Communication between Cultures - Essay Example

Communication between Cultures Introduction Culture is a fundamental aspect and an underlying element that influences how individuals from diverse regions and locations of the world thinks, perceives, behaves, feels, communicates, relates, socializes, believes, worships and carry on with their daily lives (Bowe & Martin, 2007). Culture is the mirror, in which one can see their selves for who they are, and see who others are (Jenks, 2005). Since culture plays such a major role in traditional and contemporary life and environments, it is important to learn how to communicate between varied cultures, thus, cross-cultural communication (Pinto, 2000). Globalization has expanded technological, transport and communication infrastructures that make communication between cultures inevitable. This report candidly discusses intercultural communication by assessing a personal intercultural encounter, media communications, material culture and critically analyzing a theoretical reflection in intercultural communication. 1. Larry’s intercultural encounter Larry, an American born and bred and a manager at one of the multinational company, he was transferred from United States to Singapore, where he was to improve the production capacity of his organization. When Larry arrived at the new branch, he knew the best thing to do was to involve the employees in making key decisions. So when he called up a meeting of all supervisors in order to ask for the best approaches to operate effectively, Larry was surprised when every supervisor in the room looked at him in shock and they did not respond. The group leader then told Larry, as the leader he had to make the decisions while, the supervisors and employees would make sure, the objectives and goals he set were, attained. Larry felt conflicted, since he felt by doing so he would be imposing his will on them, while the employees readily waited for his authority and directives without expecting otherwise. The experience is indicative of how different cultures perceive power and authority. Majority of Eastern cultures believe in hierarchy and respecting the powers of a leader without question while Western cultures believe good leadership is defined by involving others in making decisions, consultations and participation by all to solve problems (Samovar, et al., 2009). This is as explained by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions that different cultures behave, feel, reacts and perceives issues differently when confronted with similar situations. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions include small versus large power distance, masculinity versus femininity, and individualism versus collectivism and weak versus strong uncertainty avoidance (Luger, 2009). 2. Vanessa’s culture conflict During her summer holidays, my friend Vanessa went for a vacation in Japan to visit a close aunt married into a Japanese family. Vanessa is a twenty three year old Arabic woman, brought, up in Kuwait and she went to school abroad. Having lived in the Middle East the better part of her life and studied abroad, Vanessa’s perceptions on the world was more receptive owing to her exposure to varied cultures. At the airport, she was overwhelmed with emotions as she ran and passionately embraced, kissed the relatives on the chicks. Vanessa noticed the relatives, (the Japanese-descent) was uncomfortable with her and she did not understand why. During dinner, Vanessa ate her sushi with her hands owing to her ignorance on how to eat sushi using the chopsticks. After the meal, although everyone looked happy to see her, she felt the room was, filled with tension and during a conversation with one of the male relatives, she noticed he would smile often and she interpreted this to be a friendly gesture. Despite the relatives expressing happiness to see her, she felt isolated and did not understand why. What Vanessa did not know was that despite her encounter with western culture with an Arabic history, cultural ideals are different. In Vanessa’s Arabic culture, people embrace closely in order to feel each other’s breath and scent, which contradicts Japanese’s need for sense of self and space, and greetings are in form of a bow. This explains the discomfort at the airport. There is need for both parties to understand and embrace each other’s culture without alienating one another (Bowe & Martin, 2007). Her eating with bare hands and expressing her emotions so openly contradicts with Japanese culture of being civil and pragmatic and the act is, considered rude, gluttonous and disrespectful. This experience indicates culture as a component of unwritten norms and standards in a social context that differentiate a group from another (Jenks, 2005). Moreover, it indicates the elements that initiate intercultural communication dysfunction including variance in non-verbal communication, passing judgments, difference in communication styles and differences in styles of interactions among genders in varied cultures. 