Running Head: Intercultural Communication
INTEGRATING ACQUISITION OF CROSS-CULTURAL AWARENESS
AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION SKILLS
by Larissa Natarelli
Graduate School of Education and Professional Development
Capella University, Minneapolis, MN
A Comment for the Specialized PowerPoint Project
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of
ED838 – Teaching and Learning with Diverse Populations
March 2004
Address:
Phone:
E-mail:
13109 Mike Drive
Tampa, FL 33617-1129
(813) 983-8040
larnat21@yahoo.com
Degree:
Instructor:
Mentor:
Ph.D.
Kimberly Spoor, Ph.D.
Mary Dereshiwsky, Ph.D.
Abstract
Long ago, it has been noticed that psychological and cultural differences among people play
a critical role in the events. Hostile or friendly attitudes and factual relations between
individuals or cultures can be explained in terms of differences in socio-economic, ethnic,
religious, or family backgrounds. An infinite variety of behaviors—i.e., signal activity—
results from a dynamic interplay of complex genotypes, responsive to cultural and physical
influences incoming to the brain from numerous environmental contexts. To be effective in
both professional and civic life, the individuals must have knowledge about these culturalenvironmental influences that would promote better understanding of other persons with
different social and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, training must address the variations in
behavioral patterns by raising students’ alertness about verbal and non-verbal communication
means (languages and body language), cognitive styles, gender issues, cultural traditions, and
societal-organizational archetypes. Equally, the trainees must acquire “hand-on” skills that
would assist in establishing better interpersonal relations through application of new-fangled
communicative abilities. Effectiveness of intercultural training is higher when it is
incorporated in a larger systemic effort that is consonant with the needs of the audience and
is directed toward creating and sustaining excellence at workplace or in classroom.
Table of Contents
Table of Figures
iii
Introduction
1-3
Part 1: The Mentalese
3-7
Part 2: Thinking Through Diversity
7-10
Part 3 (A separate file in PowerPoint format): Teaching Intercultural Communication
Conclusion
10-11
References
12
ii
Table of Figures
Figure 1: The Mentalese—the Matrix of Culture and the Language of Mental Concepts
iii
Introduction
Almost from the time when human consciousness arose, messengers between
societies and cultures began their journeys all over the world. They were searching for
new lands, selling their merchandises, or propagating their religions. Those encounters
were relatively seldom in early times. Today, they are almost part of everyday life:
technological advances have facilitated communications and made easier the trafficking
of people. At the same time, interchange among cultures has jeopardized ethnic
distinctiveness and even put under threat the very existence of many cultures—a
phenomenon often referred to as globalization. Local and national cultures have been
enticed by global forces to the power of which they have to succumb to and to adapt.
There is a strong argument that transitional instabilities brought about by the shift from
the industrial to the information age will give way to a new era in which the impact of
unique cultures in world affairs will continue to lessen and that parochial, divisive
cultures will decline in influence. Nevertheless, somehow some people still refuse to
become “citizens of the world” that is so often proclaimed; somehow the French is still
French, and the German is still German.
In order to compete in today’s highly competitive labor market for skilled,
creative, dedicated employees, educators and managers must encourage a diverse work
force at all levels of their organizations. They must also create an academic or corporate
culture that will effectively utilize and retain the diverse talents. Organizationally
speaking, persons with poor diversity skills will harm interpersonal relationships, threaten
the team spirit while wasting time and financial resources of an institution. Moreover,
costly lawsuits may occur and the reputation of an organization may be damaged. Raising
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diversity awareness can considerably reduce the risk of a potential hardship in classroom
or at workplace.
With the end of the cold war, cultural factors have finally emerged as
predominant in international relations driving world affairs. In this regard, the quality of
individuals’ intercultural communication skills—including knowledge of foreign
languages—plays the key role in resolving global conflicts and making international ties.
