Chapter 8
Intercultural Communication Competence
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Intercultural Communication Competence
We may have all come on different
ships, but we’re in the same boat now.
The gentleman pursues harmony instead
of homogeneity; the vulgar man seeks
uniformity at the sacrifice of harmony.
I do not want my house to be walled on all
sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want
the cultures of all lands to blown about my
house as freely as possible. But I refuse to
be blown off my feet by any.
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Learning Objectives
• perceive the factors underlying
intercultural communication competence
• identify the various components of
intercultural communication competence
• master the strategies and skills for
improving intercultural communication
competence
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Case 1 The Frankfurt Incident
Kim Yong Nam 金永南（朝鲜最高人民会议常任委员会委员
长，朝鲜第二号人物 ）
Madeleine Albright 马德琳·奥尔布莱特（前美国国务卿）
•
If you were a high-level airline security
official, what could you do to prevent similar
incidents from happening in the future?
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Intercultural Communication Competence
A
Intercultural Communication Competence
B
The Components of Intercultural Competence
C
The Dimensions of Intercultural Competence
D
Improving Intercultural Communication Competence
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Text A: Intercultural Communication Competence
• Intercultural communication: common, necessary part of
people’s personal and professional lives
• Intercultural competence: ability to become effective and
appropriate in interacting, the sensitivity to cultural
diversity
• Cultural awareness: an important role to overcome
difficulties to ensure smooth communication with people
from different backgrounds
• Intercultural communication competence: ability to
effectively and appropriately execute communication
behaviors to elicit a desired response in a specific
environment
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Case 2 The Bottle of Wine
John: American
Mazen: John’s Saudi Arabian neighbor
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•
•
•
•
Why did John buy the wine?
Why didn’t Mazen say anything to John about the wine?
Why didn’t Mazen’s sister shake hands with John?
Why did John put his arm around Mazen and his sister?
Why did Mazen suddenly end John’s conversation with his
sister?
• What does this story tell us about communication across
cultures?
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
While-Class Learning: Text B
• Pre-reading Questions:
What kind of qualities a competent intercultural
communicator should have?
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Text B.
The Components of Intercultural Competence
• contextual
• appropriate and effective behaviors
• sufficient knowledge, suitable motivations, and
skilled actions
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
While-Class Learning: Text B
• The Components of Intercultural
Competence
1. Contextual Components
2. Individual Components
a. Motivation
b. Knowledge
c. Attitudes
d. Behaviors and Skills
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
B.1
Contextual Components of Intercultural Competence
1.1 sensitive to the contexts, or “situational features”
• specific relational context, particular situational
context
• association between individuals
e.g. a Canadian woman living with a family in
India
1.2 communicator’s social position within a speech
community
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
B.2 Individual Components
a. Motivation
• overall set of emotional associations
• different aspects of the emotional terrain (领
域）contribute to the achievement of
intercultural competence
• Reasons for lacking motivation:
（1）don’t need to know much；
（2）be uncomfortable；
（3）historical events or political circumstances.
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
B.2 Individual Components
b. Knowledge
• cognitive information about the people, the context,
and the norms of appropriateness in a specific
culture
• various cognitive aspects: about ourselves, about
others, and about various aspects of communication
• important kinds of knowledge:
（1） culture-general information
（2） culture-specific information
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
B.2 Individual Components
c. Attitudes
• Tolerance for Ambiguity: ease in dealing with much
unknown situations
• Empathy: walk in another person’s shoes
• Nonjudgmentalness: do not judge others according
to our own culture
(1) Description: convey factual information
(2) Interpretation: attach meaning to description
(3) Evaluation: clarify how we feel about something
Only descriptive statements are nonjudgmental.
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
B.2 Individual Components
d. Behaviors and Skills
• actual appropriate and effective performance
• two levels of behavioral competence
(1) macro level: many culture-general behaviors
(2) micro level: general behaviors are
implemented in culture-specific ways
e.g. Chinese students, in basic public speaking
classes in America
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Case 3 The Wedding Guest
an American external consultant
an Indonesian engineer
• Why didn’t the Indonesian tell the project leader that
he was not doing well?
• What is the contextual meaning we can get from the
case?
