Local and Global

Communication in
Multicultural Settings
 FAMILY TIME
FOOD

CLOTHIN MONEY
G

HOLIDAYS HISTORY

MUSIC RELIGION

TRADITIONAL STORIES
 “Culture guides communication.”
HOW?

It tells you who you are, how to act, how to think,

how to talk, and how to listen.
 Cultural Relativism
Ethnocentrism the acceptance of
Introduced by Sumner in other cultural groups
1906. as equal in value to
one’s own.
the belief that your cultural
or ethnic group is superior to
all other cultural and ethnic
groups (Myers, 2014).

Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism

 Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism
Evaluate the extent to which you display cultural
ethnocentric or culturally relativistic tendencies by
labelling the following statements TRUE or FALSE.
1. I would rather communicate with someone like me
than with someone unlike me.
2. I can cooperate with people like me, but I find it is
difficult to cooperate with people unlike me.
3. I trust those who are like me more freely than I trust
those who are different from me.
4. I am less fearful when I am around people like me
than when I am around people unlike me.
5. I go out of my way to be with people like me.
6. I go out of my way to maintain my distance from
people unlike me.
7. I am much more apt to blame people unlike me for
causing trouble than I am to blame people like me.
8. I use my frame of reference to assess the rightness
of the behaviors of people like and unlike me.
9. I believe that people unlike me threaten my ability to
succeed.
10. I believe that people unlike me should make an
effort to become more like me.
 Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism

1. What do your answers and examples tell you about the

extent to which you and others practice ethnocentrism
or cultural relativism?
2. Are there some cultures different from your own that
you are more comfortable with than others? Why do you
think that is so?
3. Are you content with your responses? Why or why not?
What steps are you willing to take, if any, to minimize
the potentially negative effects of ethnocentrism?
What role does English play in world affairs?
Rebecca L. Oxford (c) 2008
The Story of English
10
Rebecca L. Oxford (c) 2008 12
GUESSING GAME
1. "I have three loonies in my pocket.”

loonies (plural): a Canadian one-dollar coin, introduced in

1987.
2.“My momma is fixin’ tuh have a conniption fit
if you don’t do them dishes right quick.”

Texas slang
Conniption fit- to get upset and raise a ruckus
3.

Manglish, Singlish- placed at the end of a phrase or

sentence either for emphasis or reassurance.
Tom McArthur’s Circle of World
Englishes 1987
Kachru’s “Circles” Theory

 Many varieties of
English are found
across the globe.
Kachru (1992) has
classified these
varieties as those
used in the ‘inner
circle’, the ‘outer
circle’, and the
‘expanding circle’.
 Another way of classifying Englishes

New Englishes Older Englishes (English-based) Pidgins,

Creoles and Decreolized
varieties
Africa North America Africa
Kenyan English American English West African Pidgin
Nigerian English Canadian English Papua New Guinea
South Asia Great Britain Tok Pisin
Indian English English English Sierra Leone
Lankan English Scots Krio
Pakistani English Northern Ireland and the USA
Southeast Asia Republic of Ireland Black English
Filipino English Irish English Vernacular
Malaysian English Southern Indian and Hawaii English
Singpore English Pacific Oceans Creole
Etc. Australian English Vanuatu
New Zealand Bislama
English Etc.
Etc.

Source: p. 9, Kandiah, T. (1998) Why New Englishes?

Video to watch
Please watch the
video on 30
Varieties of English
Across the World in
Week 2 folder.
PHILIPPINE ENGLISH (PhE)

“We shouldn’t be afraid of it.”

- Bautista (2008)
 PHILIPPINE ENGLISH (PhE)

 Joins other new Englishes, which are usually

juxtaposed against the “older” Englishes (i.e.
British, American & Australian).

 Belongs to the group of countries where

English is spoken as a second/official
language (Kachru’s Outer Circle model).
Culture- a system of knowledge, beliefs, values,
customs, behaviors and artifacts that are acquired,
shared, and used by members during daily living.

Co-cultures- groups of persons who differ in some ethnic

or sociological way from the parent culture.
 BEING CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE
international communication- communication between
persons representing different nations;
intra-cultural communication- interactions with
members of the same racial or ethnic groups or co-culture
as yours;
intercultural communication- interaction with
individuals from different cultures;
interracial communication- the interpreting and sharing
of meanings with individuals from different races; and,
interethnic communication- interaction with individuals
of different ethnic origins.
*Please watch
Tunay na Buhay
in Week 2 folder.
Why do we need to
be aware of cultural
differences?

Why do we need to
be culturally
appropriate?
 The Cost of Ignorance
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 resole
their misunderstanding had reached an impasse. This only
made things worse.

Blinking while another person talks is considered

normal to North Americans; to the Taiwanese, it is
considered impolite.
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.
McDonald’s fast-food chain unintentionally offended
thousands of Muslims when it printed an excerpt from the
Koran on its throwaway hamburger bags. It was for the
World Cup promotion featuring the flags of the 24 nations
competing for the summer's soccer championship. One of
the flags was that of Saudi Arabia. The green and white
Saudi flag bears an Arabic passage that can be translated
as "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his
Prophet.“
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 the Americans view it as a business formality
and a convenience. Consequently, while the Japanese
handle business cards with greater care, making certain to
put them in safe places, Americans are quick to put them
away and thus often end up insulting the Japanese.
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 that
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.
Think about this…

What happens if
we fail to develop
insights into
cultural nuances
and differences?
 How do People Respond?

Assimilation- the means by which co-culture members

attempt to fit in with members of the dominant culture.

Accommodation-the means by which co-culture

members maintain their cultural identity while striving to
establish relationships with members of the dominant
culture.

Separation- the means by which co-culture members

use to resist interacting with members of the dominant
culture.