Relevant to accelerated global dynamics, the core curricula of foreign language
education for adult learners and teaching methods must meet the terms of affirmative
international development and ensure the fastest way of information assimilation by the
learner. Although the core curriculum of foreign language programs usually includes a
great deal of information about cultural artifacts, such an important area of the
development of cross-cultural communication skills is still not given considerable
attention. The teaching usually lays emphasis on aspectual language skill formation—not
on the learner’s involvement in cognitive action. Additionally, the development of nonverbal communicative abilities is totally ignored by the mainstream academic practice.
This research paper complements a specialized project formatted in PowerPoint.
The project demonstrates a facilitation strategy, which can be utilized in teaching of both
verbal and non-verbal communication means in an integrated course of a foreign
language and a relevant culture. The organization of the paper is presented as follows:
Part 1 examines various aspects of culture that construct the Mentalese—the matrix of
culture and the language of concepts, which creates a specific cultural rainbow. Part 2
focuses on a diversity factor as relevant to humanistic education. It also underscores the
importance of teaching non-verbal communication means and techniques that assist in
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raising students’ cross-cultural alertness. Part 3, completed in a PowerPoint format,
illustrates some didactic techniques applied to teaching of contextualized intercultural
communication. The Conclusion emphasizes the critical importance of multiculturalmultilingual education as a harmonizing solution to many problems that occur in both
local and global contexts.
Part 1: The Mentalese
Since ages, people observed that many behavior patterns, insights, and abilities
were considered appropriate in some societies but ridiculed in the others. Equally, human
behavior is a complex outcome of psycho-physiological, socio-economic, intercultural,
and political processes, which are identifiable by birth heritage, educational upbringing,
and environmental adaptation. Although many wonderful books have been written,
particularly, in the last few years, none of their authors could remain culturally “neutral”
while comparing cultural patterns and making conclusions, because all observations and
definitions are being filtered through the socio-psychological and cultural background of
the observer. “Culture is like gravity: you [do not] experience it until you jump [six] feet
into the air,” have stated Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner in their most
comprehensive book on culture (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998, p.5).
The word culture stems from the Latin colere, translatable as to cultivate, to build
on, to foster. In the early stages of the philosophical debate about what is culture, the
term often refers to the opposite of nature, whereas “culture” was referring to “something
constructed willingly by men”, while “nature” was “given in itself”. However, the
individual can never be considered as a completely independent “cultural architect”,
whose creative spirit is resourcefully unconstrained by environmental pressure:
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Purposeful inventiveness is always necessitated and determined by the environmental
context and previous human experience. Moreover, in accordance with the Relativity
Theory, authored by great Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the event—including any cultural
occurrence—gets a specific spot and duration in space-time, i.e., is positioned within a
concrete historic-geopolitical period resulting from a complex and versatile combination
of countless situational variables.
Although multiple scientific realizations in the field embody the most valuable
achievements in the development of scientific thought, the author of this research paper
argues that investigating the cause-effect correlation is a crucial starting point for
understanding the cross-cultural dynamics while analyzing cultural phenomena. In
accordance with the author’s concept, deriving from an application of the String Theory
to the societal domain, culture is a wave-based, meandering field of live energy, extended
and warped in the fabric of space-time. A comparative assessment of culture should be
anchored in the following fourteen factors the interplay of which brings about a particular
cultural composition—the Mentalese, the matrix of culture, or the language of thought
that operates with mental concepts resulting from amalgamated perceptions of the
environmental signals (See Figure 1, p.iii):