3. Israel and Palestinian Crises The long conflict between Israel and Palestine has taken more than a century. The underlying issues are deep-rooted structures of cultures that combine the state, religion and family elements in extending the already existing cultural gaps between the two states. The administrations in both states have been unable to find a common ground that is essential in communication between cultures. They have disagreed and negatively criticized each other in establishing shared identity, state borders, security, partitioning of its waters and control over Jerusalem, a center for both Muslims and Christians. Religion has seen neighbor turn against neighbor based on faith, beliefs and ideals between Muslims and Christians, Jewish and the Arabs. Since the conflict has gone on for years on end, generation after generation has passed on feelings of hate, stereotyping and misunderstandings to each other, causing the young people in the family to swore and vow to fight for the cause of their culture, practice, faith and land without understanding the opinions, perceptions and perspectives of the other party. Both parties should understand that culture diversity can be utilized to bear good virtues, behavior and other proceeds such as peace, justice, equity, respect, patience, love, tolerance and acceptance for each other. Therefore, it is important to understand cultures have different perception about God, about the powers of the state and the family is a unit that can be able to spread and sustain good cultural values, ideologies, beliefs and traditions of a people (Novinger, 2001), which compounds to international peace and protection of basic human rights. 4. Darfur Crisis In order to understand why people from different cultures behaves, acts, reacts, thinks, feels and see the world differently, it is important to comprehend the core motivating factor in cultural structure that influences assumptions and perceptions (Novinger, 2001). The political, religious and family institutions integrate to identify, develop, convey, sustain and underpin fundamental aspects of each culture (Samovar, et al., 2009). The media text reviewed in this section is about the Darfur crises in Sudan, written and published on the Scribd website at http://www.scribd.com/doc/47452102/Darfur-conflict. The conflict in Darfur is, caused by an underlying structural landscape involving the state, religion and the family. Darfur conflict amounts to millions of refugees, internally displaced persons and hundred of thousands victims of direct combat in wars and dying from hunger, poor sanitation, thirst, hopelessness, attack from animals and diseases. The conflict is a result of dictatorial and authoritative leadership from Sudanese government led by President Omar al-Bashir and religious conflicts cultural diversities within different ethnic groups (Scribd. 2011). The divergent cultural values and beliefs are, attributed to the more than half a century of civil strife in Sudan. The three contributing factor to the strife is conflict among Muslims and Christians, clash between black and Arabic Sudanese nationals and the government favoritism towards the Arabic Sudanese, offering them more advanced employment, educational opportunities and a chance in the government that black Sudanese have been, offered. Majority of the black Sudanese are down trodden, neglected, oppressed, alienated and at worst taken as slaves to the Arabic Sudanese and discriminated the Blacks and Southern Sudanese in allocation of resources and gains achieved from the export and sale of oil (Scribd. 2011). Due to inter cultural ethnocentrisms where the Arabs feel the blacks are inferior and the difference in the color of skin has resulted in hate, prejudice and discrimination when relating, associating and communicating within the two groups. In addition, family has contributed. Due to pain and suffering by black Sudanese parents on the hands of Arabs, stereotyping, hatred and rejection of the latter has been, taught and passed to black generations. the Arab families have taught their children to demean the blacks and has instilled in them that they are more superior, have more status, are learned and capable than the blacks. To resolve intercultural conflicts and prevent it from escalating to the levels of Darfur, there is need to learn to judge others from their point of view other than a different one, gain more education, establish better intercultural communications, acknowledge, embrace and appreciate the cultural differences, and identify a common ground and ideals (Samovar, et al., 2009). There is need to teach children to respect, trust, tolerance and appreciate others despite them being different (Toomey, 1999). 5. Value feature of Zulu’s Reed Dance The Zulu people who are also, referred to as the amaZulu are the largest ethnic grouping in South Africa. The amaZulu communicate in isiZulu, the common Zulu language. Annually, hundreds of thousands virgins in the Zulu tribe meet at the Enyokeni Zulu Royal Palace to join in the Reed Dance Festival (Mwakikagile, 2008). During the dance, women carry reed shields, jingle their beads and anklets, and move their bodies in rhythm, song and dance as the king of the tribe chooses from the Zulu virgins a favorable wife for himself (Mwakikagile, 2008). The main reason for focusing on the Zulu’s reed dance is the underlying virtue that forms the basis for the dance. The dance is, used as a cultural custom for the Zulu society to celebrate purity of its young girl child, and teaching the young girls the virtue of remaining chaste and discourages them from engaging in premarital sexual intercourse and waiting until they are married (Mwakikagile, 2008). This is an important feature of a culture that can be, transferred to other cultures, to help the girl child postpone engaging in unsafe premarital sexes that can lead to unwanted pregnancies, prostitution, sexual abuse and contraction of sexually transmitted diseases. Premarital sex