Kevin Arpi

Intercultural Communication – Research Paper

Oral Communication

Professor Wilkerson

4/24/24
 An Expanded Look at Intercultural Communication

For my research paper, I will be researching and learning more about Intercultural

Communication. When we first learned about it in class, it intrigued me to learn more about it

beyond the classroom, as well as discuss it in this research paper. Intercultural Communication is

an important concept we as a society should keep following, so we can understand to be

accepting of all people and cultures, and furthermore understand that we all do things differently

based on our culture, and it shouldn’t be shamed upon. There are different methods to approach

people while being culturally sensitive which will be covered as well.

The word ‘culture’ is a broad term to describe a big group of people. More words that

help represent the word culture are religion, food, music, political and economic structures, etc.

Furthermore, each culture is practiced differently, and may appear strange or unusual at first to

those who are not accustomed to it. Milton J. Bennett, Ph.D. of IDR Institute writes “In these and

other cases, the culture is generated not by any particular belief or behavior of the group, but by

the need to coordinate meaning and action among more frequently interacting people” (Bennett).

So cultures are not specific by just one thing and is more about how often they are in contact

with people with similarities. Some examples of this include sexual orientation or religion, as it

brings people together not only because of the specific belief, but rather because they agree with

each other’s perspective. So, culture is not limited to only racial or ethnic relativi

Now, major problems can arise if an understanding of intercultural communication is not

reached. Being respectful and culturally appropriate are great approaches to unfamiliar cultures

and forms of communication. Being able to adapt to new styles of people is an important factor

in intercultural communication. Learning intercultural communication skills are important to

learn as they can be applied to every job occupation. Furthermore, there are multiple intercultural

communication theories which provide different approaches to people with unfamiliar cultures.

Ehlion, a website specializing in international communication, provides the 4 approaches

to intercultural communication theories. The first theory, critical approach, is an approach where

the researcher examines cultures and the differences between their own and another one, and

how they’re viewed across the media. Critical research helps give the researcher a deep

understanding of a new culture. Next, the dialectical approach, which uses six dichotomies to

help understand intercultural communication, which include the following: differences vs

similarities, privilege vs disadvantage, personal vs contextual, static vs dynamic, history vs

past/present vs future, and cultural vs individual. These dichotomies help the researcher

understand cultures and intercultural communication by keeping an open approach to new

information with a specific approach based on the situation it calls for.

Furthermore, the next communication theory is the social science approach. This

approach is the result of the researcher observing the behavior of a person with a different

background and comparing what they’ve learned from this culture to another. It also helps a

researcher understand how people from different cultures adjust their communication skills

depending on who they’re speaking to and their relationship. This approach is a great way to

learn to understand intercultural communication as it’s something simple anyone can do at any

location, whether in an educational setting or at work. Beyond this approach, the final approach

is the interpretive approach. The interpretive approach is the communication of personal stories

and coming to an understanding of a culture by being able to describe it rather than coming to an

assumption. These communication theories provided by Ehlion help people to grasp an

understanding to approach people with an open mind. These approaches are simple to follow, all

while being culturally sensitive.

Moving along, intercultural communication is applied throughout pretty much any

situation. So much so, intercultural consultation has become a job occupation to help people deal

with new cultures and norms. Their approaches to certain cases are highlighted in this book. In a

book titled ‘Enhancing Intercultural Communication in Organizations: Insight from Project

Advisors', the authors write “...parents want their children to be able to communicate with family

members that only speak the minority language. They also want their children to get access to

the minority culture, as part of their mixed identity. Competence in the minority language may

help them to achieve these goals” (Beerkans et al., 78-79). Essentially, the majority of minority

parents expect their children to be able to speak their native language, and sometimes worry that

by learning English or any new language may lead them to forget their native language and

culture. After conducting research based on parents’ concerns, these intercultural consultants

found that there was a positive correlation to children learning to be bilingual at a young age and

are able to grasp the differences between both languages. So, with the assistance of intercultural

consultants, the understanding of intercultural communication and any concerns brought up

within certain cultures will greatly improve as these consultants listen to problems and concerns

and help find solutions that respects cultures.

Furthermore, intercultural communication can be applied to situations beyond personal

communication. In a book titled ‘Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life’, the authors

write “We realize that what we always thought was friendship, success, beauty, family, or

democracy is in fact something that our culture has defined for us, and often such forces are not

simply the neutral flowing of culture from one construction of beauty to another, but are
manipulated by corporations, advertisers, politicians, and citizens who benefit from particular

views of the world” (Baldwin et al., 6). Our viewpoints on people and cultures can sometimes

become influenced by those around us, or even political leaders we typically see on the news. It

is important to know to follow the basis of intercultural communication, always to keep an open

mind and not come to conclusions based on the way someone speaks or acts. At the end of the

day, it’s up to us to be respectful and accepting of one another, without allowing outside parties

to influence our daily lives, especially if it’s a negative outlook. Furthermore, it is up to our own

judgment to decide what is right or wrong, and while listening to other people’s opinions for

advice could be helpful, it is important to get all the facts before coming to a conclusion.