Physical appearance—with regard to physiological parameters: race, ethnicity, age,
gender, etc.

Language—as symbolic system or sub-system: (a) natural (ethnic) and artificial
(Esperanto, computer language, professional or criminal jargon, etc.), (b) modern
(currently in use) or archaic (Latin, cryptography, etc.).
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
5
Communication that includes the following: (a) verbal/linguistic and non-verbal/paralinguistic means (body language, mimics, etc.); (b) conscious or para-conscious
(inadvertent) psychological activity (attention, feedback-expectancy); (c) media
devices; (d) velocity and frequency of diffusion/reception.

Education comprises teaching and learning that both primarily depend not on
specificity of ethnic perceptiveness but on the availability of effective methods of
transmission and assimilation of information that mirrors an actual status of an
entire academic system.

Emotionality stands for dynamism of psychological reactions, vivacity of feelings,
and external expressiveness.

Spirituality incorporates religion, arts, folklore, traditions, and appreciation for
edification.

Sexuality comprises psycho-physiologically motivated behaviors ascending from the
pre-historic saga on human—basic and some secondary—reflexes, which sanction
sexual orientation and mannerism.

Socialization is understood as belongingness to commonality (community,
nationhood, friendship, etc.) and related to it.

Stratification indicate preconceived judgments, biases, and socially constructed (with
regard to upward mobility) barriers—strata—that create “glass ceiling” syndrome for
some social classes, groups, races, or ethnos.

Self-Awareness is an identical twin of self-confidence and love for freedom that
evolve from self-identification of an individual or a nation.
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
6
Territoriality has a multifaceted meaning that ranges from psychological tolerability
(at home, at work, etc.) and socially acceptable distance (for example, between two
interacting individuals) to shielding the Motherland from the intruders.

Temporality encompasses conceptualization of the historic streamline (the pastpresent-future) and the timing (age-, season-, or business-related concepts).

Technology is a comprehensive layer of the noosphere that transforms the
environments and human relations.

