Melanie Corbett
Robert N. Burns
COMM 2150
August 3, 2012
Intercultural Communication
When I was in middle-school, my parents made a decision that greatly influenced my life.
They decided to become foster care parents. The first person to come into our home was a girl
about my age named Arius. Although I had heard about how different and hard it was to be in
foster care, I did not fully understand what this meant until Arius came to stay with us.
Throughout her short time with our family, I got glimpses into how different a life in the foster
care system was from my own life. I grew up in a secure home, only having moved once, and
with a family and parents who I knew loved me. However, as I visited Arius in the girl’s home
she used to live in and when I helped take her to visit her father, I began to realize and
understand what a life would be like without a secure home or a loving family.
This experience may not be one immediately thought of as an example of intercultural
communication. Arius and I came from the same place geographically. I did not have to move or
travel long distances to meet her. I did not have to speak a different language when talking with
her. To understand how this experience relates to intercultural communication, it helps to
understand the standpoint theory of intercultural communication. The standpoint theory says that
the social groups someone belongs to will influence his or her knowledge, individual
experiences, and behaviors ("Spring 2001 Theory Workbook "). Some of the basic elements of
the standpoint theory include: a belief that those from a lower class can provide a better objective
view to life, the inequalities of social groups cause the differences in their standpoints, a person
can have multiple standpoints at once and the combination of all these standpoints creates a
person’s overall standpoint (William M.). An example of the standpoint theory, besides my own
experience, would be the occupy movement that recently took place. Many journalists, CEOs,
business owners, etc. thought the participants of the occupy movement were misguided. Many
wondered how the two different groups could have such different views on life. The standpoint
theory explains this by suggesting that the different views came about because the groups were a
part of different social groups and had thus learned different things ("Communication Studies").
In order to better understand this theory it helps for one to understand what culture and
cultural spaces are. One of the definitions of culture is, “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic
of a particular social, ethnic, or age group” (“Dictionary.com”). By relating this to the definition
of the standpoint theory, then it seems that what people are learning from their social groups is,
in a sense, a culture.
The standpoint theory makes more sense when one understands cultural spaces. Cultural
spaces are not only determined by material borders. “A cultural space is not simply a particular
location that has culturally constructed meanings. It can also be a metaphorical place from which
we communicate… Thus, we may speak as parents, children, colleagues, siblings, customers,
Nebraskans, and a myriad of other ‘places.’” (Martin and Nakayama) When one understands that
cultural spaces do not need defined borders, then one notices that there are various cultures all
around them. The magazine Entertainment Weekly recently did an article about the “cult” of the
TV show Doctor Who and also listed the other major “Cult TV Series”. Yet, for the most part,
the only people who will read that article are those who are a part of the culture of Entertainment
Weekly or Doctor Who (Collis). There is a culture of skiing, skateboarding, teenagers, cars,
cooking, etc. The Internet especially provides a space for these different cultures to interact
(Martin and Nakayama). Often the differences between these cultures are not strong enough to
cause major conflict and there are similarities and differences between each of these cultures. For
example, in sports, those playing soccer may consider their culture better than that of baseball
even though they still may know and be friends with people in the baseball culture; or those in
the soccer culture may also enjoy the baseball one and they try to play both sports. Thus,
although there are all these different cultural spaces surrounding us, the communication between
them is less noticeable as a form of intercultural communication than between the more visible
cultural spaces like those between different economic class or those of different nationalities.
The cultural spaces we belong to and interact with influence our perception of ourselves
and others (Martin and Nakayama). Colin Powell said, “The simple but true fact of life is that
you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and the bad.” (Powell)
Someone adopting the attitudes and behaviors of those they associate with is a clear example of
what the standpoint theory is suggesting.
The standpoint theory is not perfect; there are several assumptions in the theory and
weaknesses about it. Assumptions of the standpoint theory include that creating a standpoint is
an active process and differences in standpoints arise from social inequalities. Critics of the
standpoint theory say it leads to stereotyping and that it overlooks the dualistic view of Western
societies ("Communication Studies"). Regardless of these weaknesses, this theory can be
insightful and valuable in understanding people and their communication behaviors.
The standpoint theory clarifies how intercultural communication relates to my experience
with Arius. When my parents decided to become foster care parents, they introduced me to the
culture of foster care. The more I interacted with Arius, a member of that culture, the more I
began to learn about that culture. I could have never understood what it was like to be taken from
your family and home until I interacted with others who had been through this. I began to relate
to and understand more about those in that culture and become a part of it in my own way.
The standpoint theory of intercultural communication says one’s knowledge and
behaviors are influenced by his or her social groups. The standpoint theory is better understood
by knowledge of what culture and cultural spaces are. My experience with Arius and the foster
care system is an example of the standpoint theory and intercultural communication. The more I
interacted with Arius and learned about her life and culture, the more I understood and learned
and changed.
Works Cited
Powell, Colin. "Colin Powell > Quotes > Quotable Quote." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Aug
2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/310930-the-less-you-associate-with-somepeople-the-more-your>.
"Culture." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.co, LLC, n.d. Web. 3 Aug 2012.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/culture?s=t>.
"Standpoint Theory." Communication Studies. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Aug 2012.
<http://www.communicationstudies.com/ communication-theories/standpoint-theory>.
"Standpoint." Spring 2001 Theory Workbook . N.p., February 19, 2001. Web. 3 Aug 2012.
<http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/intercultural/standpoint.html>
Martin, Judith, and Thomas Nakayama. Intercultural Communication In Context. Fifth. New
York: McGraw- Hill, 2010. Print.
Collis, Clark. "11 Faces of "Doctor Who"." Entertainment Weekly. 27 7 2012: n. page. Web. 3
Aug. 2012. <http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20615578,00.html>.
William M., T.. Standpoint theory. N.p., 2008. Web. 3 Aug 2012.
<http://users.ipfw.edu/lakes/Standpoint Theory.html>.