Moving along, stereotypes play a major role in the discussion of intercultural

communication. To help paint a picture to this topic, in a textbook titled ‘Intercultural

Communication”, the author, Susan Eckert, dives deep into the aspects of intercultural

communication. In the textbook, Eckert writes “While the melting pot analogy represents a

long-standing American expectation that newly arrived immigrants will assimilate into the

dominant American culture, a Society for Human Resources Management report identified an

increasingly outspoken loyalty to cultural heritage among ethnic minorities” (Eckert, 6). Eckert

explains that immigrants typically stay local to their cultural heritage while also adapting to new

cultural norms. This textbook was published in 2005, and since then, views on immigrants

coming to America have changed. Today, many Americans have a developed stereotype on

immigrants, coming to a conclusion that they’re here to steal jobs from them, that their cultures

and beliefs will begin to take over their own, and believing they will act in an untypical manner.

Therefore, stereotypes can lead to false information and misunderstandings, which will change
how people will communicate with each other. The next paragraph will expand further on

stereotypes and the role they play in intercultural communication.

So, as mentioned above, stereotypes are developed beliefs of a certain group of people. In

an online journal titled ‘Intercultural Stereotypes and the Role of Critical and Creative Thinking

to Overcome Them’, written by Justin Braslauskas, found that “Stereotypes reduce the

uncertainty in the communication process and increase our confidence in predicting the

behaviour of strangers. Yet, most often, relying on stereotypes, we overestimate the common

features of a certain group, do not estimate individual differences, and do so automatically

without thinking” (Braslauskas, 247). While stereotypes may not always be a negative belief, it

is wrong to follow an unconfirmed belief instead of learning more about the person and their

culture. As the quote says, we estimate a person based on the common features of their ethnic

group rather than factoring in that they’re an individual person with their own set of beliefs.

People associated with negative stereotypes may deal with less communication with others,

while people associated with positive stereotypes may appear more approachable. Some

examples of positive stereotypes in a group of people include the belief that Asian people have

better math comprehension than most, or black people typically being more athletic, etc.

However, just because something is labeled as positive doesn’t make it a good thing. Positive

stereotypes like negative stereotypes judges a person based off their race or ethnicity rather than

who they are as a person. Furthermore, if a person doesn’t exhibit the skills correlated with

positive stereotypes, they may feel like they’re falling behind or not living up to standards.

Moving along, two important factors that are involved with intercultural communication

are Cultural Relativism and Culture Shock. First, cultural relativism is the understanding that

what is considered correct in one culture may differ to another culture and be considered wrong.
One example of cultural relativism is that in the United States, people typically have a

conversation while being at least 2 feet away from each other, while in China, people who are

engaging in conversation stand very close to each other, invading personal space. Both actions

may appear wrong to either side, however the norms established in the country help make it

seem correct. Next, Culture Shock is the feeling of confusion and uncertainty while in unfamiliar

surroundings. This can be applied to the first paragraph of stereotypes I discussed. Lots of

immigrants' face culture shock at first, as they will compare the norms and language they’re

accustomed to, to the new country they’re in. While experiencing culture shock, they will

eventually adapt the new customs in the country into their lifestyle. To deal with culture shock, it

is important to have someone teach you the new norms in the country you’re in, while also

keeping in touch back home to help rid the feeling of homesickness and anxiety. Cultural

Relativism and Culture Shock therefore are in correlation with Intercultural Communication as

they both deal with the collaboration of two different cultures, and how someone may approach

an unknown culture with being open minded and respectful. At some point, we all may

experience either cultural relativism or culture shock, such as going on vacation within the

country or out of country. These concepts can be experienced right in the same town someone

lives in and doesn’t have to entirely be an out of country experience.

To conclude, this research paper dove deep into Intercultural Communication and what is

associated with it. These associations include stereotypes, cultural relativism, culture shock,

theories and approaches, occupations and daily interactions. Intercultural communication is

something we have experienced before and will continue to experience in the future here in the

United States, as the country is ethnically and racially diverse. Remembering the main point of

intercultural communication, which is to remain open minded and respectful of other cultures,
while expanding on your own culture will provide great communication skills and trust between

one another. Intercultural Communication is just one of the topics covered in this class, and as I

mentioned before, I chose this topic because it is very interesting to me being a person of color,

and how I apply to my everyday life, whether at the University or at work, or even out in public.
 Works Cited

Bennett, Milton J. “Intercultural Communication.” IDRInstitute, 2013,

www.idrinstitute.org/resources/intercultural-communication/.

“What Is Intercultural Communication?: EHLION.” EHLION Language Consultancy,

winter 2024, ehlion.com/magazine/intercultural-communication/.

Enhancing Intercultural Communication in Organizations : Insights from Project

Advisers, edited by Roos Beerkens, et al., Taylor & Francis Group, 2020. ProQuest Ebook

Central, ProQuest Ebook Central - Book Details

Baldwin, John R., et al. Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life, John Wiley &

Sons, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, ProQuest Ebook Central - Book Details

Eckert, Susan. “Intercultural Communication.” Open Library, Mason, Ohio :

Thomson/South-Western, 1 Jan. 2005,

archive.org/details/interculturalcom0000ecke/page/n3/mode/2up.