Barriers To Cultural Communication

Barriers To Cultural Communication

1. ANXIETY

   • We don't know what to do!
     • We focus on this feeling and become unpresent in he communicative process
       • This, causes mistakes and awkwardness
   • English-speaking Japanese & American workers
     • Anxiety over speaking the language caused the Japanese to avoid interaction, both. ON and OFF work with English speakers

2. ASSUMING SIMILARITY INSTEAD OF DIFFERENCE

   • No info. about a culture makes it normal to assume and to behave according to our cultural rules
   • Assuming similarities = unawareness of important cultural differences
     • Each culture is different & unique
   • Assumptions MAY cause miscimmunication
   • Inverse Barrier
     • Assuming difference over similarity
       • Unrecognizing common cultural aspects
   • "It's better to asumme nothing. It's better to ask"

3. STEREOTYPES & PREJUDICE

   • They refer to making judgements about individuals based on GROUP MEMBERSHIP
     • Stereotype
       • Postive or negative judgements based on OBSERVABLE aspects
         • Psych: brain mistakes when perceiving others
           • "We do not so much believe what we see as see what we believe"
           • "We tend to discount any perceptons that don't conform to our beliefs"
         • Anyone can stereoype as well as be the stereotype
       • WHY ARE THEY HARMFUL? THEY IMPIDE COMMUNICATION.....
         • "Self-fulfilling Prophecy"
           • Stereoryped peson distracted (performance affected)
         • The assumption that a belief is true of ANY ONE person
         • Its continued use renfoirces a belief
         • The assumption that a belief is true,
     • Prejudice
       • Irrational suspicion or hatred to a particular group, race, religion...
         • Members are not seen as INDIVIDUALS and are judged because o the group's superficial characteristics
           • Prejudiced people don't change, not even with new info.
   • CRIMINAL PROFILING

4. ETHNOCENTRISM

   • CULTURAL RELATIVISM
     • No "everything is equal"
     • Trying to understand other's behavior in THEIR cultural context
       • Avoiding judgement
   • Belief of cultural superiority
   • CULTURAL NEARSIGHTEDNESS
     • Disregarding OTHER cultures
     • Taking OUR culture for granted
     • May result in assuming that what's simple is the same everywhere
       • Ex: 2 surnames in Mexico
   • NEGATIVELY judging other cultural aspects
     • Leads to REJECTION of other cultures' KNOWLEDGE & RICHNESS
     • Prohibits communication = obstructs exchanging SKILLS & IDEAS
     • EXCLUDES, RESTRICTS & LIMITS
   • EUROCENTRIC ETHNOCENTRISM
     • "The West" & "The East"

5. Learning every rule of what is culturally appropriate and what is not is IMPOSSIBLE

   • Hence, we will always be doing something WRONG

6. Jandt, F. (2010). Language as a Barrier. An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community (6th ed.). (pp.130-138): Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

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