INTERCULTURAL

COMMUNICATION
COMPETENCE
CHAPTER 3
 In this chapter

1. Four common metaphors used to describe U.S. cultural diversity

2. Appropriate terms to use when referring to people and cultural groups in the
United States

3. Context, appropriateness, and effectiveness in assessing intercultural

communication competence

4. Knowledge, motivations, and skills

5. BASIC tool

6. Description, Interpretation, and Evaluation

 The United States as an
Intercultural Community

Part 1
 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

The melting pot metaphor implies that the

U.S. is like a huge crucible, a container that
can withstand extremely high temperatures
and can therefore be used to melt, mix, and
ultimately fuse together metals or other
substances

(the “substances” are people of various

cultures)
 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

• The oldest metaphor.

• Represent a blending of cultural groups to
create one great assimilated culture that
is stronger and better than the unique
individual cultures.
• The melting pot metaphor has never been
an accurate description and such blending
and loss of cultural identity has never
really existed.
 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

The tributaries metaphor implies that the

U.S. is like a huge cultural watershed,
providing numerous paths in which many
tributary cultures flow.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

• This metaphor implies that it is acceptable and

desirable for cultural groups to maintain their
identities, but only in the short term.
• It assumes that all of the “secondary” creeks
(cultures) will eventually blend into a single
common river (mainstream culture).
• It suggests that individual tributary cultures are
small, less important entities than the
“mainstream” culture.
• It also suggests that, eventually, smaller cultures This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

will eventually blend into the mainstream culture.

 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

The tapestry metaphor suggests that the

U.S. is like a decorative cloth made up of
different threads, colors, and patterns.
• Each thread, which can differ according
to thickness, color and the like, is akin to
a person, and groupings of similar
threads are analogous to culture.
• Also, the weaving in the tapestry can
vary from location to location.
 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

This metaphor is not a completely accurate

way to describe the cultures in the U.S.
1. As a tapestry is rather static and
unchangeable, the metaphor suggests
that the U.S. is a static society that does
not change.
2. Cultural groups in the U.S. are more
fluid and are more easily altered than
this metaphor suggests.
 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

• The garden salad metaphor implies that

the U.S. population is like a salad that is
made up of distinct ingredients that are
continuously being tossed.
• It suggests that the U.S. is made up of
an array of distinct cultures that provide
a unique combination of tints and
textures that blend into a unique
mixture.
 Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity

The garden salad metaphor is not without

faults:

1. It suggests an absence of firmness and

stability; it is always in a state of flux.

2. Cultural groups in the U.S. are not

always moving, mixing, and mingling with
the speed and alacrity (eagerness) that this
metaphor suggests.
What do you call someone from the United States of
America?

1. American
2. North American
3. United Statians or United Staters
4. U.S. American
What’s wrong with the terms?

Dominant culture
1. Suggested the economic & political power of white U.S.
American
2. The control of one cultural group
3. people from non-dominant cultures: somehow
subordinate or inferior
→ no longer accurately reflects the current reality.
What’s wrong with the terms?

Majority culture:
1. implies that the majority of U.S. Americans are from a
particular cultural group
2. had negative connotations for members of other groups
→ not important as members of the majority group
3. Now increasing number of non-white population → white
U.S. Americans no longer a majority
Terms used for describing cultural groups in the
United States

1. Some terms have negative associations

• The terms White and Caucasian refer to a particular race
and a racial category does not necessarily identify and
distinguish a particular culture.
DISCUSSION
When Barack Obama was elected as the
president of the United States, numerous
voices deemed the United States to be “post -
racial.” Do you agree that the United States is
a post-racial society? Why or why not? What
examples from experiences in your community
can you provide to support your claim?
Terms used for describing cultural groups in the
United States

2. More appropriate terms should be used to describe

cultural groups of people that reside in the U.S.
• African American
• Hispanic, Chicano Mexican American, Mexican American,
and Latino
• Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders
Competence and Intercultural
Communication

Part 2
Intercultural communication competence

Competent communication is an interaction that is

perceived as effective in fulfilling certain rewarding
objectives in a way that is also appropriate to the context
in which the interaction occurs.
Intercultural communication competence

1. Competence must be perceived by those involved

• Communication competence is a social judgment about
how well a person interacts with others.
• It will always be specific to the context and interpersonal
relationship within which it occurs.
Intercultural communication competence

2. Competent communication must be appropriate

• It must fit the expectations and demands of the situation.
• People must use the symbols they are expected to use in a
given context.

3. Competent communication must be effective and

achieve the desired personal outcome.
The COMPONENTS of intercultural competence

1. Intercultural competence is contextual

• Intercultural competence: NOT independent of the
relationships and situations within which communication
occurs.
• Intercultural competence is judged with respect to:
✓ a specific relational context
✓ a particular situational context
The COMPONENTS of intercultural competence

2. Intercultural competence requires behaviors that are

both appropriate and effective

proper & suitable behaviors

behaviors leading to the

achievement of desired outcomes
The COMPONENTS of intercultural competence

3. Intercultural competence requires sufficient

knowledge, suitable motivations, and skilled actions.
• Knowledge: refers to the cognitive information you need
to have about:
✓ the people
✓ the context
✓ the norms of appropriateness that operate in a
specific culture.
The COMPONENTS of intercultural competence

Knowledge includes:
• Culture-general information
E.g.: this course – a source for cultural-general knowledge.

