1.

LOCAL AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION IN MULTICULTURAL SETTING

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Determine culturally-appropriate terms, expressions, and images (sensitivity to gender, race, class,
etc.)

2. Adopt cultural awareness and sensitivity in communication of ideas

3. LESSON 3 OUTLINE:

1. A World of Diversity

2. The Global Community

3. Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity

4. Gender Sensitivity

5. Political Correctness

4. A. A WORLD OF DIVERSITY

5. A world of diversity Parapak (1995) describes our world as a world of diversity.

Becoming Culturally Fluent: Understanding the Variances of Culture across Asia Can Enhance Business
and Communication

I can't count how many times I've been asked a question that starts with, "In Asia, how do they ...?"

It's encouraging and discouraging at the same time. Encouraging, because at least they're asking (rather
than barging ahead without thinking). Discouraging, though, because they're asking the wrong question.
There is really no such thing as "Asian" culture.

Culturally speaking, it doesn't make any sense to treat diverse Asian markets such as India and China the
same. Would you ask, "In the Americas, how do they ...?" and expect the answer to cover both Canada
and Brazil?

Thus, the most important part of cross-cultural communication is not trying to grasp what some
nonexistent "Asian culture" might be, but becoming what is called "culturally proficient."

Cultural proficiency doesn't mean memorizing every cultural nuance of every market. It's knowing when
to listen, when to ask for help, and when-finally--to speak.

Cultural proficiency in media relations

Unless they have a high degree of cultural proficiency, our clients encounter the greatest difficulties with
media relations. Americans are often accused of being culturally insensitive and are often cited for
cultural gaffes. But the problem isn't limited to Americans. Clients from various parts of Asia have
arrived at my office scratching their heads over dilemmas like these:
* Chinese clients hate to include a quote from a spokesperson in their press releases because it is seen
as giving undue credit to that person; however, international journalists, especially British and American
ones, won't publish a story without a quote.

* The spokesperson for an Australian client took the trouble to give all of his junior communication
specialists the opportunity to share their diverse opinions during a get-to-know-you meeting with a
group of editors and reporters from a South Korean newspaper. However, the Korean editor-in-chief left
confused and insulted. In his opinion, the Australian boss should have presented his team's unified
opinions, and the junior staffers should not have contradicted him.

A MULTILEVEL APPROACH IN THESE SITUATIONS WILL LEAD TO BETTER RESULTS.

1. Any spokesperson outside his or her home country should become familiar in a general sense with the
ways in which culture and media culture may vary. These may include gift-giving protocol, sense of time,
attention to hierarchy, sense of responsibility and definitions of professionalism.

2. A professional media trainer should provide the spokesperson with either a briefing or a full training
session on the specifics of the media in that local market. The spokesperson should insist that the
training cover all of the areas mentioned above. The best trainer is someone who has enough local
experience to know the facts, but also enough experience in the culture to highlight what's the same
and what's different.

3. Media relations professionals with experience in the target country should conduct the initial phase of
media outreach, and be on hand during any interaction with the spokesperson.

It's true that media everywhere--Asia included want to find a locally relevant story. But if they wanted
just to hear about their own country, they would not need to talk to a foreign spokesperson. There's
nothing duller than the same Wikipedia statistics trotted out by someone who arrived in the market 24
hours ago. Instead, an international spokesperson can create a more compelling story by comparing the
local situation to other markets that he or she is familiar with. For example, a spokesperson from an
African assignment declared to a group of Vietnamese media that "Vietnam may be a developing
country at the moment, but it can never be called a poor country!" Their faces beamed as they finally
heard someone echoing their own hopes.

Creating cultural proficiency in communication

Just as in media relations, attaining cultural proficiency in other forms of communication is a process
with multiple steps. …

6. B. THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

7. Global community - refers to the people or nations of the world, considered as being closely
connected by modern telecommunications and as being economically, socially, and politically
interdependent Examples:

✘ Major offices and some homes linked with optical fiber systems

✘ Global multimedia services

✘ Satellite transmissions 7
8. C. CULTURAL AWARENESS AND SENSITIVITY

9. What is cultural awareness? - Is knowing that there are multiple different cultures – based on religion,
ethnicity, nationality, and other factors- that have different attitudes and outlooks.

