COMM 1311 Notes

Challenges of Living in a Global Society

Living in a Global Village

- In 1964, Marshall McLuhan coined “global village” to describe a world in which

communication technology brings news and information to most remote parts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=t14kY8WLQ7g&ab_channel=CarterChell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=HeDnPP6ntic&ab_channel=healthcarefuture

Contributors to Cultural Diversity

a) Advanced technology and transportation system

- Globalization: is the process of increasing interconnectedness between

societies, so that events in one part of the world have more and deeper effects
on people and societies far away

Theory: Perspectives on globalization

- Globalists: view globalization as an inevitable development which cannot

be resisted or significantly influenced by human intervention, particularly
through traditional political institutions, such as nation-states

- Traditionalists: the significance of globalization as a new phase has been

exaggerated; they believe most economic and social activity is regional rather
than global. And they still see a significant role for nation-states

- Transformationalists: contend that globalization represents a significant

shift, but they question the inevitability of its impacts. They argue that there is
still significant scope for national, local and other agencies

b) Global economy and business transactions

 - Global transformation: refers to the worldwide economic and
technological changes that influence how people relate to one another

Theory: The concept of citizenship

- According to Habermas and Arendt: it is important to understand the

concept of citizenship both historically and geographically

- During antiquity, states began to differentiate between citizens and aliens

(outsiders), who were brought to or resided in the territory under their
jurisdiction

- For instance: a polis reserved certain rights, privileges and duties for its
citizens, that is, free individuals born into the polis

c) Mass migration and international exchange

Necessity and Benefits of Intercultural Communication

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=U5rKgDOs33U&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

a) Multiculturalism

- Multiculturalism is the way in which a society deals with cultural diversity,

both at the national and at the community level. 

- Sociologically, multiculturalism assumes that society as a whole benefits

from increased diversity through the harmonious coexistence of different
cultures.

- Proponents of multiculturalism believe that people should retain at least

some features of their traditional cultures. Opponents say that
multiculturalism threatens the social order by diminishing the identity and
influence of the predominant culture. While acknowledging that it is a
 sociopolitical issue, this article will focus on the sociological aspects of
multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism Theories

The two primary theories or models of multiculturalism as the manner in which

different cultures are integrated into a single society are best defined by the
metaphors commonly used to describe them—the “melting pot” and the “salad
bowl” theories.

- The Melting Pot Theory

The melting pot theory of multiculturalism assumes that various immigrant

groups will tend to “melt together,” abandoning their individual cultures and
eventually becoming fully assimilated into the predominant society. Typically
used to describe the assimilation of immigrants into the United States, the
melting pot theory is often illustrated by the metaphor of a foundry’s smelting
pots in which the elements iron and carbon are melted together to create a
single, stronger metal—steel. In 1782, French-American immigrant J. Hector St.
John de Crevecoeur wrote that in America, “individuals of all nations are melted
into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great
changes in the world.”

The melting pot model has been criticized for reducing diversity, causing people
to lose their traditions, and for having to be enforced through governmental
policy. For example, the U.S. Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 forced the
assimilation of nearly 350,000 Indians into American society without any regard
for the diversity of Native American heritage and lifestyles.

- The Salad Bowl Theory

A more liberal theory of multiculturalism than the melting pot, the salad bowl
theory describes a heterogeneous society in which people coexist but retain at
least some of the unique characteristics of their traditional culture. Like a salad’s
ingredients, different cultures are brought together, but rather than coalescing
into a single homogeneous culture, retain their own distinct flavors. In the United
States, New York City, with its many unique ethnic communities like “Little
India,” “Little Odessa,” and “Chinatown” is considered an example of a salad
bowl society.
The salad bowl theory asserts that it is not necessary for people to give up their
cultural heritage in order to be considered members of the dominant society. For
example, African Americans do not need to stop observing Kwanzaa rather than
Christmas in order to be considered “Americans.”