Finances, the “blood system” of culture, create multiple ways that allow—through
production and exchange of goods and services, or monetary manipulations of
corporate dealership—to store energy for the present and future needs.
A modern socio-geopolitical perspective allows classification of culture as a
category, which has both political and social consequences. The difficulty nation-states
have with globalization comes not just from the force of what is happening in the
international arena but from ideological developments within nation-states. The concept
of ethnocentrism, introduced early in this century, refers to a tendency that most people
see their own culture as the “center of the world” and “through transparent lenses” of
their own socio-cultural filters while filtering the other cultural occurrences “through
colored glasses”. In any case, the Mentalese—or in other words, national or
organizational mentality—offers the filtering of information incoming to the brain from
the environment and in accordance with stereotyped thinking paradigms, assimilated
before. Often this phenomenon has been seen as a result of “naïve” thinking, grown from
an assumption of the world being as it appears to the individual: a set of “self-evident”
rules, roles, categories and relationships, seen as “natural”.
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The concept of ethnocentrism is often displayed in a form of nationalism that
always rallies with chauvinism, xenophobia, and racism. National sovereignty is said to
be a “dying concept” and, consequently, a boost must be given to redirecting national
priorities in favor of the “genuinely natives”. The next “protective-purifying” step
comprises issuing a definition of “genuineness” by specific parameters, which are defined
by the ruling elite. When the national consolidation idea reaches its extremity, it turns
into fascist hysteria or it leads to a political coup d’état, followed by dogmatic pressure
and physical extermination of those who “do not fit” certain standards or ideological
parameters, those who are distinct. The only thing that can withstand the ethnocentric
propensity and can defy the self-destructive power of egotistic individualism is
multiculturalism and appreciation for diversities—in appearance, in thinking, in
believing, and in speaking—that construct a set of natural human rights.
Part 2: Thinking Through Diversity
The appearance of the thinking beings, which marks the beginning of a new
evolutionary stage—an era of reasoning, which occurs in accordance with the formula:
associating = thinking. And this is an area where anthropologies, psychologists, and
sociologists, until now, cross their swords while debating cultural differences. To throw
light upon this dilemma, it is necessary to allude to a fastening link between associating,
thinking, and learning that somehow has escaped to attract educators’ attention.
Contemporary academic systems abound in diversity. Some cultures still provide
the learning “by rote”, while other cultures emphasize lecturing and demonstration but
without student’s substantial involvement in learning activity. Some other cultures make
reference to “logic” by generously generating esoteric recommendations on how to learn
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while striving to envision a “philosophical stone”, which would make the learning
rational and effective. In any case scenario, the failure to involve the learner’s emotional
sphere in educational process suggests the learner to be considered as a “half-brained”,
genderless, ethnicityless, non-emotional biological automaton that is good enough only
for information processing. An overwhelming emphasis on formal-logistic mental
operations does not bring harmonizing solutions to many academic problems. The neglect
to pay attention at a huge, untapped potential of the human sub-consciousness renders the
learning more stressful and less effective. The studying becomes a boring waste of time,
money, and talents. It is needless to say that learner’s aversion for education is
predictable and is due to existing academic conditions and stigmata.
However, the learning becomes effective as well as pleasant if it is going on in a
safe and cheery atmosphere of psychological inclusion and acceptance of differences.
The learning must be fun and dynamic as well as a nurturing resource for mental
development and spiritual growth. It must promote a harmonizing development of the
individual’s personality by all cognitive parameters. Thus, making the most of
intercultural training means activation of student’s psycho-physiological abilities and
formation of communicative skills. Dr. Robert Hayles, Vice President of Human
Resources and Diversity for the Pillsbury Technology Center of the Grand Metropolitan
Food Sector, emphasizes the following:
Intercultural training makes use of cognitive activities (lectures, discussion,
reading, media presentations), affective involvement (experiential exercises,
emotional encounters, values/attitude clarification), and behavioral development
(learning languages, norms, gestures, and the like). To be effective, training must
address the variations in learning styles that exist among the participants and
reach beyond increasing the level of knowledge (head) to engaging feelings
(heart) and building behavioral skills (hand) (Hayles in Fowler and Mumford,
p.215).
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Another important aspect, which must be equally addressed and incorporated in
the core curriculum and didactics, is the changing role of women that takes place
worldwide. Indeed, none of societal domains will prosper without the full participation of
both men and women. Many sociologists believe there are male cultures and female
cultures because of some typical traits, reproduced in a structural-functional pattern (or a
socio-political archetype) of a nation or a corporate organization. “Most people agree that
culture [directly] impacts on gender roles and role expectations and that the way in which
men [and] women communicate is an intercultural issue,” asserts Dr. Hayles (p.216).
Therefore, both male and female issues and communicative models must be ingrained in
teaching of foreign languages and cultures.
Usually, one’s own culture—that is, the reference culture—is being perceived and
conceptualized “through transparent glasses” that refers to emic awareness, or the
understanding of other cultures from the inside out. It tends to be “unconscious and
