Stumbling Blocks In Intercultural Communication

Getting Global: Examples of Problems That Occur in Intercultural Communication
Have you ever experienced misunderstandings between someone with other cultural backgrounds that you were not aware of? In English class, we read an essay,“Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural Communication” by Laray M. Barna. In the article, the author introduced the six stumbling blocks of intercultural communication; 1. Assumption of Similarities, 2. Language Differences, 3. Nonverbal Misinterpretations, 4. Tendency to Evaluate, 5. Stress, and 6. Culture Shock. 1. Assumption of Similarities is explaining that we should not be assuming everyone thinks in the same way only because we all have the same biological needs for food and shelter. Furthermore, beliefs and

baseball”. In this scene, an American man is eating noodles with a Japanese family. While others were slurping the noodles, the American man looked confused and uncomfortable, because slurping is considered rude and disgusting in the U.S. culture. Then, his girlfriend told him that slurping is actually an appropriate manner in Japan, so he stuffed a huge amount of noodles in his mouth and slurped as loudly as he could. However, this turned out to be overdoing, so the Japanese family stared at him in contempt. This situation can be an example of 1. Assumption of Similarities. The Japanese family assumed and expected the American man to behave the way Japanese do. However, the American man was confused because the values of the two cultures are actually very

visiting Italy. He falls in love with an Italian woman, Sofia, and he offers to help her with her grocery bags. They become close as the man walks Sofia home. One day, the man left a love letter accompanied with a bouquet of chrysanthemums on a motorcycle parked in front of Sofia’s house. Then, a truck knocked down the motorcycle, making it look like Sofia died in an accident. This is because in Italy, Chrysanthemums represents funerals. Other neighbors came to leave chrysanthemums on her door steps. After a while, Sofia opened her front door and became puzzled by the situation. This can be an example of 1. Assumption of Similarities. The American man did not anticipate about the meanings the flower has in other cultures, and ended up making Sofia’s whole neighborhood think that Sofia died in an