On the negative side, the cultural differences encouraged by the salad bowl
model can divide a society resulting in prejudice and discrimination. In addition,
critics point to a 2007 study conducted by American political scientist Robert
Putnam showing that people living in salad bowl multicultural communities were
less likely to vote or volunteer for community improvement projects.

- Characteristics of a Multicultural Society

Multicultural societies are characterized by people of different races, ethnicities,

and nationalities living together in the same community. In multicultural
communities, people retain, pass down, celebrate, and share their unique
cultural ways of life, languages, art, traditions, and behaviors.

The characteristics of multiculturalism often spread into the community’s public

schools, where curricula are crafted to introduce young people to the qualities
and benefits of cultural diversity. Though sometimes criticized as a form of
“political correctness,” educational systems in multicultural societies stress the
histories and traditions of minorities in classrooms and textbooks. A 2018 study
conducted by the Pew Research Center found that the “post-millennial”
generation of people ages 6 to 21 are the most diverse generation in American
society.

Far from an exclusively American phenomenon, examples of multiculturalism are

found worldwide. In Argentina, for example, newspaper articles, and radio and
television programs are commonly presented in English, German, Italian, French,
or Portuguese, as well as the country’s native Spanish. Indeed, Argentina’s
constitution promotes immigration by recognizing the right of individuals to
retain multiple citizenships from other countries.

As a key element of the country’s society, Canada adopted multiculturalism as

official policy during the premiership of Pierre Trudeau in the 1970s and 1980s.
In addition, the Canadian constitution, along with laws such as the Canadian
Multiculturalism Act and the Broadcasting Act of 1991, recognize the importance
of multicultural diversity. According to the Canadian Library and Archives, over
200,000 people—representing at least 26 different ethnocultural groups—
immigrate to Canada every year.
 - The Importance of Diversity

Multiculturalism is the key to achieving a high degree of cultural diversity.

Diversity occurs when people of different races, nationalities, religions,
ethnicities, and philosophies come together to form a community. A truly diverse
society is one that recognizes and values the cultural differences in its people.

Proponents of cultural diversity argue that it makes humanity stronger and may,
in fact, be vital to its long-term survival. In 2001, the General Conference of
UNESCO took this position when it asserted in its Universal Declaration on
Cultural Diversity that “...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as
biodiversity is for nature.”

Today, entire countries, workplaces, and schools are increasingly made up of

various cultural, racial, and ethnic groups. By recognizing and learning about
these various group, communities build trust, respect, and understanding across
all cultures.

Communities and organizations in all settings benefit from the different

backgrounds, skills, experiences and new ways of thinking that come with
cultural diversity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-
_Sqf5ZnjX4&ab_channel=LEARNVIRTUALLYWITHDRSANDHYATIWARI

b) Building Intercultural Understanding (SEE REFERENCE)

- Ethnocentrism: means seeing our own culture as the central and best
one, seeing other cultures as insignificant

- Ethnocentrism may lead to prejudice, stereotypes or discrimination

- Cultural relativism: the degree to which an individual judges another

culture by its context (contrast to ethnocentrism); they try to evaluate behaviors
of a culture using that culture’s assumptions about reality

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=HlXAeOnU520&ab_channel=khanacademymedicine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlyS4zrklww&ab_channel=FunSimpleLIFE
c) Promoting International Business Exchange

- According to international business trend report, 3 competencies that are

essential in the global workplace: intercultural communication skills, a problem-
solving ability, global leadership

d) Facilitating Cross-Cultural Adaption

- Cross-cultural adaptation is not a process that is unique to immigrants;

host nationals also have to experience cultural adjustments when their society is
joined by culturally different others
THE COST OF CULTURAL IGNORANCE

Communicators who fail to realize that persons from different cultures may
not look, think, or act as they themselves do run the risk of having those with
whom they interact judge them to be insensitive, ignorant, or culturally
confused. The culturally confused pay a high price. Cultural misunderstandings
often lead to lost opportunities and increased levels of tension between people.
The following examples demonstrate the extent to which cultural ignorance
affects communication:

■ Showing the sole of a shoe means nothing to observers in the United States or
Europe. As a result, when visiting Saudi Arabia, the American and European
delegates to a conference thought nothing about crossing their legs and pointing
their shoes toward the speaker while listening to his presentation. The speaker,
however, was horrified. In Muslim cultures, the gesture is perceived as insulting.
Similarly, while crossing your legs in the United States indicates you are relaxed,
in Korea it is a social faux pas.

