TOPIC 4: Local and Global Communication in Multicultural Settings

I. Learning Outcomes:
1. Define intercultural communication;
2. Demonstrate effective intercultural communication skills in a speech situation.
3. Develop appreciation for different cultural perspectives.
4. Practice effective intercultural communication.
5. Communicate sensitively, taking into consideration a listener’s gender, religion,
beliefs, and traditions.

II. Discussion and Key Takeaways

Intercultural Communication
 For some scholars, intercultural communication pertains to communication among people from
different nationalities (Gudykunst, 2003).
 Still, others look at intercultural communication as communication that is influenced by
different ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations.
 According to science, each person is genetically unique.
1. Family Background
2. Religious Affiliations
3. Educational Achievements
4. Socio-Cultural Forces
5. Economic Conditions
6. Emotional States
7. Other Factors

This situation- the diversity of people and cultures- impacts communication. How then we
approach intercultural communication?

Communicating Across Cultures by: Carol Kinsey Goman (2011)

 Communication across cultures is challenging.
 Each culture has set rules that its members take for granted.
 Culture’s knowledge, rules beliefs, values, phobias, and anxieties are taught explicitly, most of the
information is absorbed subconsciously.
 The challenge for multinational communication has never been greater.
 Worldwide business organizations have discovered that intercultural communication is a subject of
importance- not just because of increased globalization, but also because their domestic
Workforce is
growing more and more diverse, ethnically and culturally.

High-Context versus Low-Context

All international communication is influenced by cultural differences. Even the choice of
communication medium can have cultural overtones. The determining factor may not be the degree of
industrialization, but rather the country falls into a high-context or low-text culture.
 Characteristics Countries
High-context cultures They leave much of the message Mediterranean Indian Asian
unspecified, to be understood Slav African Latin American
through context, non-verbal cues, American Central European Arab
and between-the-lines interpretation
of what is actually said.

Low-context cultures Messages are specific and Most Germanic and English Speaking countries
explicit.

Sequential versus Synchronic

Different cultures perceive time differently.

Characteristics Countries
Sequential culture Think of time sequentially, as linear commodity to North America
spend, save, or waste. English
German
Business give full attention to one agenda item Swedish
after another. Dutch
Synchronic culture View time as synchronically, as constant flow to South America
be experienced in the moment and as forced that Southern Europe
cannot be contained Asia
The flow of time is viewed as a sort of circle, with
the past, present, and future all interelated.
This viewpoint influences how organizations in
those cultures approach deadlines, strategic
thinking, investments, developing talent from
within, and the concept of long-term planning.

Affective versus Neutral

In internal business practices, reason and emotion both play a role.

Characteristics Countries
Affective Readily showing emotions by laughing, smiling, Italy US
grimacing, crying, and shouting. France Singapore
In a highly emotional approach, we are seeking a
direct emotional response. (“I feel the same
way”.)
Neutral This group carefully controls feelings. Japan UK Netherlands
Indonesia Norway
In highly neutral, we seek indirect response. (“I
agree with your thoughts on this”.)
 When it comes to communication, what’s proper and correct in one culture may be ineffective
or even offensive in another. In reality, no culture is right or wrong, better or worse. Culture is just
different in today’s global business community, there is no best single approach to communicating with
one another.

Main Issues of Intercultural Communication

What hinders the exchange of ideas between two people from different cultures? We can
consider three main issues in this regard.
1. Knowledge. If we are unaware of the customs and values of a certain culture, we may fail to
communicate properly with individuals who practice that culture. In order to interact well with
persons from foreign countries, we need to be aware of their cultures. If we encounter a foreign
classmate, or even a foreign audience, we can conduct research on their culture so that we shall
know how to deal with them accordingly.

2. Skills. Having attained cultural knowledge, we can perform actions appropriate to the culture’s
specific norms. On a concrete level, we can then express our ideas in a respectful manner, using
grammatical competence in the foreign language, as well as use nonverbal cues and other
communicative strategies unique to the foreign culture.

