal/Competition
Intercultural Communication
 Cultural
Barriers
-
Assumption of more cultural similarities
Language differences
Misinterpret of nonverbal communication
‘Stereotypes’ & Preconceptions about
“FOREIGNERS”
- Evaluate what “foreigners” do and say
before really understanding them
- Anxiety or stress feeling of interacting with
foreigners leads to inaccurate conclusions
Intercultural Communication

Cultural Barriers
- Language
-
Color Terms
Animal Terms
Plant Terms
Numbers
Religion

Cultural Barriers
- Thought Patterns
- Stereotypes
- Prejudice
- Discrimination
- Ethnocentrism
- Culture Shock
- Taboo Topics
Cultural Shock


It means a feeling of confusion or
anxiety arisen after moving to or
encountering people from another
culture.
Kalvero Oberg (1954)
(4 Stages)
Cultural Shock

Based on Oberg’s, 5 stages defined:
1. Exciting and New
2. Frustrated
3. Relax and Laugh
4. Rejection and
Regression
5. Adjusted
Thought Patterns

Holistic Thinking (High-context)
- Thinking from the perspective of the
whole, with all the relevant parts taken
into account

Analytic Thinking (Low-context)
- Thinking by dividing the whole into
constituents or parts to analyze the
features or relations between the parts
Intercultural Communication
Competence

ICC comprises the knowledge of when to
speak, when not to speak, about what,
with whom, where and in what manner to
talk, and the ability to “accomplish a
repertoire of speech acts, to take part in
speech events, and to evaluate their
accomplishment by other” (Hymes,1972
:277).
Intercultural Communication
Competence

Components
- Michael Canale and Merrill Swain
- 4 indispensable components
* Linguistic
* Sociolinguistic
* Discourse
* Strategic Competence
Intercultural Communication
Competence

Key Factors
By Marian Wiseman
- Knowledge
- Motivation
- Skills (actions)
By Chen Guoming & William Starosta
- Sensitivity
- Awareness
- Adroitness