EPISODES, CONTEXTS, AND INTERCULTURAL INTERACTIONS

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EPISODES, CONTEXTS, AND INTERCULTURAL INTERACTIONS

• CHAPTER 11

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OBJECTIVES

• To describe and explain how communication
  experiences are structured by peoples
  participation in events that are quite
  predictable and routine.
• To introduce students to the five components of
  social episodes, each of which influences
  intercultural communication.

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OBJECTIVES

• To explain that the surrounding social
  interaction backdrops are influenced by culture.
• To examine three specific social settings in
  which cultural variations play an important role
  health care, education, and business.
• To encourage an awareness that intercultural
  competence is critical for everyday experiences
  and contexts.

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Social Episodes in Intercultural Relationships

• Peoples interactions are structured by their
  participation in events or social episodes that
  are quite predictable and routine.
• The nature of social episodes varies from culture
  to culture however, there are some common
  characteristics.

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Social Episodes in Intercultural Relationships

• Common characteristics-
• Social episodes are interaction sequences that
  are repeated again and again.
• The structure of the social episodes themselves
  are very predictable.
• The individuals who participate in these episodes
  generally know what to expect from others and
  vice versa.

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Social Episodes in Intercultural Relationships

• There are five components of social episodes.
• Social roles are sets of expected behaviors that
  are associated with people in a particular
  position.
• Cultural patterns are the shared judgments about
  what the world is and what it should be, and the
  widely held expectations about how people should
  behave.

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Social Episodes in Intercultural Relationships

• Rules of interaction are not written down, nor
  are they typically shared verbally instead, they
  operate at the level of unwritten, unspoken
  expectations.
• Interaction scenes are made up of the recurring,
  repetitive topics that people talk about in
  social conversations.
• Interaction contexts are the setting or settings
  within which social episodes occur.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• The health care context
• Cultures influence on the health care context
• Cultural patterns affect how people see and
  understand health care and how they conceptualize
  health and illness, the causes of diseases, the
  means to prevent illnesses, appropriate cures,
  and the type of individuals most qualified to
  provide the care and attempt the cure.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• There are three general approaches to beliefs
  about health, illness, and wellness.
• The magico-religious approach refers to a belief
  that health and illness are closely linked to
  uncontrollable supernatural forces.
• The holistic approach refers to a belief in a
  harmonious balance between a person and nature.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• The biomedical approach refers to a belief that a
  persons health is controlled by biomedical
  forces.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• Family and gender roles in the health care
  context
• Cultural patterns influence the definition of the
  patient, family responsibilities and ideas
  regarding medical treatment, and medical
  interviews.
• Cultural patterns also influence expectations
  about appropriate gender related behaviors.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• Conversational structures and language
• Cultural differences in interaction rules affect
  the medical interview between caregiver and
  patient.
• Potential difficulties include the perceived
  authority of health-care professionals and the
  expected degree of ambiguity in the use of
  language.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• Intercultural competence in the health-care
  context
• Health-care professionals must assume the
  responsibility of assuring intercultural
  competence- which requires an understanding of
  cultural patterns- in order to treat people
  effectively.
• However, an individual may not share the
  preferences of their cultural group.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• The educational context
• Participants in educational settings bring with
  them their cultural backgrounds and patterns.
• Culture influences peoples expectations about
  teacher-student relationships, learning styles,
  valuation of education, classroom behavior, and
  communication styles.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• Intercultural communication competence affects
  the relationship of family members with the
  education system.
• The starting point for developing intercultural
  competence in the educational context is to
  understand ones own cultural background.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• The business context
• Cultures influence on the business context
• Specific areas of intercultural business are
  associated with four variations in
  individualistic or collectivistic cultures who
  speaks for the organization, who makes decisions
  for the organization, what motivates employees,
  and what is the basis for the business
  relationship.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• The business context (continued)
• Fons Trompenaars proposes universalism-particulari
  sm as a cultural dimension that explains how
  business practices vary between cultures.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• Doing business interculturally
• Cultures vary in their interpretations about what
  constitutes appropriate and effective business
  communication and the manner in which to practice
  business.
• Business negotiations, social exchanges,
  decision-making styles, reward systems, and
  gender expectations are all influenced by the
  cultural backgrounds of the business participants
  involved.

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Contexts for Intercultural Communication

• Intercultural competence in the business context
• Intercultural competence in the workforce
  involves educating managers and their employees
  on the skills necessary to work in an
  intercultural environment.
• Training includes opportunities to improve
  knowledge, motivation, and skills concerning
  intercultural issues and ongoing training about
  diversity issues.

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Episodes, Contexts, and Intercultural Interactions

• Intercultural competence requires an
  understanding of the episodes and contexts within
  which interaction occurs.
• Cultural differences related to episodes and
  contexts can be a cause of misunderstanding in
  intercultural interactions.