Crosscultural Communication

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Cross-cultural Communication

• Chapter 9

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Understanding the ____________ process (
  ideation, encoding, transmission, and decoding)
  in an international/cross-cultural context.
• Understanding the cultural and _________ barriers
  and the ways of dealing with them, including use
  of translators.
• Understanding the ways to develop the ability to
  communicate effectively across _________.

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What Is Communication?

• Communication is the process of transmitting
  information and __________ between two or more
  people.
• Technically speaking, communication is successful
  only when mutual understanding results, that is,
  when one transmits information and makes oneself
  __________ by others.

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What Is Effective Communication?

• The difference between communication and
  effective communication is the __________ of
  meaning.
• Although all jobs involve communication to some
  extent, by its very nature a _________ job
  requires more time spent communicating than most
  others.

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THE COMMUNUICATION PROCESS
Idea The message to be communicated by the
sender is identified.
Encoding The appropriate words and symbols
required to effectively communicate the message
are identified
Channel The appropriate channel(s) of
communication transmission- written, verbal, or
nonverbal-is(are) identified.
Receiving The receiver reads, hears, or sees the
message.
Decoding The receiver tries to understand the
message.
Action Receiver acts on the message (either on
the basis of an understanding of the message as
intended, or a misunderstanding).
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The Idea Stage

• Senders (communicators) must identify clearly and
  specifically what it is that they want the
  receivers (__________) to do as a result of the
  communication.
• Realistic objective must be ______ specific.
• Realistic time frame.
• Examples of Germany vs. Latin America.

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The Encoding Stage

• Language.
• Unique idioms, slang, _________, and jargon are
  components of languages that are not easily
  translatable from one language to another.
• Even within the same language many words have
  different _________ to different people.
• Example of American English vs. British.

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The Encoding Stage

• Letters and characters.
• These are ______ standard across the world.
• Example the Japanese language that has about
  40,000 _______ characters.

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The Encoding Stage

• Expressions and nonverbal communication.
• Many ______ gestures have different meanings
  across different cultures.
• Example Americans form a circle with their index
  finger and thumb to communicate that something is
  OK.
• The same sign in brazil means that one is
  interested in having sex. The same OK means zero
  in France and is a symbol for money in Japanese.

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The Encoding Stage

• The role of _________ and informality in
  communication
• How much information is needed?
• Language translation

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The Encoding Stage

• Translators role
• Oral translators
• Simultaneous oral interpreters vs..... Sequential
  oral interpreters
• The effective translator depends upon
• Characteristic of the language and the message
• Interpreters ________ with the client and
  interpreters skills
• Context
• Characteristic of the parties
• Cultural ______ and values of the society
• Identify the right audience

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The Encoding Stage

• Appeal to receivers motivations

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Effective Communication Across Nations/cultures

• Effective communication across nations/cultures
  can only take place when the ________ encodes the
  message using language, idioms, norms and values,
  and so on, which are familiar to the receiver or
  when the receiver is _______ with the language,
  idioms, and so on, used by the sender.
• Unique idioms, slang, smiles, metaphors, and
  jargon are components of languages which affect
  the________ phase in the communication process.

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CommunicationA Greek and an American
Words
Perception
American How long will it take you to finish
the report
American I asked him to participate
Greek His behavior makes no sense. He is the
boss. Why doesnt he tell me?
Greek I dont know.How long should it take?
American He refused to take responsibility.
Greek I asked him for an order.
American You are in the best position to
analyze time requirements.
American I press him to take responsibility for
his actions.
Greek Ten days.
Greek Nonsense-Id better give him an answer
American Take 15.Is it agreed? You will do
it in 15 days?
American He lacks the ability to estimate his
time this estimate is totally inadequate.
American I offer a contract.
Greek These are my orders.
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English As The Language Of Communication In
Global Business

• English now has special status in more than
  _______ countries, far more than any other
  language.
• ________ is most widely taught as a foreign
  language in more than 100 countries worldwide.

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English As The Language Of Communication In
Global Business

• Nearly a ________ of the worlds population, from
  1.2 million to 1.5 billion people, is already
  fluent or competent in English.
• English is often the second or third language for
  many ___________ around the globe.

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• Even though English is accepted as the language
  of communication in the transaction of global
  business, people who know English as a second or
  third language _________ that communication take
  place in their first language.

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• Many individuals have learned English by ________
  and listening, and many therefore possess a weak
  ability to communicate in English, and many
  __________ only dictionary (literal) translation
  meanings.

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Identifying The Right Transmission Channel Stage

• Written or spoken message?
• Individuals in high-context cultures, which
  _______ trust, prefer spoken communication and
  agreements where as people in low-context
  cultures, which value efficiency, prefer _______
  communication and agreements.

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Identifying The Right Transmission Channel Stage

• Format of messages.
• There is no __________ written message format.
• For example, standard paper size differs among
  many companies.
• This can create filing, printing, duplicating,
  and other problems.
• _____ language.
• Eye contact and hand movements.
• Physical distance and touching.
• Pointing and ______ expressions.
• Transmission of messages through mediators
• Communication principles

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The Receiving-decoding Stage

• The nature of the encoded signals.
• Decoding by the _______ of signals is subject to
  social values and cultural variables not
  necessarily present in the process used by
  _______ to encode the message.
• The nature of received signals.
• Receivers of cross-cultural messages continually
  adjust and adapt incoming signifiers to the
  existing repository of signs, and adapt and
  adjust the repository of signifiers to create new
  sign.

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Developing Cross-cultural Communication Competence

• Acknowledge diversity.
• In communication, acknowledging diversity is a
  way to develop _______-_________ communication
  skills.
• Organizing information according to stereotypes.
• Posing questions to challenge the stereotypes.
• Thinking and knowing.
• _____ and achieving.
• The perception about ones self in different
  cultures.
• The organization of society.
• The universe.

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Developing Cross-cultural Communication Competence

• Analyzing communication episodes.
• Generating other-culture messages.
• Body language includes _____ -_____, physical
  distance and touching, hand movements, pointing,
  and facial expressions, and which vary across
  cultures, affect the transmission of a message.
• For example, in _________, Italians typically use
  more non-verbal gestures than Scandinavians.

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• To select an effective language interpreter, it
  is advisable to make sure that the interpreter
  has _______ in both countries for long periods of
  time.
• High-context cultures make agreements on the
  basis of general trust while Low-context cultures
  like __________ to be specific and legalistic.