INTERCULTURAL

COMMUNICATION
“…One of the world’s
most significant
problems: Intercultural
relations…”

Edward T. Hall
 Intercultural communication is:
communication between at least two people
from different cultures.
 WHY STUDY
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION?
 Increasing interaction between people due to
globalization

 Increasing diversity in workplaces

 Increasing need to develop caring, responsible

and
ethical business leaders
 ‘Culture’ in
intercultural
communication?
FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF CULTURE
1.Culture is Learned- The first essential
characteristic of culture that it is learned.

2.Culture is shared by a group of people- It must

be commonly shared by some population or group
of individuals.is that it is learned.

3.Cultureis Cumulative- It is stored and passed on

from one generation to the next and new
knowledge is being added to what is existing.
4.Culture is Dynamic- No culture is ever in a
permanent state. It is constantly changing
because new ideas and techniques are added
and old ways are constantly modified and
discarded.
5.Culture is Diverse- The sum of human culture
consist of a great many separate cultures each of
them different.
6.Culture gives us a range of permissible
behaviour- Every culture allows a range in which
men can be men and women can be women.
INTERCULTURAL DOMAINS
 National cultures
 Social groups
 Ethnic groups
 Genders
 Age or generational
groups
(and more…)
 National culture
The set of norms,
behaviours, beliefs
and customs that
exist within the
population of a
sovereign nation.
  Social group
 Unit of inter acting people with
interdependence of roles and status existing
between and among themselves.
 Ethnic groups
 a community or population made up of
people who share a common cultural
background or descent.
 Gender

 The state of being

male or female
(typically used with
reference to social
and cultural
differences rather
than biological
ones).
  Age or general
groups

 One of the stages of

life , the length of an
existence
extending from the
beginning to any
given time
 IMPLICATIONS

If intercultural communication is

communication between at least two people
from different cultures…
ALL communication between people is
essentially intercultural.
Different types of cultures shape
communication.
 CULTURAL ORIENTATIONS
1. How context affects communication: (Something that
happens)

High Context (RICH)

Low Context (POOR)

2. How face-saving affects communication.

3. How the individual is viewed in relation to

the group.

INDIVIDUALIST
COLLECTIVIST
4) How time is perceived (Become aware)

Mono-chronic
(Continuing)
Poly-chronic
(Continuing
 MONOCHRONIC and
Polychronic
“Some cultures are traditionally”
Monochronic. In such a culture, time is
thought of as being linear. People are
expected to do one thing at a time, and they
will not tolerate lateness or interruptions.

In Polychronic culture is thought of as being

cyclical. (Continues)
5) How power is distributed

Flat (Equal) Hierarchical

(Church)
6) How decisions are made

Top-down
(Controlled or
directed from the Through consensus
highest levels) (Shared by all the
people in a group)
Reminder: Cultural Orientations
are NOT dichotomies (Difference
between two opposite groups);
they are tendencies (Way of
behaving).
 DOMAINS: Verbal
 Choice of words
 Organization of messages
 DOMAINS: Non-verbal
Body language
• Eye contact
• Laughter
• Touch
• Tone volume and
Speed
• Turn taking and
silence
 STEPS TOWARDS EFFECTIVE
intercultural COMMUNICATION
 Develop a sense of cultural awareness.
 Do not be ethnocentric (Own Culture centered).
 Listen genuinely when others speak.
 Do not lapse into your own language while in the
presence of others who do not speak it.
 Take responsibility for the communication (e.g.,
if miscommunication happens, it is not always the
other person’s fault)
 Do not stereo type.
Intercultural
communication: CONCLUSION

 Respects people as part

of a group AND as
individuals.

 Is not about interaction

between national cultures
only.