3. Attitudes. Form an effective standpoint, we also need to show a tolerant disposition towards
people of different culture. If we harbor biases or prejudices, we shall not be able to communicate
properly. However, if we adopt a respectful attitude any culture, we shall be able to interact with
any individual without difficulty.

Characteristics of Competent Intercultural Communicators World Bank (2010) identifies the

following traits that define a competent intercultural communicator.
1. flexibility and the ability to tolerate high levels of uncertainty
2. reflectiveness or mindfulness
3. open-mindedness
4. sensitivity
5. adaptability
6. ability to engage in divergent thinking (or thinking creatively) and systems-level thinking (or
thinking how each one in a system or organization influences each other)
7. politeness

Sources of Misunderstanding Kaur (2016)

1. Ambiguity
2. Performance-related misunderstanding (slip of tongue or mishearing)
3. Language-related – ungrammaticality of sentences
4. Speech perturbations
5. Poorly managed turn-taking
6. Non-aligned parallel talk

Misunderstandings may not always caused by verbal utterances but may also be due to wrong
interpretation of the non-verbal code.
Note that in addition to culture, other elements such as gender, age, social status, and religion must also
be taken into consideration when communicating with others. Refrain from showing bias when talking
to someone by following the tips below.
1. Avoid stereotypes, i.e., generalizations about a certain group.
2. Challenge gender norms; avoid using “he” and “man” to refer to a general group of people. To
remedy this, you may use plural pronouns or rewrite a sentence to avoid
using pronouns. The
use of his/her is also acceptable.
3. Do not talk down on younger people and the elderly.
4. Be sensitive to the religious practices of others.
5. Be polite at all times; do not belittle people you perceive to be on a lower social class than you.

Redoblado (2016) added the following points on how to properly conduct intercultural
communication.

1. Be conscious of your culture. The first step towards respecting other cultures is to appreciate
our own customs, values and practices. Feel the pride of showing others our good traditions and
culture.

2. Be open-minded towards other cultures. If we are appreciative of our own culture, we can
understand that other people behave the way do because they are also influenced by their own customs
and norms. Thus, we can adopt an attitude of tolerance and respect. Other cultures will cease to be
object of derision and ridicule; rather, they will become groups worthy of acceptance.

3. Immerse yourself in the practices of other cultures. Having developed an open-minded approach
to other cultures, we can start to learn their customs and traditions. Get the feel of it. Learn the
intricacies of their language and try to understand their nonverbal cues and communicative.

Varieties and Registers of Spoken and Written Language

 WE (World Englishes) actually stands for the localized varieties of English as they are used or
spoken in certain areas.
 In Asian context: The concept was introduced by Braj Kachru the famous “Three Concentric Circles
of Asian Englishes”
On Stress and Rhythm
Expanding circles do not make any changes in their pronunciation to make distinction
between nouns and verbs as compared to Inner Circle
‘import im’port ‘construct cons’truct
‘project pro’ject ‘report re’port

American English vs. Philippine English

Gotcha Got you!
Whatche say? What did she say?
Wherd yu go? Where did you go?
Ja hitit? Did you hit it?
Can I getche adrink? Can I get you a drink?

On Sounds

 Outer and Expanding Circles do not observe initial aspiration of voiceless plosives such as p, t, k
and these are often perceived by Inner Circles b, d, g

 Some speakers of EXPANDING CIRCLE varieties, as in the case of Japanese speakers, do not
properly distinguish between r and l
With respect to Lexicon (vocabulary)

1. Singapore English:
Actsy - show off
missy - nurse
chop - rubber stamp
graduate mothers- graduate (well-educated) married women, encouraged to have more
children and accorded certain privileges in Singapore as compared to non-graduate mothers

2. Malaysian English:
antilog- a male hated by a girl slambar- relax
popcorn- a loquacious person red spot, open shelf – girls who are popular and those who
are not
kachang- peanuts, easy
day bugs- those who come to attend school but do not live in residence halls