remains a thorny issue in contemporary society and in various cultures across the world. Value placed on purity vary across cultures and therefore, a cultural tradition and occasion such as this can be misinterpreted, as many from the western culture would argue, that such a cultural practice is a means of limiting young women especially those married young. Means of expressing cultural values can cause problems in cross-cultural communication (Luger, 2009). The Reeds dance festival is a cultural custom that has enabled the Zulu people preserve the purity of their girls until marriage and passing on the custom and practice from one generation to another (Mwakikagile, 2008). Culture can be, borrowed, transferred within varied grouping through effective communication (Samovar, et al., 2009). Other cultures can borrow such a feature and identify their own unique way of upholding and fostering purity and chastity for their young girls. 6. The Maasai Moran It is important to note, culture remains a paradigm that alters the sociological, political, psychological, economical, legal, ecological and religious landscapes. Culture has played an important role in shaping young Maasai warriors – the Moran, in the Maasai Tribe of Kenya. The young men undergo Emurata, a traditional circumcision ceremony in which prior, they herd cattle for a successive week, to prove himself enough for the community, the Moran endure biting cold and undergo the cut without use of anesthesia. Traditionally, the Maasai culture compelled the young men to kill a live lion with one spear to prove brevity, hard work and ability to protect the people. The value that is, derived from this culture is important as young people learn how to be responsible, hard working, self-independent, self-reliant and respecting the family and the community units. Aspects of the culture can be, transferred to other cultures on teaching the young people the importance of community, hard work, brevity and endurance. 7. The Standpoint Theory Benefits of the Standpoint Theory According to (Samovar, et al., 2009), culture is not passed through genes but it is taught and acquired, it is shared among people with similar assumptions and perceptions that are influenced by religion, family and political elements, it uses symbols to communicate, it is sustained and it radically evolves through time and place through communication. Culture diversity is, reflected in differences in age, gender, social status, religion, ideals, geography, literacy levels, ethnicity, race, nationality, language, and accents among others (Tierney, 2007). This section critically analyzes the standpoint theory that suggests that the experiences, skills, and communication conduct of a person is, outlined, influenced, by the social faction they belong to (Pinto, 2000). The theory is beneficial in recognizing that culture is heterogeneous and there are varied levels of authority, affluence, opportunities and standing in any culture. This is essential in ensuring effective communications and ideals in a particular group are, practiced, shared to ensure its sustenance (Luger, 2009). The theory shades light on cultural knowledge since divergent standings results in divergent knowledges. 8. Limitations of the Standpoint Theory The theory implies that people in lower level of social status have correct perspectives on reality, which is debatable since the richness and poorness of an individual has no connotation with having the right or wrong view on reality, and not all-powerful individuals want to maintain the status quo or retain power. Conclusively culture is defined by history, religion, social settings and political elements as J. Baldwin implies, one is what time, circumstances and history have created of him, and be it as it may, one is much more than that and so is every individual irregardless of their cultural backgrounds (Novinger, 2001). Conclusion Communication between cultures is essential in helping people from different cultures to interact, communicate, socialize, and learn from each other rather than criticize and stereotype each other. Culture refers to the ideals, behavior patterns, systems, ideologies and beliefs that are unique to one group of people to another. Intercultural communication allows people to desist from ethnocentrism, racism, nepotism, hatred, prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination in working and social environments. References Bowe, H.J., & Martin, K. 2007. Communication across cultures: mutual understanding in a global world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres. Jenks, C. 2005. Culture. London: Routledge. Luger, E. 2009. Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions. Berlin: GRIN Verlag. Mwakikagile, G. 2008. South Africa and Its People. Johannesburg: Godfrey Mwakikagile. Novinger, T. 2001. Intercultural communication: a practical guide. Houston: University of Texas Press. Pinto, D. 2000. Intercultural communication: a three-step method for dealing with differences. New York City: Garant. Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E., & McDaniel, E.R. 2009. Communication between Cultures. London: Cengage Learning. Scribd. 2011. Darfur Conflict in Singapore’s perspective. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/47452102/Darfur-conflict on 10th March 2011 Tierney, S. 2007. Accommodating cultural diversity. Sidney: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Toomey, S.T. 1999. Communicating across cultures. London: Guilford Press. Read More