• Culture-specific information
E.g.: Tourists –> guidebooks providing info. about
transportation, food, shopping, and entertainment, etc.
The COMPONENTS of intercultural competence

3. Knowledge, motivations, and actions.

• Motivations include the overall set of emotional associations that
people have as they anticipate and actually communicate
interculturally.

✓ Feelings: emotional or affective states

✓ Intentions: what guide your choices in a particular intercultural

interaction.

• Actions: actual performance of the behaviors that are regarded as

appropriate and effective.
Basic Tools for Improving
Intercultural Competence

Part 3
Basic Tools for Improving Intercultural Competence

Two instruments:
1. The BASICS of intercultural competence
(Behavioral Assessment Scale for Intercultural Competence)
2. Description, interpretation, and evaluation
The BASICS of intercultural competence

• The BASICs of intercultural competence: a behavioral

assessment scale that is based on the idea that a person’s
behaviors—and not on internalized attitudes or
projections of what you might do—are what others use to
determine intercultural competence.
• The BASIC descriptions of behavior are culture-general.
The BASICS of intercultural competence

1. Display of respect 7. Tolerance for ambiguity

2. Orientation to knowledge 8. Interaction posture
3. Empathy
4. Interaction management
5. Task role behavior
6. Relational role behavior
The BASICS of intercultural competence

1. Display of respect: shown through verbal & nonverbal

symbols
✓ Verbal: use of titles, absence of jargon, etc.
✓ Nonverbal: position of the body, facial expressions, and
eye contact in prescribed ways.
NB: What constitutes respect in one culture will not
necessarily regarded as respectful in another.
The BASICS of intercultural competence

2. Orientation to knowledge refers to the terms people use

to explain themselves and the world around them.
• A competent orientation to knowledge occurs when people’s
language and actions demonstrate that all experiences and
interpretations are individual and personal rather than universally
shared by others.

• It is natural to think, and then to behave, as if your personal

knowledge and experiences are universal, but intercultural
competence requires an ability to move beyond the perspective of
your cultural framework.
The BASICS of intercultural competence

Examples of ineffective orientation to knowledge:

(a) “New Yorkers must be crazy to live in that city.
→ should be: “I find NY a very difficult place to live and
would not want to live.

(b) “Parisians are rude and unfriendly.”

→ should be “Many of the people I interacted with when
visiting Paris were not friendly or courteous to me.”
The BASICS of intercultural competence

3. Empathy: ability of individuals to communicate an

awareness of another person’s thoughts, feelings, &
experiences.

4. Interaction Management: skills at starting and ending

interactions among participants and at taking turns (verbally
& nonverbally) and maintaining a discussion.
The BASICS of intercultural competence

5. Task role behavior refers to those skills that contribute

to a group’s problem-solving skills and performance.

6. Relational role behavior: deals with efforts to build and

maintain personal relationships that demonstrate support for
others and that help solidify feelings of participation.
The BASICS of intercultural competence

7. Tolerance for ambiguity refers to the extent to which an

individual can deal with unpredictability and uncertainty.
New situations?
✓ Some: nervous, frustrated -> show anger, sarcasm
✓ Others: quickly adapt -> see them as a challenge
The BASICS of intercultural competence

8. Interaction posture: ability to respond to others in a way

that is descriptive, nonevaluative, and nonjudgmental.

→ Characterized by verbal and nonverbal responses based

on descriptions, not interpretation or evaluation
Description, Interpretation, and Evaluation (D -I-E)

D-I-E tool increases understanding, positive response, and

appropriate behavior
• Description: what we see, observe, hear (perceptual
information)
• Interpretation: the hypothesis about what the perceptual
information might mean
• Evaluation: emotional or affective judgment about the
information
Description, Interpretation, and Evaluation (D -I-E)

1. Kathryn arrived 10 minutes late after the start of the

class. → Description

2. Kathryn doesn’t care much about this particular

class. → Interpretation

3. I am really offended by that attitude. → evaluation

Description, Interpretation, and Evaluation (D -I-E)

1. “My American friend is moving out of her house next month.”

2. “She doesn’t really love her parents.”
3. “Many American families do not have a close-knit
relationship.”
4. “She didn’t like my cooking. She didn’t finish all the food in
her plate.”
5. She doesn’t laugh at things that are funny.
6. She has no sense of humor.
 Description, Interpretation, and Evaluation (D -I-E)

7. “My American girlfriend smiles frequently when she talks to men.”

8. “ She is not a good woman. She flirts with strange men.”

9. “ I saw my American boss serve coffee to a visitor. The secretary

didn’t help.”

10.“ The secretary is not good. She didn’t like to take care of her boss.”

11.American teacher: “I gave a compliment to an Asian student on my

English class. She looked down and did not accept my compliment.”