Intercultural communications

What would be the hardest part of an overseas assignment for you and why?
What would be the easiest part of an overseas assignment for you and why?Where culture had once been viewed by anthropologists as a single, distinct way of living, Hall saw how the perspective of the individual influences interaction. By focusing on interactions rather than cultures as separate from individuals, he asked us to evaluate the many cultures we ourselves belong to or are influenced by as well as those with whom we interact. While his view makes the study of intercultural communication far more complex, it also brings a healthy dose of reality to the discussion. Hall is generally credited with eight contributions to our study of intercultural communication (Chen, G. and Starosta, W., 2000; Leeds-Hurwitz, W., 1990; McLean, S., 2005): 1. Compare cultures. Focus on the interactions versus general observations of culture. 2. Shift to local perspective. Local level versus global perspective. 3. You don’t have to know everything to know something. Time, space, gestures, and gender roles can be studied, even if we lack a larger understanding of the entire culture. 4. There are rules we can learn. People create rules for themselves in each community that we can learn from, compare, and contrast. 5. Experience counts. Personal experience has value in addition to more comprehensive studies of interaction and culture. 6. Perspectives can differ. Descriptive linguistics serves as a model to understand cultures, and the U.S. Foreign Service adopted it as a base for training. 7. Intercultural communication can be applied to international business. U.S. Foreign Service training yielded applications for trade and commerce and became a point of study for business majors. 8. It integrates the disciplines. Culture and communication are intertwined and bring together many academic disciplines.

Acculturation, or the transition to living abroad, is often described as an emotional rollercoaster. Steven Rhinesmith provides ten steps that show the process of acculturation, including culture shock, that you may experience: 1. Initial anxiety 2. Initial elation 3. Initial culture shock 4. Superficial adjustment 5. Depression-frustration 6. Acceptance of host culture 7. Return anxiety 8. Return elation 9. Reentry shock 10. Reintegration Humans fear the unknown, and even if your tolerance for uncertainty is high, you may experience a degree of anxiety in anticipation of your arrival.

Cultures have distinct orientations when it comes to rules, uncertainty, time and time horizon, masculinity, directness, materialism, and power distance.

• Common purpose and sendse of mission
• Common values and principles
• common history and traditions
• Common symbol, boundaries, status, language and rituals
• Divergent cultural characteristics – Cultures reflect this inequality, this diversity, and the divergent range of values, symbols, and meanings across communities.
• Uncertainty -accepting cultures vs  uncertainty  rejecting cultures
• Short tem vs long term oriuentation
• Masculine vs feminine orientation
• Materialism vs relationsjops
• Low power vs high power distance
• Political, legal and economic systems

Living and Working Abroad In order to learn to swim you have to get in the water, and all the research and preparation cannot take the place of direct experience. Your awareness of culture shock may help you adjust, and your preparation by learning some of 18.7 The International Assignment 575 the language will assist you, but know that living and working abroad take time and effort. Still, there are several guidelines that can serve you well as you start your new life in a strange land: 1. Be open and creative. People will eat foods that seem strange or do things in a new way, and your openness and creativity can play a positive role in your adjustment. Staying close to your living quarters or surrounding yourself with similar expats can limit your exposure to and understanding of the local cultures. While the familiar may be comfortable, and the new setting may be uncomfortable, you will learn much more about your host culture and yourself if you make the effort to be open to new experiences. Being open involves getting out of your comfort zone. 2. Be self-reliant. Things that were once easy or took little time may now be challenging or consume your whole day. Focus on your ability to resolve issues, learn new ways to get the job done, and be prepared to do new things. 3. Keep a balanced perspective. Your host culture isn’t perfect. Humans aren’t perfect, and neither was your home culture. Each location and cultural community has strengths you can learn from if you are open to them. 4. Be patient. Take your time, and know a silent period is normal. The textbook language classes only provide a base from which you will learn how people who live in the host country actually communicate. You didn’t learn to walk in a day and won’t learn to successfully navigate this culture overnight either. 5. Be a student and a teacher. You are learning as the new member of the community, but as a full member of your culture, you can share your experiences as well. 6. Be an explorer. Get out and go beyond your boundaries when you feel safe and secure. Traveling to surrounding villages, or across neighboring borders, can expand your perspective and help you learn. 7. Protect yourself. Always keep all your essential documents, money, and medicines close to you, or where you know they will be safe. Trying to source a medicine in a country where you are not fluent in the language, or where the names of remedies are different, can be a challenge. Your passport is essential to your safety and you need to keep it safe. You may also consider vaccination records, birth certificates, or business documents in the same way, keeping them safe and accessible. You may want to consider a “bug-out bag,” with all the essentials you need, including food, water, keys, and small tools, as an essential part of planning in case of emergency.

TERMA USED IN TEXT

Intracultural communications

Ethnocentrism

Prejudice

Assumed similarity

Rights if initiation – cultures tend to have a ritual for becoming new member

Individualistic culture

Explicit rule culture

Implicit rule culture

Collectivist culture

Mono chromatic time

Polychromatic time