■ John, who represented the interests of an American multinational corporation,

and Yu-Chen, his Taiwanese counterpart, had difficulty establishing a working
relationship. John’s eyeblink rate increased as he became more and more
nervous, fearing that his efforts to resolve their misunderstanding had reached
an impasse. This only made things worse. Blinking while another person talks is
considered normal to North Americans; to Taiwanese it is considered impolite.

■ McDonald’s fast-food chain unintentionally offended thousands of Muslims

when it printed an excerpt from the Koran on its throwaway hamburger bags.
Muslims saw this as sacrilegious. The mistake could have been avoided if
McDonald’s had displayed greater sensitivity and awareness.

■ The Japanese view the business card as an extension of a person, while

Americans view it as a business formality and a convenience. Consequently,
while the Japanese handle business cards with great care, making certain to put
them in safe places, Americans are quick to put them away and thus often end
up insulting the Japanese.

■ Arabs typically adopt a direct body orientation when communicating.

Americans employ a stance that is somewhat less direct and thus often find the
communication of Arabs aggressive and unnerving. Arabs and South Americans
also tend to gesture vigorously when speaking to others, causing the less
physical Americans to construe their behavior as inappropriate and unmannerly.
It is common in Middle Eastern cultures for both males and females to physically
exaggerate responses, while in the United States emotions are more likely to be
suppressed. In Japan, individuals may try to hide or mask certain emotions. It is
common among Asian cultures to exhibit reserve and emotional restraint.

■ Eye contact preferences also differ across cultures. Americans place a high
value on eye-to-eye communication and tend to distrust those who fail to look at
them directly. The Japanese, in contrast, believe eye contact over a sustained
period of time shows disrespect. Among Asian cultures, too much eye contact is
deemed intrusive. Arabs, on the other hand, maintain direct eye contact with
those they interact with for prolonged periods.

■ Americans tend to value personal achievement and individualism. In contrast,

Asian and Native American cultures stress group cohesion and loyalty, placing
greater emphasis on group rather than individual achievement.

Failing to develop insights into cultural nuances and differences can be

costly. Recognizing and responding to differences among cultures allows for
more meaningful relationships. At the same time, we need to be mindful that not
everyone from a particular culture exhibits the same characteristics and
communication traits.

This will sensitize you to the ways cultural values and habits influence
interaction. Learning about such differences will help you (1) appropriately
respond to varied communication styles, (2) recognize the need to expand your
choices as a communicator, and (3) increase the effectiveness of your
interactions with persons of different cultures.

The challenge facing us today is clear: to learn to accept cultural, and

therefore communication, differences. Those of us who insist on clinging to the
notion of a melting pot, who refuse to take cultural diversity into account, will
simply not be able to meet the communication needs of our society and our
world. Most likely, we will not only fail to share meaning with others but also not
understand why we fail. When we view the world myopically, we distort our
ability to respond appropriately.

Intercultural communication is nothing new. It has been practiced for as

long as persons of different cultures have interacted with one another. In this
age of increased global contact, however, it is essential that we become even
more interculturally aware and competent.
DEFINING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Whenever cultural variability influences the nature and the effects of

communication, intercultural communication is at work. Thus, when we speak
about intercultural communication, we are concerning ourselves with the
process of interpreting and sharing meanings with individuals from different
cultures. In actuality, intercultural communication comprises a number of forms.
Among its many variations are interracial communication (which occurs when
interactants are of different races), interethnic communication (which occurs
when the communicating parties have different ethnic origins), international
communication (which occurs between persons representing political
structures), and intracultural communication (which includes all forms of
communication among members of the same racial, ethnic, or other co-culture
groups).

