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Challenges to cross cultural communication
Effective communication across cultures
Challenges to cross cultural communication
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In the workplace each culture engages in different intercultural interactions with one another by how we communicate with each other and how we perceive each other by what we do. “Like everything else we learn, the way we communicate is determined strongly by the culture we grow up in, and there are many aspects of communication which differ from culture to culture, including how loud we talk, the directness with which we speak, how much emotion we express in various situations, the rules for turn taking, the use or avoidance of silence, and many non-verbal aspects of communication like posture, eye contact, proximity, touching, tone of voice, etc. that occur almost totally beneath our conscious awareness”( Hammer 2015) When working in an office with women there can be behavior and personalities that differ from each other. …show more content…
In my workplace there is a young lady that works in our department. She is a Caucasian in her 30’s which she tries to act like she is very high class and feels like everyone should like her especially African Americans.. Her behavior has become very annoying with how she talk to people as if she is better than everyone and speak very loud when she is talking to you. For example, we work together and talk often at work and when we walked out to go home she was angry with a few co-workers which is African American and she began to vent and said that she hope these “Niggas” get fired. When people say things they should consider thinking about what they say and whom they are saying it to before they speak. On the next day we came to work she explained that she did not mean that has being racist comment but felt it was acceptable to say because she felt like we was close and she didn’t think I would get
In her article “But What Do You Mean” Deborah Tannen, claims that there is a huge difference in the style of communicating between men and women. Tannen breaks these down into seven different categories; apologies, criticism, thank-yous, fighting, praise, complaints, and jokes. With each of these she compares men to women by explaining the common misconceptions that each of the genders do. The different style of communication can cause some problems at the workplace and even affect the environment. The different styles of communication has been around forever and almost becomes a “ritual”(299). Tannen is effective with mainly women and not men. She is primarily successful with women due to the fact that her tone targets women, also the organization
In a society where there is gender disparity and equality seemingly discarded, a status quo between men and women is very crucial. Therefore, the respect to woman by the society can only be earned upon adopting some masculine techniques of doing things. Communication is one such technique that various authors have proposed as a distinct method of ensuring gender equality. For example, Deborah Tannen is one such author who has made contributions this discussion and holds a point of convergence male and female gender applies different communication styles. In addition, the author is of the opinion that women can only gain an equal status to their male peers only if they adopt direct communication styles, which include giving orders and exercising authority. This is one of the strongest
For decades men have dominated the work force of America. It was not until recently that women began entering the business world and to this day they continue to battle for equality in the workplace. Leadership positions and salary negotiations are what normally come to mind when discussing the obstacles that women face at work. An article that appeared in Time Magazine called “Go Ahead- Cry at Work”, by Anne Kreamer, discusses Kreamer’s personal challenges with expressing her emotions at work, along with the overall struggle that women face when trying to find a “socially appropriate way to express legitimate anger in the workplace” (Kreamer). The article discusses the need not to eliminate emotion from the work place, as many people currently do, but that “emotions are who we are” (Kreamer) and we should embrace them when they come about. Kreamer argues that women should being able to express negative emotion at work without being seen as unprofessional or weak. “This is not to suggest that being embarrassed, frustrated, or upset at work is inappropriate but rather that when colleagues show emotion, we should learn to interpret why those particular feelings were triggered”. Through personal experiences, research and surveys, the author found many employees, men and women combine are unsure as to how to express their emotion in the workplace.
Men and women comprise two very different and distinct cultures. In an organizational setting, misunderstandings between these two cultures can cause major problems and disrupt the process of working to achieve organizational goals. This problem is compounded when men and women of different cultural backgrounds come together in an organizational setting. One such problem that may occur is the issue of sexual harassment in the organization. The following study will explore the possible definitions of sexual harassment from a cultural perspective. Do different cultures perceive and define sexual harassment differently?
The frequent situations of misunderstandings in intercultural communication may be more common then one may believe. The potential for misunderstandings between two different cultures communicating is very high. Through such things as idioms, translation errors, and wrong body language communicative skills can be incorrect. When these intercultural mistakes occur between the people speaking or moving it may be perceived by the opposite culture as funny, rude or confusing. With these considerations in mind, the combination of possibilities for misinterpretations is increasingly elevated.
When individuals or groups from different cultures communicate, this process is called intercultural communication. The transaction process of listening and responding to people from different cultural backgrounds can be challenging. The greater the difference in culture between two people, the greater the potential of misunderstanding and mistrust. Misunderstanding and miscommunication occur between people from different cultures because of different coding rules and cultural norms, which play a major role in shaping the patterns of interaction (Jandt, 2012).