3. Philippine English:
deep- puristic or hard to understand pulot boy- boy who picks up tennis balls in a game
stick- cigarette studentry- student body
high blood- tense or upset
blow out- treating someone with a snack or meal
motel- a hotel used for pre-marital or extramarital affairs
Go ahead- leave before others with host permission
balikbayan box- box where Filipinos returning from abroad put all their shopping

Language Registers/Registers of English

 When it comes to language variation, the terms genre, register, and style are often encountered.
 Register- is a variety of language defined according to its use in social situations e.g. Register
of scientific, religious, formal English (Crystal 2008).
 Language register then refers to the formality of language which one speaks.
 Different registers are used in different situations.
 It is through register that you are able to determine the kind of lexicon or vocabulary to use the
kind of structure to be used.
 Register is understood as context-specific.
III. Learning Tasks

Activity 1. Non-verbal codes

1. Choose two cultures from among the ASEAN countries and differentiate some of their non-
verbal messages. Have at least three differences in their non-verbal codes.

Non-verbal codes Country 1 Country 2 Country 3

1.
2.
3.

2. Encode your output and submit it online.

Activity 2. On Pronunciation
Below are two examples of varieties of English that focus on pronunciation. Classify them accordingly
and write them under the correct column.

1. elemenTAry vs. eleMENtary 6. Closez vs. closes (closes)

2. istreet vs. street (street) 7. dat vs. that (that)
3. brids vs. bridge (bridge) 8. tin vs. thin (thin)
4. ass vs. asks (asks) 9. Measure vs. measure (measure)
5. thought vs. tot (thought) 10. Chip vs. cheap (cheap)

American English Philippine English

1. elemenTAry 1. eleMENtary
2. istreet 2. street
3. brids 3. bridge
4. ass 4. asks
5. tot 5. thought
6. closez 6. closes
7. dat 7. that
8. tin 8. thin
9. measure 9. Measure
10. chip 10. Cheap

B. On Vocabulary
Below are examples of two varieties of English that focus on expressions. Classify them
accordingly (American or British) and write them under the correct column. Note that some terms from
the list are used by both varieties
1. underground economy vs black econonmy 6. labor union vs trade union
2. counterclockwise vs anticlockwise 7. rubbish vs garbage
3. current account vs checking account 8. forthnight vs two weeks
4. housing development vs housing estate 9. Raincoat vs mackintosh
5. elementary school vs junior school 10. Whisky vs whiskey
 American British
1. underground economy 1. black economy
2. counterclockwise 2. anticlockwise
3. 3.
4. Housing development 2. Housing estate
5. 5.
6. 6.
7. garbage 7. rubbish
8. two weeks 8. forthnight
9. Raincoat 9. mackintosh
10. 10.

C. On Register. Analyze each utterance- its meaning, context, and register. Fill in the table with your
answer.
1. Just a sec, please!
2. Could you please hold on for a while? I will just call her.
3. I really apologize. I do not mean to hurt you.
4. So sorry for my mistake.
5. Am not interested in your party.
6. I can’t make it to your party. I’ll make it up next time.
7. Good morning, Mr. Alcaraz!
8. Hello, Sir Alcaraz!
9. Our sincerest congratulations on your forthcoming promotion!
10. Congrats! You made it.
Meaning Context of the Situation Register (Formal or Informal)
1. informal

2 formal

3 formal

4 informal

5. informal

6 informal

7. formal

8. formal

9. formal

10. informal
Activity 3. Essay.

1. Write a three-paragraph essay on this quote taken from Understanding Cultural Differences by
Edward Hall and Mildred Hall:
2. Highlight in your essay the answer to the following question: Why is “releasing the right
responses” more important than “sending the right message” in intercultural communication?
“The essence of effective cross-cultural communication has more to do with releasing the
right responses than with sending the ‘right’ message.”