Prepared by Ms. Paula Borja (Department of Teacher Education - Cvsu Bacoor City Campus)

GNED 05: Intercultural and Global Communication
Intercultural and Global Communication • Norms: A norm is a rule or a standard that

governs our conduct in social situations in which
Intercultural communication (cross-cultural we participate.
communication) is a discipline that focuses on the • Folkways: It is a term introduced by the late
communication between different cultures and social William Graham Sumner. This term literally
groups. In other words, it deals with how culture means “the ways of the folk,” the ways people
affects/influences communication. It describes a wide have devised for satisfying their needs, for
range of communication processes and problems that interacting with one another, and for
may naturally occur in an organization or within a social conducting their lives.
context, which is made up of individuals from different • Mores: The mores differ from the folkways in the
religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. sense that moral conduct differs from merely
Society is increasingly diverse, making communicating customary conducts.
with people from many cultures a business necessity.   • Laws: Laws are associational norms that appear
in the political organization of society.
Global communication (international
• Belief System: Cultural belief systems can be
communication) is interdisciplinary field that focuses on
the ways that people relate, connect, and share ideas divided into two parts. One is existential beliefs,
and knowledge despite the geographic, political, which include (a) empirical-science and
economic, social and cultural differences. empirical lore, (b) nonempirical-philosophical
Communication crossing national boundaries is not and supernatural lore, and (c) specialization of
necessarily different from any other communication roles with respect to investigative interests.
activity. However, it is not easy as communicating with
Second, evaluative beliefs include (a)
people locally. There is a need to discuss and overcome
ideologies, (b) religious ideas and traditions,
many cultural factors and language differences.
and (c) role differentiation with respect to
Culture and Its Dimensions responsibility for evaluative beliefs.
Culture is a learned set of shared interpretations about

beliefs, values, and norms that affect the behaviors of a Culture is transmitted in three ways:
relatively large group of people.
1. Enculturation: This is learning of your own group’s
• External Culture - It is superficial since it is based on culture which is usually practiced around you.
explicit knowledge and it can be easily changed.
2. Acculturation: This is the learning of new traits that is
o Examples: architecture, the way people
borrowed from another culture.
dress
• Internal Culture - It is not directly stated, thus we are Assimilation: This is losing awareness of previous
not aware of the values and behaviors that culture/group identity then learning a new culture from
contribute to its identity or uniqueness another group.
o Examples: Values, beliefs, thought patterns
Culture Understanding
Cultural Trait: It is characteristic of human action that is
• To understand the behavior
acquired socially and transmitted to one another via
various modes of communication. • To prevent misunderstanding and conflict
• To respect the differences between culture
• To send the right message to the right people
Prepared by Ms. Paula Borja (Department of Teacher Education - CvSU Bacoor City Campus)
GNED 05: Intercultural and Global Communication
Intercultural Communication and Its Barriers questions but does not ask them. Instead, he says, "Yes,"
and agrees to take on the project. Weeks later, when the
Language Barriers Indian team completes the first phase of the project, it
Here are a few examples of some translation misfires: does not meet the Americans' expectations and the
relationship falls apart.
1. Germany: Clairol marketed a new curling iron
named "Mist Stick." In German, mist means This was caused by a cultural nuance, in which
manure. the word "Yes" did not necessarily mean that the Indian
2. China: Coca-Cola's name was mistranslated manager understood everything and was in agreement.
when it began selling its product to the Chinese, It was simply a word that he used to move the
who were told to "bite the wax tadpole." relationship forward. Had the American manager
3. Ethiopia: When Gerber began selling its baby understood this, she could have invested more time in
food here, they used the same label design as fostering their new relationship before assuming that
in other countries, featuring a cute infant. In they were in agreement, thus avoiding the problem.
Ethiopia, however, where not everyone was
literate, the custom was that images on a label TIPS ON INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION:
only depicted the jar's contents.
4. Mexico: When Parker Pen began marketing its 1. Avoid assumptions and making derogatory jokes.
pens to this Spanish country, its motto, "It won't 2. Try to use symbols, diagrams and pictures if you
leak in your pocket and embarrass you" was cannot say something in words.
translated to, "It won't leak in your pocket and 3. Avoid using slang and idioms. Choose words that
make you pregnant." will convey only the most specific denotative meaning.
5. Thailand: Ikea entered this market using the 4. Investigate and understand their culture's
same Swedish names for its products that it perception.
used all over the world. However, many of these 5. When communicating with someone, take cultural
names in Thai mean "sex," or have sexual and local differences into account.
implications, like "getting to third base." 6. Say what you do and do what you say.
7. Make sure that your communication is line with the
audience by using understandable language.
Cultural Barriers
Here is an example of a cultural barrier in a work
scenario:
References:
A common way small businesses first become
involved in global operations is by hiring a firm or
1. Bierstedt, R. (1970). The social order (3rd ed.).
consultant from another country, like a company in the
New York: McGraw Hill.
United States hiring a software development team in
2. Johnson, H. (1966). Sociology: A systematic
India with more affordable rates than those who are
introduction. Bombay, India: Allied.
available locally.
3. Merton, R. K. (1957). Social theory and social
structure. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Throughout their initial conversations, the
4. Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. New York:
American manager may be focused on the project
Free Press.
requirements, timelines and deliverables. The Indian
5. Weedmark, D. (2019, February 11). A Definition
manager, on the other hand, may be more focused on
of Global Communication. Retrieved from
building a solid relationship with a new client. After the
https://bizfluent.com/facts-7601794-definition-
American manager carefully explains the project
global-communication.html
requirements and deliverable in terms she believes are
easy to understand, the Indian manager has many
Prepared by Ms. Paula Borja (Department of Teacher Education - CvSU Bacoor City Campus)

Prepared by Ms. Paula Borja (Department of Teacher Education - Cvsu Bacoor City Campus)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Prepared by Ms. Paula Borja (Department of Teacher Education - Cvsu Bacoor City Campus)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Prepared by Ms. Paula Borja (Department of Teacher Education - Cvsu Bacoor City Campus)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GNED 05: Intercultural and Global Communication

Intercultural and Global Communication • Norms: A norm is a rule or a standard that

Culture is a learned set of shared interpretations about

You might also like