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
While-Class Learning: Text C
• The Dimensions of Intercultural
Competence
1. The Knowledge Dimension
2. The Affective Dimension
3. The Psychomotor Dimension
4. The Situational Features Dimension
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
C.1 The Knowledge Dimension
how much one knows about the culture of the person
with whom one is interacting
• includes some background knowledge about other
intercultural communication participants
• clarifies cognitive simplicity and rigidity and
ethnocentrism as barriers
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
C.2 The Affective Dimension
the degree to which one approaches or
avoids intercultural communication
• motivation
• attitudes
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
C.3 The Psychomotor Dimension
how to do culture in actions, involved with
behaviors and skills
• the actual enactment of the knowledge and
affective dimensions
• includes verbal and nonverbal performance
and role enactment
(1) good verbal and nonverbal performance: makes us
be able to engage in a conversation
(2) role enactment: how well one executes the
appropriate verbal and nonverbal messages
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
C.4 The Situational Features Dimension
the actual situation in which intercultural
communication occurs
• situational features affecting competence
include:
the environmental context
previous contact
status differential
third-party interventions
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Case 4 Who Pays for the Drink?
Septi, a Romanian boy who just came
to the Netherlands
• Why did Septi seem to be uncomfortable
about the Dutch girl’s paying for the drinks?
• Why did the Dutch girl feel Septi’s behavior
very strange?
• What’s the cultural misunderstanding in the
case?
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
While-Class Learning: Text D
• Pre-reading Task: What can we draw from the
following sentences which come from different
cultures?
(1) Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would
find hurtful. (Buddhism)
(2) Do not do unto others what you would not have
them do unto you. (Confucianism)
(3) This is the sum of duty; do naught unto others
which would cause you pain if done to you.
(Hinduism)
(4) No one of you is a believer until he desires for
his brother that which he desires for himself.”
(Islam)
(5) Respect for all life is the foundation. (Native
American)
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
While-Class Learning: Text D.
Improving Intercultural Communication
Competence
• Three most common aspects for improving
1. task performance: doing well at our job
2. ability to adapt to the new culture
3. ability to establish healthy interpersonal
relationships
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
While-Class Learning: Text D
• strategies and skills that lead to the
improvement
• 1. Knowing Ourselves
• 2. Appreciating Similarities and Respecting
Differences
• 3. Developing Empathy
• 4. Keeping an Open Mind
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Text D.1 Knowing Ourselves
• know about our own culture: the first step to
reduce ethnocentrism and guard against prejudice
• develop cultural awareness: cultural beings
• recognize our communication style
• helpful suggestions to know ourselves
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Text D.2 Appreciating Similarities
and Respecting Differences
• Culture shows as many similarities as differences.
• We share a series of crucial characteristics that link
the people of the world together.
• Cultures are different due to a host of various
factors.
• two attitudes toward differences: polar opposites,
being different in degrees (reasonable)
• Differences are particular points on the continuum,
not the two ends.
• Cultural differences do not create conflict. Instead,
they enrich our world.
• Beauty is in the coexistence of different cultures.
• helpful suggestions for us:
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Text D.3 Developing Empathy
be able to see things from the point of view of others so that we can
better know and adjust to the other people
• direct energy toward communication partners (constant selffocus: most common of all barriers)
• go beyond personal boundaries and understand those from
distance or other cultures
• To improve empathy
(1) pay attention to the spontaneous emotional expressions of
others and the situation where the interaction place
(2) be expressive
(3) aware of specific behaviors that members of a particular
culture or co-culture might find impertinent or insulting
(4) resist the tendency to interpret the other’s verbal and
nonverbal actions from our own culture’s orientation
• integrate both thinking and feeling— understand not only what
others say (content) but also how they feel (empathy)
• helpful suggestions to develop empathy：
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Text D.4 Keeping an Open Mind
• Diversity is adaptive.
• Through intercultural encounters, we can
develop more valid and balanced
understandings of other cultural ways.
• Be tolerant of others, learn from others.
• helpful suggestions for us:
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Case 5 Improved Communication
Mr. Wang, A strong Chinese man
Aaron and I
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How does this case relate to intercultural
communication?
Why did the author have a bad impression
on the Chinese man?
How did he change his opinion
about the Chinese man?
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Case 6 Jane Martin
Jane Martin,
who works for a U.S. company that has a major branch in South Korea
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•
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Is Jane’s communication with South Koreans
intercultural or does working for the same corporation
mean that Jane and her South Korean counterparts
share a common culture?
Is Jane’s age factor in communication with her Korean
counterparts?
If you are Jane, how do you think you could improve
your interpersonal and intercultural communication
with your Korean counterparts?
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence
Thank You
Chapter 8 Intercultural Communication Competence