Cultures and Co-Cultures

To become more adept at communicating with persons who are culturally

different from ourselves, we need to learn not only about their cultures but also
about our own. A culture is the system of knowledge, beliefs, values, customs,
behaviors, and artifacts that are acquired, shared, and used by its members
during daily living. Within a culture as a whole are co-cultures; these are
composed of members of the same general culture who differ in some ethnic or
sociological way from the parent culture. In our society, African Americans,
Hispanic Americans, Japanese Americans, the disabled, gays and lesbians,
cyberpunks, and the elderly are just some of the co-cultures belonging to the
same general culture.

Persons who believe they belong to a marginalized group—that is, a group

whose members feel like outsiders—have a number of options to choose from
regarding how they want to interact with members of the dominant culture or
even if they want to interact with them at all.

Co-culture members who use the strategy of assimilation attempt to fit

in, or join, with members of the dominant culture. They converse about subjects
that members of the dominant group talk about, such as cars or sports, or they
dress as members of the dominant culture dress. They give up their own ways in
an effort to assume the modes of behavior of the dominant culture. In
comparison, co-culture members who use the strategy of accommodation
attempt to maintain their cultural identity even while they strive to establish
relationships with members of the dominant culture. A gay or lesbian who takes
his or her partner to an occasion in which members of the dominant culture will
be present, such as a company or family celebration, is using the strategy of
accommodation. On the other hand, when members of a co-culture resist
interacting with members of the dominant culture, they employ the strategy of
resistance, or separation. Because these persons, such as Hassidic Jews, prefer
to interact with each other rather than have contact with persons they perceive
to be outsiders, they tend to keep to themselves.

Members of co-cultures can practice passive, assertive, aggressive, or

confrontational communication approaches in their efforts to accomplish
their objectives relative to the dominant culture. Co-culture members who
practice passive communication may use avoidance strategies as they seek to
have as little to do as possible with the dominant group’s members. They do not
attempt to interact with or have contact with those outside their own group.
They passively accept their position in the cultural hierarchy. In contrast, co-
culture members who employ an assertive communication approach seek to
realize their objectives as well as meet the objectives of those with whom they
interact. One assertive technique is relating to the dominant group via liaisons,
persons who share the same cultural identity or trusted members of the
dominant group. In contrast, some co-culture members choose to exhibit a more
aggressive communication approach whereby they become “hurtfully expressive”
and “selfpromoting” and attempt to control the choices the persons they are
interacting with make. Co-culture members who use a confrontational approach
seek to make dominant culture members hear them, recognize them, and react
to them by making it impossible for them to ignore their presence or pretend
they do not exist.

In summary, co-culture members who opt for separation from the

dominant culture typically use a passive communication approach (such as going
to lunch alone, living in an area with similar people), those who seek
accommodation use an assertive approach (such as wearing a yarmulke at work,
wearing a sari to a party), and those who choose assimilation use an aggressive
approach, often becoming confrontational, belligerent, or disruptive (such as the
staging of a protest by a group such as Act Up—a group committed to direct
action to combat the AIDS crisis) in their effort to demarginalize themselves and
enter the world known to members of the dominant culture.

Many theorists believe that an understanding of both the general culture

and its co-cultures is essential if one is to communicate effectively. Merely
knowing another’s language, jargon, or argot or sharing some but not all of a
group’s values does not necessarily ensure understanding. It is also necessary to
become aware of the norms and rules of the culture or co-cultures that might
influence the nature of interactions you have with its members, whether those
interactions occur in public or in private. Whenever a message generated by a
member of one culture or co-culture needs to be processed by a member or
members of another culture or co-culture, the interactants are communicating
interculturally. Thus, when you and the individuals with whom you are
interacting belong to different cultures, for you to understand each other, you
each need to consider the role culture plays in shaping your communication.
According to cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall, culture is communication
and communication is culture. It is your culture that teaches you how to think
and what to think about. It is your culture that teaches you what is beautiful or
ugly, helpful or harmful, appropriate or out of place. Culture is the lens through
which you view the world; it is the mirror you use to reflect and interpret reality.