9 What is cultural sensitivity? - involves accepting those differences without insisting your own culture is
better, or that everyone should do it your way (Sherman, 2018)

10. CULTURAL AWARENESS & SENSITIVITY GUIDELINES

1. View human difference as positive and a cause for celebration;

2. Have a clear sense of your own ethnic, cultural, and racial identity;

3. Be aware that in order to learn about others, you need to understand and be prepared to share your
own culture;

4. Be aware of your own discomfort when you encounter differences in race, color, religion, sexual
orientation, language, and ethnicity;

5. Be aware of the assumptions that you hold about people of cultures different from your own;

6. Be aware of your stereotypes as they arise and develop personal strategies for reducing the harm
that they cause;

 7. Be aware of how your cultural perspective influences your judgments about what appropriate,
normal, or superior behaviors, values, and communication styles are;

8. Accept that in cross-cultural situations, there can be uncertainty, and that uncertainty can make you
anxious. It can also mean that you do not respond quickly and take the time needed to get more
information;

9. Take any opportunity to put yourself in places where you can learn about differences and create
relationships; and

10. Understand that you will likely be perceived as a person with power and racial privilege (or the
opposite), and that you may not be seen as unbiased or as an ally.

 D. GENDER SENSITIVITY

13. What is gender sensitivity? - refers to the aim of understanding and taking account of the societal
and cultural factors involved in gender-based exclusion and discrimination in the most diverse spheres
of public and private life.

14. What is gender-sensitive language? - is the realization of gender equality in written and spoken
language. - it is attained when women and men and those who do not conform to the binary gender
system are made visible and addressed in language as persons of equal value, dignity, integrity, and
respect.

15. GENDER-NEUTRAL WORDS

1. Ancestors, forebears (instead of forefathers)

3. Average/ordinary person (instead of common man)

4. Chair, chairperson, coordinator (instead of chairman)

5. Courteous, cultured (instead of ladylike)

6. First-year student (instead of freshman)

7. Flight attendant (instead of stewardess)

8. Human resources (instead of manpower)

9. Legislator, representative (instead of congressman)

10. Mail carrier, letter carrier, postal worker (instead of mailman, postman)

11. People, human beings (instead of mankind)

12. Person, individual (instead of man)

13. Police officer (instead of policeman)

14. Solidarity (instead of brotherhood)

15. To operate, to cover, to staff (instead of to man)

17. CHECKLIST FOR GENDER REVISIONS

1. Have you used man or men or words containing one of them to refer to people who may be female?
If so, consider substituting another word.

2. If you have mentioned someone’s gender, was it necessary to do so? If you identify someone as a
female architect, for example, do you (or would you) refer to someone else as a male architect? And if
you then note that the woman is an attractive blonde mother of two , do you mention that the man is a
muscular, square-jawed father of three? Unless gender and related matters – looks, clothes, parenthood
– are relevant to your point, leave them unmentioned,

 3. Do you use any occupational stereotypes? Watch for the use of female pronouns for nurses and male
ones for scientists, for example. 4. Do you use language that in any away shows a lack of respect for
either sex? 5. Have you used he, him, his, or himself to refer to people who may be female? 18

19. E. POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

20. What is political correctness? - is used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended
to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. 20

21. SOME WORDS THAT MAY BE USED FOR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Academic dishonesty (instead of cheating)

2. Aesthetically challenged (instead of ugly)

4. comb-free (instead of bald)

5. Differently abled (instead of disabled)

6. Drug dependent (instead of drug addict)

7. Dysfunctional family (instead of broken home)

8. Economically marginalized (instead of poor)

9. Elderly, senior (instead of old)

10. Ethnically disoriented (instead of dishonest)

11. Hearing impaired (instead of deaf)

12. Informal settlers (instead of squatters)

13. Intellectual disability, intellectual development disorder (instead of mental retardation)

14. Intellectually impaired (instead of stupid)

15. Little people (instead of midget)

16. Morally challenged (instead of a crook)

17. Nondiscretionary fragrance (instead of body odor)

18. Outdoor urban (instead of homeless)

19. People of mass (instead of fat)

20. Rape survivor (instead of rape victim)

21. Sexually dysfunctional (instead of perverted)

22. Socially misaligned (instead of psychopath)

23. Technologically challenged (instead of computer illiterate)

24. Vertically challenged (instead of short)

25. Visually challenged (instead of blind)

26. Person deprived of liberty (instead of inmate/prisoner)

24. As a student, how will local and global communication in multicultural setting be applied to:

1. MAC core values (Truth, Justice, and Freedom)

2. Family, friends, and to the society;

3. Course
25. 25 quiz

26. Local and global communication in multicultural setting

https://www.slideshare.net/RyanBuer/local-and-global-communication-in-multicultural-setting