Why study intercultural communication

At present, there are many practical reasons for studying intercultural communication in Ukraine. We offer three reasons here: global diversity trends, domestic diversity trends, and interpersonal learning opportunities.

Global diversity trends. Workplace diversity on the global level represents both opportunities and challenges to individuals and organisations. Experts suggest that the following five cross-cultural competences be developed worldwide:

(1) understanding political, cultural and business environment from a global perspective;

(2) developing multicultural approaches to conducting business;

(3) being skillful at working with people from many cultures simultaneously;

(4) adapting comfortably to living in different cultures;

(5) learning to interact with international colleagues as equals.

Successful business today depends on effective globalisation. Effective globalisation, in part, depends on dealing with a diverse workforce. Factors that contribute to the diversity of the workforce on the international level include:

Ø development of regional trading blocs (the EU, the North American Free trade Agreement etc.);

Ø communication technologies (the Internet);

Ø migrant worker and guest worker policies (Turkish migrant workers in Germany; massive immigration from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq to Europe in 2015 etc.);

Ø expansion of global political, economic and military blocs (the EU, the NATO) and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

According to a recent Workforce 2020 report, in the span of 15 years, international trade grew by about 120% on the global level. Beyond global business, increased numbers of individuals work in other areas such as government service, humanitarian service, international education etc.

Acquiring the knowledge and skills of mindful intercultural communication is a necessary first step in becoming a global citizen of the 21^st century.

Domestic diversity trends. The study of intercultural communication in domestic Ukraine society is critical for several reasons.

· First, national minority groups and forced migrators from the South-Eastern regions to the central and western parts of Ukraine may account for about 10% of the total new entrants into the workforce nationwide.

· Second, human differences that are inborn (ethnicity, gender, age, social class, physical abilities, sexual orientation etc.) may exert an important impact on our socialisation and lives.

· Third, mutable differences that we acquire and modify throughout our lives (educational level, work experience, income etc.) make up another spectrum of human variations.

Interpersonal learning opportunities. As we enter 21^st century, direct contacts with the representatives of other cultures are inescapable part of life. In a global workplace, people can bring about stress because of unfamiliar way of speaking, way of doing something, and the way of nonverbal expression. They may appear to have a sense of different time and space. For example cultural strangers may appear to approach teamwork and problem-solving tasks differently. People may bring with them different work habits and cultural practices.

However, it is through mindful intercultural communication we may uncover our own diversity and «worthiness». In meeting and working with people who are different from us we may have to open our minds, ears, eyes, and hearts with more alertness and closer attention. As Hall concludes, «We learn more from people who are different from us than from those who are similar to us».

 

What is culture

What do people have to discuss before getting married? What do entrepreneurs have to be sure about before establishing a partnership? The happiness of a family or success of a business depends on the people’s willingness to explore and understand differences and complexities with a lot of patience, commitment and honesty. In other words, people should have common values and share them.

We now turn to a discussion of the concepts of culture and intercultural communication.

Culture is an enigma. It contains both concrete and abstract components. This question has fascinated scholars in various academic disciplines for many decades.

Drawing from D’Andrade’s conceptualization of culture, we define culture as a complex system that consists of patterns of traditions, beliefs, values, norms, symbols and meanings that are shared to varying degrees by interacting members of the society.

It is like an iceberg: the deeper layers (traditions, beliefs, values) are hidden from our view; we only see and hear the upper layer of cultural artifacts (art, music, fashion etc.) and verbal and nonverbal symbols. However, to understand a culture with any depth, we have to match its underlying values accurately with the respective norms meanings and symbols. Furthermore, to understand commonalities between individuals we have to dig deeper into the universal human needs (such as safety, security, dignity, respect, control, connection, and a sense of well-being).

Culturally shared traditions can include myths, legends, ceremonies, rituals, celebrations that are passed on from one generation to the next.

Culturally shared beliefs refer to a set of fundamental assumptions that people hold dearly without question. These beliefs can revolve around questions of human beings; the concept of time, space, and reality; the existence of the supernatural being; and the meaning of life, death etc. Proposed answers to many of these questions can be found in the major religions of the world such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

Cultural values refer to a set of priorities that guide “good” or “bad” behaviours, “desirable” or “undesirable” practices, “fair” or “unfair” actions. Cultural values (e.g. individual competitiveness vs. group harmony) can serve as the motivational bases for action, logic of behaviour, goals to be achieved.

Cultural norms refer to set of collective expectations of proper or improper behaviour in a given situation. They guide the algorithm (e.g. appropriate sequence of activities) we and others should follow in a particular situation (e.g. how to greet a professor, how to introduce yourself to a stranger). While cultural beliefs and values are deep seated and invisible, norms can be readily observed through behaviours. Oftentimes, our ignorance of a different culture’s norms can produce international clashes as people may not even notice that they violated other culture’s norms and rules in a particular situation.

A symbol is a sign (a national flag), artifact (music, fashion), words, gestures that reflects something meaningful. The meanings or interpretations that we attach to the symbols may be both objective and subjective. The example is the linguistic symbol «home». «Home» on the objective level refers to «a family’s place for residence». On the subjective level «home» can connote spirituality, belonging, identity, sacred place etc. Oftentimes, we learn the values of a cultural community through the acquisition of its linguistic symbols.

What is cultural identity

All individuals are socialized within a larger cultural membership group. No individual person develops a sense of self in a vacuum. Personal identity is developed in conjunction with social identity and vice versa. Both personal identity and social identity are acquired and developed within the larger webs of culture. Regardless of whether we may or may not be conscious of these identities, they influence our everyday behavior in a generalized or particularized manner. The scholars emphasize eight identity domains in influencing our everyday interactions. Cultural identity, ethnic identity, gender identity, personal identity are viewed as Primary identities, whereas role identity, relationship identity, facework identity and interaction identity are situational identities, that is changeable from one situation to the next.

Both primary and situational identities mutually influence one another. For example, our gender identity influence our evaluations of how male and female should or should not behave in a given situation. Both language and nonverbal styles represent part of our interaction identity. Taken together, these eight identity domains influence a person’s behavior in a certain communication episode.