Chapter 4: Barriers to Intercultural Communication

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Chapter 4 Barriers to Intercultural
Communication
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This is the first of three chapters meant to help
you recognize and avoid intercultural
communication breakdowns.
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Focus on Theory

• Berger and Calabrese (1975) uncertainty reduction
  theory assumes that our primary communication
  goal during the initial phase of interaction is
  reduce uncertainty
• Gudykunst applied this theory to intercultural
  communication by developing the concept of the
  strangerpeople in other groups who act in ways
  different from ones own culture

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Six Barriers (stumbling blocks) to Intercultural
Communication (Barna, 1997)

• Anxiety
• Assuming similarity
• Ethnocentrism
• Stereotypes Prejudice
• Nonverbal misinterpretations
• Language

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Anxiety

• Feeling nervous
• Focus on nervous feeling rather than totally
  present in the communication interaction
• Example worry that other people may speak too
  fast or use words you dont understand
• Find yourself making mistakes or saying awkward
  things
• Affect your ability to communicate your ideas to
  others

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Assuming Similarity

• When you dont have any information about a
  culture, its natural to assume there are no
  differences
• Each culture is different and unique to some
  degree
• For example, cultural differences in showing
  emotions
• Assuming difference instead of similarity can
  lead to not recognizing important things that
  cultures share in common

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Ethnocentrism

• Negatively judging aspects of another culture by
  the standards of ones own culture
• To be ethnocentric is to believe in the
  superiority of ones own culture
• Cultural Relativism means that we must try to
  understand other peoples behavior in the context
  of their culture before we judge it
• We recognize the arbitrary nature of own cultural
  behaviors
• Cultural nearsightedness Take ones own culture
  for granted and neglecting other cultures
• Example Use of the term Americans to refer to
  U.S. citizens

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Ethnocentrism (contd)

• Cultural nearsightedness results in making
  assumptions that simple things are the same
  everywhere
• Example Taking husbands last name when married
• Eurocentric ethnocentrism
• Example Basing curriculum only on Western
  history, music and art
• Far East and Near East from Europe

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Stereotypes

• First used in 1922 to describe judgments made
  about others on the basis of ethnic group
  membership
• Today more broadly refers to judgments made on
  the basis of any group membership

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Stereotypes

• Is cultural sensitivity stereotyping?
• Is racial profiling stereotyping?

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Stereotypes

• Negative effects on communication
• Cause us to assume they are true.
• Continued use reinforces the belief (Arabs
  wealthy, barbaric, sex maniacs, terrorists.
• Impede communication
• Self fulfilling prophecy

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Prejudice

• The irrational dislike, suspicion, or hatred of a
  particular group, race, religion, or sexual
  orientation (Rothenberg, 1992)
• Examples
• The Roma
• Koreans in Japan
• Irish-Americans

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Case Study of Barriers to Intercultural
Communication U.S. and China

• The status of Taiwan
• Tibet
• Human Rights and Free Speech
• Broadcast Media and the Internet
• Energy Sustainability
• Economic issues currency undervaluation U.S.
  debt.