Understanding Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication is a significant, unavoidable element of communication in the 21st century. With the vast movements of population throughout history, as well as the growing prominence of technology, the ability to interact and come into contact with different cultures, both ethnic and sub-cultures, has never been easier. However, with this growing role of intercultural communication, there is a large opportunity for the existence and perpetuation of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. In order to avoid offence and miscommunication when partaking in intercultural communication, a person must be willing to understand a person as an individual entity, and not as a representation of their culture or of what the host culture may believe it to be.

Understanding how to effectively communication with another culture is a crucial part of living in a multicultural society. Intercultural communication is the “face-to-face contact between people from different cultural backgrounds” (Lewis and Slade 2000, 124). It involves the exchange of meaning between two parties from two differing cultural groups. In the modern world, it is virtually impossible to avoid communication with a member of a cultural society not your own, particularly in multicultural countries like Australia or the United States. Since the end of World War II, Australia has become an increasingly multicultural nation, with people of other countries, particularly those of Southern European and South East Asia descent, becoming “significant to the growth and changing ethnic composition of Australia’s population” (Knight and Heazle 2011, 8). Similarly, the United States, who are seen as the original Western ‘settler society’, have large minorities of Hispanics...

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