Culture Guides Communication

Among the lessons taught by culture are how to say “hello” and “good-
bye,” when to speak or remain silent, how to act when you’re angry or upset,
where to focus your eyes when functioning as a source or receiver, how much to
gesture during speech, how close to stand to another, and how to display
happiness or rage at another’s actions. By teaching you lessons like these,
culture guides behavior and communication. It tells you who you are, how to act,
how to think, how to talk, and how to listen.

When cultures meet, when we interact with persons whose values are
different from ours or whose behavioral norms differ from our own, we must first
recognize and acknowledge our differences. We must come to accept diversity if
we are to be able to process other cultures’ influences and communicate with
each other in a meaningful way. Ethnocentrism, the tendency to see your own
culture as superior to all others, is a key characteristic of failed intercultural
communication efforts. Persons who are ethnocentric experience great anxiety
when interacting with persons from different cultures. Quick to utter statements
like “They take our jobs,” “They’re everywhere,” and “They’re just not like us,”
those who embrace ethnocentrism lack cultural flexibility and are particularly
unprepared to meet the challenges posed by our society and our world today.
The more ethnocentric you are, the greater your tendency is to view groups
other than your own as inferior. As a result, you tend to blame others for
problems and seek to maintain your distance from them.
 Cultural relativism is the opposite of ethnocentrism. When you practice
cultural relativism, instead of viewing the group to which you belong as superior
to all others, you work to try to understand the behavior of other groups on the
basis of the context in which the behavior occurs rather than from your own
frame of reference.

THE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IMPERATIVE: REDUCE THE

STRANGENESS OF STRANGERS

While intercultural communication is inevitable, we are neither as effective

nor as successful at it as we could be. The reason is clear: Not all of us work
hard enough to understand or to be understood by those with whom we differ.
According to intercultural communication theorists Larry A. Samovar and
Richard E. Porter, there are too many of “us” who do not work as hard as we
should at intercultural communication simply because we do not wish to live or
interact with “them.” Too many of us have adopted an “us versus them”
mentality, which prevents us from effectively meeting the challenges cultural
diversity presents. To counter this, we need to conduct ourselves in a manner
designed to reduce the strangeness of strangers; that is, we need to open
ourselves to differences by adding to our storehouse of knowledge, by learning
to cope with uncertainty, and by developing an appreciation of how increasing
our cultural sensitivity will positively affect our communication competence.

We take a giant step toward improving intercultural communication by

accepting the fact that our culture is not superior to others. Nor should we base
our behavioral expectations for the members of other cultures on our own
culture’s norms. To do so would cause us to label the responses of those who
belong to other cultures as foreign or strange. To the extent that we are able to
use our understanding of another’s culture to reduce the number of
misunderstandings between us, to the extent that we do not interpret the
behavior of others on the basis of our own frames of reference, we take further
steps toward reducing the strangeness of strangers.

Exploring Cultural Dialectics

Let’s continue by focusing on four variables used to distinguish cultures: (1)

individualism versus collectivism, (2) high-context versus low-context
communication, (3) high power distance versus low power distance, and (4)
masculine or feminine culture. Identified by Hofstede, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck,
and Hall, these dialectics reveal a culture’s values and help us make comparisons
across cultures.

Interpreting Cultural Differences

Where a culture falls on the individualistic-collectivistic, low-context–

highcontext communication, and power distance scales affects the interactional
preferences of its members. In Japanese and Chinese societies, for example,
individuals tend to understate their own accomplishments and successes, while
members of North American cultures typically are taught to be assertive and take
credit for their personal achievements. It appears that individualistic cultures
tend to use low-context communication, while high-context communication tends
to predominate in collectivistic cultures. Thus, whereas members of low-context
communication cultures interact in a direct way with each other, members of
high-context communication cultures interact indirectly. For example, North
Americans tend to speak directly on an issue, whereas individuals from Japan,
Korea, and China prefer to avoid confrontation, to preserve a sense of harmony,
and to make it possible for the individuals with whom they are speaking to save
face, or maintain self-esteem. Similarly, rarely will one Saudi Arabian publicly
criticize another; to do so would label the individual as disloyal and disrespectful.
When persons from diverse power distance cultures interact, unless these
differences in orientation are acknowledged, interactions may well result in
misunderstandings.