typically conveys the feeling [that] it is natural and normal, while that of other cultures
[is] strange, exotic, or unnatural,” asserts Dr. Edward C. Stewart, an international expert
in cross-cultural communication. The silent assumptions of reference culture are central
to one’s conceptual judgments and frequently come “in the form of recipes” to the others.
Emic alertness is closely related to ethnocentrism that puts the “I” in the center of
universe and works as the only point of stereotyped reference. “Specific views and
perceptions [are] distorted into stereotypes which defend the integrity [and] serve the
needs of reference culture” (Stewart in Fowler and Mumford, p.49). In contrast to
reference culture, perception of the other cultures is more conscious. The same author
points out: “We tend to see members of the [other] cultures behaving according to
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patterns and principles which impose [regularity] and conformity” (p.49). This kind of
awareness—from the outside in—applies to etic knowledge. In short, the other cultures
are being viewed “through colored glasses” that modify the objective reality in reference
to the previous—“domestic”—experience. “The dynamic relation [between] the reference
and the other culture is the key issue [in] cross-cultural training” (p.49).
Even a little intercultural training contains the potential to prevent many
communicative mistakes and misunderstandings between the individuals and the nations.
The history of international diplomacy is full of infamous details in the behavior of
politicians that led to poor political relationships between countries. Very often, the real
meaning of a statement can be lost in translation that creates discrepancies, conflicts, and
notoriously embarrassing situations in interpersonal and international relations. “Few
businesses can function successfully without [using] products from, trading with, or
marketing [to] customers in different countries” (p.216). The media, business magazines,
and business sections of newspapers provide more and more evidence of business trends
gone global. Further globalization of commerce, facilitation of people’s migration,
swiftness and expansion of international communications will bring about a
consecutively increasing demand for multilingual-multicultural training.
Conclusion
The new millennium has brought new efforts at overcoming the obvious global
imbalance of power and at humanizing the meaning of human life. Human civilization is
entering a new era in which global markets and servile governments will no longer be
completely alone in planning the world’s fate and the dynamics of events. Because the
world is interconnected, the flow of information has only very limited borders, and so has
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the flow of people and their influences. Certainly, globalization is rapidly taking over
cultural convergence. That cannot be denied. However, with globalization, comes an
unprecedented influence on the national cultures. The influence on the local cultures is
now taking place in a larger, faster, and more efficient manner. It reaches not only a
certain class, it reaches far into the society, every society. The rising internationalism of
transnational civic institutions and social movements promises a measure of
countervailing power in the international arena and serves as an alternative to the
reactionary politics. However, an amazing and yet contradictory fact is still being a
popular stance, deep-rooted in broad public mentality: The fact that people are different
does not need an additional acknowledgement; nevertheless, not everybody is willing to
recognize the normality of human variegation and to appreciate asynchronicity in
individual development. However, owing to asynchronicity and diversity of the human
factor, the global civilization benefits from an endless resource of energy that fuels the
life dynamics and encourages evolution per se.
Demographers and labor experts note two kinds of labor shortage: frictional and
structural. Frictional shortages occur where the people with the skills needed to
perform the tasks exist but they are not located where the task is. In the near
future, we will be facing more of the other kind of shortage—structural. This is
where the people with the skills to perform the desired work do not exist in the
numbers and with the education and training that is required. This means that
countries like Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia, and the United States will have
to attract, educate, and train people who are not Japanese, German, Canadian,
Australian, or American to meet local and worldwide needs (Hayles in Fowler
and Mumford, p.216).
The stated above postulation predicts further integration and globalization of
business, as well as creation of closer ties between academic, governmental, and civic
organizations. Consequently, the demand for training and experts in cross-cultural
communication will increase in geometrical progression.
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References
Books:
Banks, J. (1994). An introduction to multicultural education. Needham Heights, MS:
Allyn & Bacon.
Bucher, R. (2000). Diversity consciousness: opening our minds to people, cultures, and
opportunities. Upper Saddle River, NJ; London; Sydney; Toronto; Mexico; New
Delhi; Tokyo; Singapore; Rio de Janeiro: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Fowler, S., & Mumford, M., Eds. (1995). Intercultural sourcebook: cross-cultural
training methods. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, Inc.
Greene, B. (1999). The elegant universe: superstrings, hidden dimensions, and the quest
for the ultimate theory. NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Hall, E. (1990). The silent language. NY: Anchor Books/Doubleday.
Harris, M. (1978). Cannibals and kings: The origins of cultures. NY: Vintage Books.
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (1998). Riding the waves of culture:
understanding diversity in global business. 2nd ed. New York; San Francisco;
Washington, D.C.; Aucland; Bogotá; Caracas; Lisbon; London; Madrid; Mexico
City; Milan; Montreal; New Delhi; San Juan; Singapore; Sydney; Tokyo; &
Toronto: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Internet and Web Resources:
http://www.cal.org/rsc/
http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/cultural/
http://www.stephweb.com
http://www.wsu.edu:8001/vcwsu/commons/topics/culture/culture-index.html