BARRIERS TO INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

1. High Anxiety- Sometimes your worries prevent you from focusing

on the communication transaction. Instead, it makes you think more
of your feelings. Hence, some thoughts will not be expressed.
Example: oral recitation in class.
2. Assuming similarity instead of difference- When you assume
similarity between cultures you can be caught unaware of important
differences . Example: it is normal to park anywhere in rural places
but in the city, it is not.
3. Ethnocentrism- Is the belief the one’s own cultural group behaviors,
norms, ways of thinking, and ways of being are superior to all other
cultural group.
A. Cultural relativism- We must try to understand other
people’s behavior in the context of their culture before we
judge them. this implies that we should recognized our own
cultural behaviors and adjust them by other people’s culture.
 4. Stereotypes- are oversimplified or distorted views of another race, another ethnic
group or even another culture. Example, as a child you were told that Mexicans are bad
people and you believed it until you grew up.
 5. Prejudice- is a negative attitude toward a cultural group based on little or no
experience. Example, because you grew up thinking that Mexicans are bad, you feel
negative towards them.
 6. Discrimination- is the over actions one takes to exclude, avoid, or distance oneself
from other groups,. Example, because you feel negative towards Mexicans, you refuse to
be partnered with a Mexican in class groupings.

CAUSES OF MISCOMMUNICATION AND

MISUNDERSTANDING
 1. Implicit Vs explicit communication- Simple message can be stuffed with
implicitness. Example, “enjoy the movie” could be a neutral message, but it could also
be delivered sarcastically. Miscommunication can result from misalignment of explicit
and implicit meaning between the sender and the receiver.
 2. Written or Verbal- Verbal channels are better carries for implicit meaning, while
written channels like email or live chat are better for explicit communication. In written
communication, the interpretation is fully left receiver making it more prone to
miscommunication.
 3. Competitive conversation- In a competitive world, many of the conversation is
intended to merely seek out status, Jordan B. Peterson discusses some form likes-
A. The stronger story- this occurs when one person tries to out do the other in telling one’s
story.
B. Waiting to make your point- this happens when you don’t intend to listen to the other
person but instead, you’re just thinking about how you can make your own point.
C. Victory for the point of view- this happens when instead of discussing to learn
something new, people discuss for the purpose of winning over the other person’s point
of view.
4. Negative bias- This is the tendency of the mind to interpret ambiguity as
negative. Example, Being called to the dean’s office felt like punishment is
looming
5. Poor listening skills- Miscommunication these days can be attributed to the
receiver’s lack of focus.
6. Poor speaking skills- Sometimes, some people have difficulty expressing
themselves. They are so incoherent that it’s challenging to follow.
7. Misaligned lingo- Jargons are only effective as long as you use it within your
circles. Do not use them when interacting with outsiders.
8. Mental models- it is an actual misinterpretation of the explicit/implicit meaning
of the message.
 APPROACHES TO STUDYING
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION.
 There are three primary approaches to the study of intercultural communication (flammia,
2011). These are summarized in the table below;
The social Science
approach or Interpretive Critical
functionalist

Discipline on which Psychology Sociology Anthropology, Various

approach is founded sociolinguistics
Research goal Describe and predict Describe human Change behavior
behavior behavior
Assumption of reality External and Subjective Subjective
describable
Assumption of human Predictable Unpredictable and Changeable
behavior creative
Method of study Quantitative methods Qualitative methods Textual analysis of media

Relationship of culture Communication Culture is both created Culture as power struggles

and communication influenced by culture and maintained through
communication
Contributions of Identifies cultural Communication and Recognizes the economic and political forces in culture
approach violations and culture and cultural and communication; asserts that all intercultural
difference but doesn’t differences should be interactions are characterized by power.
consider studies in context
 A fourth approach called the Dialectical Approach was developed by martin,
nakayama, and flores (2002) in order to address potential contradictions among the three
approaches. It acknowledge the value of the social science, critical and interpretive approaches
at the same time, it requires that we do not limit ourselves to the perspective provided by one
of these approaches. The dialectical approach calls for the simultaneous acceptance of all three
perspectives. An acceptance of multiple perspectives expands our perception of the world and
allow us to create new categories and to see the complex potential of the study of intercultural
communication.
Martin, nakayama, and flores (2000) have identified six dialectic characteristics of
intercultural communication (listed below) which all relate to four building blocks of
intercultural communications culture, communications, context, and power.

1. Cultural Individual- It refers to the fact that communication is both cultural and
individual. All people share some communication patterns with members of groups to which
they belong. All the same time, all people also have unique individual communication patterns
that are idiosyncratic.
2. Personal –Contextual- This dialectic has to do with the relationships between the social
roles that we play and how they interact with our communication patters on the personal level.
3. Differences-similarities- This dialectic recognizes the fact that people are simultaneously
both similar to add different from one another in may ways.
4. Static-dynamic- this dialectic examines the fact that culture and communication
patterns are both static and dynamic. Some culture and communication patterns are
relatively stable, while at the same time, cultures are evolving and changing.
5. History/past-present/future- This dialectic refers to the need to be aware of both
present conditions and historical influences as they affect intercultural communication.
6. Privilege-disadvantages- This dialectic addresses the contractions that individuals may
be simultaneously privileged and disadvantaged.

Improving Intercultural Communication

1. Engage in Mindfulness- Mindfulness means paying attention to what is going on in the
present moment without judgment. Here are the steps to achieve this;
a. Trust your direct and immediate experience.
b. Be patient, be willing to observe and describe what is happening without
bias
c. Accept things as is.
2. Pay attention to your words and actions- It is through thoughtful communication with
others that you become aware of your own thinking patterns, assumptions, perceptions,
prejudices, and biases.
4. Engage in transpection- Instead of assuming, take a moment to relax and reflect.
Transpection is the process of empathizing across cultures. It can only by achieved by
practice and requires structured experience and self-reflection.
5. Gain knowledge- The greater you cultural and linguistic knowledge, and the more your
beliefs overlap with those from other cultures, the less likelihood for misunderstanding.
6. Gain experience- Practice makes perfect.