IDENTIFYING INFLUENCES ON CULTURAL IDENTITY

We all belong to a number of groups, including gender, age, racial and

ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and national. Our cultural identity is based on
these group memberships.

How we define gender roles, for example, affects the way males and
females present themselves, socialize, work, perceive their futures, and
communicate. U.S. men tend to adopt a problem-solving orientation, while
women tend to be relationship-oriented. We also have ideas regarding the
meaning and significance of age, including how persons our age should look and
behave. In the United States, large numbers of people place great value on
looking youthful and appear to be younger than they are. In contrast, in Muslim,
Asian, and Latin American cultures, people respect, rather than deny, aging. Our
racial and ethnic identities are similarly socially constructed. Some racial and
ethnic groups, for example, share experiences of oppression. Their attitudes and
behaviors may reflect their struggles, influencing their attitudes toward
contemporary issues such as affirmative action. Religious identity is at the
root of countless contemporary conflicts occurring in the Middle East, India and
Pakistan, and BosniaHerzegovina. The proselytizing that occurred at the U.S. Air
Force Academy by Evangelical cadets and officers illustrates the strength and
influence of religious identity. Similarly, socioeconomic identify frames how
we respond to issues of our day. The widening gap between the ultrawealthy
and the middle and lower classes in the United States is contributing to their
developing different attitudes on a wide array of issues. National identity
refers to our legal status or citizenship. People from different countries have
been U.S. citizens for generations, yet some still perceive them as foreigners. Do
you? The reality is that approximately 32 million people (or 11.5 percent of the
total population of the United States) were born in another country.

IDENTIFYING THE IMPACT OF STEREOTYPES AND PREJUDICE

Stereotypes are mental images or pictures we carry around in our heads;

they are shortcuts, whether positive or negative, that guide our reactions to
others. When attached to the way we view the world, stereotypes generate
unrealistic pictures of others and prevent us from distinguishing an individual
from a group. Racial profiling is just one example of how stereotyping affects
worldview.

Prejudice describes how we feel about a group of people whom, more

likely than not, we do not personally know. A negative or positive prejudgment,
prejudice arises either because we want to feel more positively about our own
group, or because we feel others present a threat, real or not. Prejudice leads to
the creation of in-groups and out-groups, with out-group members becoming
easy targets for discrimination. Because of the negative expectations that
stereotypes and prejudices produce, we may try not to interact with people who
are the objects of our prejudices.

TECHNOLOGY AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

The Internet permeates national boundaries and erodes the connection

between location and experience. It enables us to interact more easily with
people who have different worldviews than we do. Although a minority of the
world’s population currently uses the Web, computer connectivity is changing
things. With a few clicks, you can locate a group of people and form associations
with a Web “tribe” or group independent of geography.
 Technology and computer networks are also changing the traditional
definition of a community. When we speak of a communication community
today, no longer are we limited to real neighborhoods. Our concept of
community has widened. Virtual neighborhoods and communities now also
populate the communication landscape. Perhaps the neighborhoods in which we
actually live are not delivering the person-to-person contact we seek. Seeking
surrogate neighborhoods, millions of people communicate online. For many of
us, the Internet, with its worldwide reach, has become an integral part of our
communication lives. However, some critics contend that, rather than bringing us
together, computer networks are isolating us. What is missing from online
communities, they assert, is that which constitutes the essence of a real
neighborhood, including a sense of location and a feeling of permanence and
belonging. They also believe that the culture of computing, especially when it
comes to the Net’s Newsgroups, attracts extreme political positions and
contributes to long-standing international conflicts.