Gender does appear to help determine the amount of distance one employee will place between themselves and another employee. It appears as though the men will place themselves closer to women they find attractive. If the woman is not particularly attractive, the man will leave a wider gap between himself and her. For example, one male subject sat closer to a woman who was young and thin, while the same subject left a good distance between himself and the older, heavier woman. Men seem to leave an equal distance between themselves no matter what the situation is, unless there is a disagreement. One of the subjects was upset that he felt he was asked to do something not in his job description. He proceeded to discuss this with his supervisor, who was also a male. When the supervisor told him to just do the requested job, the subject became irate and closed the gap between himself and his boss. This gap remained closed until the disagreement was resolved. Women will also position themselves closer to men they find attractive. One female employee always hugs and gives backrubs to another male employee she finds attractive, while she is just polite to the other male employees. Women also appear to give an equal amount of room between themselves unless a disagreement arises, in which case, the gap closes considerably.
Since men and women work closely in the workplace today, there are many complaints addressing the differences in the genders. Simma Lieberman addresses these differences in her article, “Better Communication Between Men and Women in the Workplace: Some Useful Tips”. Men tend to think that women take things too seriously, are slow in getting down to business, and try to be “one of the boys”. A complaint that women give about men is that they are being labeled names such as: “girls”, “honey”, and “darlin”. Other complaints are that men make women into objects, making decisions about work with other men and not including the women, and using expressions that only use sports, violence or sexual connotations s...
Communication is a necessary skill for success in life. Misunderstandings in communication occur frequently between people due to language and perceptual differences. In intimate relationships, this misunderstanding in communication between the man and the woman leads to great agitation and tension -- seemingly the two sexes speak in completely different vernaculars. The Genderlect Style Theory explains that men and women talk in distinct cultural dialects and mannerisms, which reflect the different genders’ objectives; men desire status and achievement, while women desire personal connections and relationships. In the following pages, I will identify the theorist behind the Genderlect Style Theory, examine her educational history, and discuss other contributions she has made in the world of social sciences and psychology. Using physical examples, I will demonstrate the Genderlect Style Theory in the real world to steel our understanding. Lastly, I will explain what I have personally gleaned from my research.
I also want to analyze other ways of communicating more effectively, ignoring the notion of gendered talk and what implications that may have – what happens when a male or female steps out of their schema and maybe communicates opposite of what is expected of him or her. My transcription contains cross-cultural communication as well, which may suggest other preconceived notions on female communication. Exploring female communication from other cultures and comparing it to our cultured communication may also suggest that communication differences are only situational or contextual.
Intercultural communication is an evolving discipline that encapsulates the interactions between individuals or groups from different backgrounds. Diversity and the need for cultural awareness are forever increasing, and this solidifies the direction in which diversity will take in the future. Intercultural communication is going to be a tremendous part of our future and as individuals it will be part of our personal, social and professional relationships.
I wasn 't quite sure what I was getting into when I first enrolled in Intercultural Communications. I had assumptions as to the goals of the course such as I would be learning about the way cultures interact with each other, learn about communication in general, or I would be learning about the ways we use communication through our culture. I think that I achieve the latter goal, but I also gained knowledge about more then just my culture. I came to realize that there is more to a culture than just language, appearances, and customs, which are aspects of culture that could be seen above the waterline, or they are more noticeable/obvious to someone outside of that culture. There are aspects of culture that are below the waterline, or more
In the contemporary global economy which can be categorized as dynamic and evolutionary in nature, one needs to be cognizant of change that is inevitable within the tourism industry. Due to the demands of the global customer the world can be viewed as being more so inter-connected, owing to this fact the traditional workplace has become more diverse. With diversity in mind the barriers to communication have become prevalent. Within the ambit of the essay such barriers to intercultural communication outlined by LaRay M. Barna shall be explored; anxiety, assuming similarity instead of difference, ethnocentricity, stereotypes and prejudice, nonverbal misinterpretations, language and modern technology will be further discussed. In going forward it is essential to define culture and communication.
Many people who go to visit or work in another country suffer some misunderstanding from the local people, because they have a different culture. Different culture will cause disparity points of view about almost everything. In the article, Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks by Laray M. Barna, there are five stumbling blocks mentioned that are seen in a cross-culture communication. These blocks are: language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, the tendency to evaluate and high anxiety. Barna wants to use these stumbling blocks to show the common blockades between different cultures. I agree with what she thinks about the language, nonverbal signs and symbols, preconceptions and stereotypes, and the tendency
Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze these three notions in situations in which intercultural communication is frequent such as : the workplace, the classroom and vacation trips.