Being able to reach so many different people who live in so many different
places so quickly gives us a new sense of communication power. Wherever we
live, the Internet may also help bring diversity and new cultures into our lives.
Over time, the Internet may help change our social and business lives. Through
it, we may meet a wider array of people. It has the capacity to introduce us to
new friends and contacts and to allow us to network with persons around the
world. The question for us to ponder, however, is the form that these new
alliances will take: Will they be shallow and short-lived or deep and enduring?
Will we commit ourselves emotionally to them or keep our online interactions
superficial? What kinds of relationships will we develop by conversing with
diverse individuals in distant lands without actually meeting them? Will all voices
really be heard? Will we be more or less tolerant of each other? Will we be aware
that words posted to global online groups have consequences, just as they do
when delivered in person?

Our Western version of the Net is loaded with Western culture and
advertising. Even most of us complain about the pop-ups and the advertising
glut. How this emphasis on consumerism is interpreted around the world is a
source of controversy.

We also need to face the fact that in some cultures and religions,
technology is considered evil. Even in our own culture, we have over 100 million
Americans who have no desire to get connected. In the past five years, over 30
million Americans chose to stop using the Internet. Why? Because they desired
to lead a more simple life, asserting that technology was making their lives too
complicated. These people are part of the digital backlash.

There also is the question of who is represented on the Internet. Will we

really be able to interact with diverse groups of people? Currently, African
Americans, the elderly, and the poor are still underrepresented online. In time,
however, increased access via libraries and schools may help change this trend.

If the trend continues, however, the digital divide (information gap) will
widen. Those who are financially able to afford Internet service and the purchase
of new technologies will have an advantage over those who are not. (Typically,
affluent neighborhoods are the first to be wired to receive new services.) The
“information haves” will have access to social and educational services and will
be in position to acquire knowledge and skills that the “have nots” will not have
available, creating what some civil rights leaders call a “technological apartheid.”
The information gap is especially evident along racial, ethnic, age, geographic,
and income lines. What steps, if any, do you think we should take to democratize
access to new technologies?

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE

INTERCULTURALLY

Having the desire to relate more effectively with persons of different

cultures is critical to improving your ability to communicate interculturally. Also
important is limiting your reliance on stereotypes that can diminish your success
when you interact with others. In addition, you need to be able to reduce your
uncertainty levels regarding the persons of different cultures with whom you
communicate. Since you do not necessarily share the same communication rules,
the degree of ambiguity you feel when interacting with them increases as your
ability to predict their responses decreases. The following guidelines should help
you increase your tolerance for ambiguity, enhance your ability to handle new
situations, and better prepare yourself to meet the communication challenges of
today and tomorrow:

■ Refrain from formulating expectations based solely on your own culture.

When those you interact with have diverse communication styles, it is critical
that you acknowledge the differences and accept their validity. By not isolating
yourself within your own group or culture, you allow yourself to be more fully a
part of a multicultural society and thus a better communicator.
■ Recognize how faulty education can impede understanding.

It is important to identify and work to eliminate any personal biases and

prejudices you have developed over the years. Determine, for example, the
extent to which your family and friends have influenced your feelings about
persons from other cultural groups. Do those you have grown up with appear
comfortable or uncomfortable relating to persons of different cultural origins? To
what extent have their attitudes affected your intercultural communication
competence?

■ Make a commitment to develop communication skills and abilities appropriate

to life in a multicultural world.

While culture is a tie that binds, the creation of the global village makes it
essential that you leave the comfort of your cultural niche, become more
knowledgeable of other cultures, and strive to be culturally aware.

It is important to familiarize yourself with the communication rules and

preferences of members of different cultures so that you can increase the
effectiveness of your communication encounters. Your ability to develop
intercultural communication skills depends in large part on how many of the
following promises you are willing to make:

I will make a commitment to seek information from persons whose cultures are
different from my own.

I will try to understand how the experiences of persons from different cultures
leads them to develop perspectives that differ from mine.

I will pay attention to the situation and the context when I communicate with
persons from different cultures.

I will make every effort to become a more flexible communicator.

I will not insist that persons from other cultures communicate with me on my
terms.

Intercultural communication will become increasingly important in the coming

years. We hope you feel better prepared to meet your future.