Culture and Communication

Culture

• Culture encompasses the beliefs, values, behaviors, and material objects that shape a way of life.
• Material culture includes physical objects like homes, schools, and places of worship.
• Non-material culture includes ideas, beliefs, values, rules, norms, and institutions.

Intercultural Communication

• Intercultural communication is the exchange of information between people from different cultures.
• Cultural communication focuses on what a group shares and how it differs from others.
• Personal communication involves individual differences within a group.
• Universal communication involves similarities across all human cultures.

Cultural Perspectives

• Culture-specific perspectives involve an in-depth understanding of one culture, exemplified by "Po" and "Opo" in the Philippines, and bowing in Japan.
• Culture-general perspectives focus on similarities across cultures, like respecting elders in both Asia and Europe.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

• There are six cultural dimensions.

Power Distance Index (PDI)

• The Power Distance Index (PDI) measures the acceptance of inequality in society.
• High PDI indicates a society that accepts hierarchy and unequal power distribution.
• Low PDI indicates a society that values equality and power-sharing.

Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV)

• Individualism emphasizes independence, personal achievements, and privacy.
• Collectivism emphasizes loyalty to a group and shared responsibilities.

Masculinity vs. Femininity (MAS)

• Masculine societies value competition, success, and achievement.
• Feminine societies emphasize relationships, cooperation, and quality of life.

Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

• High UAI indicates a preference for rules, structure, and predictability.
• Low UAI indicates openness to change, risk-taking, and flexibility.

Long-Term vs. Short-Term Orientation (LTO)

• Long-term orientation values persistence, education, and pragmatism.
• Short-term orientation emphasizes traditions, national pride, and immediate stability.

Indulgence vs. Restraint (IVR)

• Indulgence encourages enjoyment, freedom, and personal happiness.
• Restraint values self-discipline, social norms, and rigid behavior.

Nonverbal Communication

• Physical appearance conveys messages through how one looks.
• Proxemics involves the use of space and distance.
• Kinesics involves body movement and gestures.
• Haptics involves the role of touch.
• Chronemics involves time’s influence on communication.
• Oculesics concerns eye contact and movement.
• Colorics is the impact of color on perception.
• Paralanguage involves nonverbal vocal cues.
• Olfactics is the influence of smell.
• Objectics concerns how objects communicate.
• Gustorics concerns how taste conveys meaning.

Functions of Nonverbal Communication

• Reinforcement supports verbal messages, like giving a thumbs up.
• Substitution replaces verbal speech, like waving goodbye.
• Contradiction occurs when verbal and nonverbal messages don’t match, like rolling eyes while agreeing.
• Accentuation emphasizes a verbal message, like raising one's voice when angry.
• Regulation controls the flow of conversation, like raising a hand to speak.

Language Register

• Language register is driven by Audience, Topic, Purpose, and Location.
• Language register is defined as the purpose of communication in a specific situation.

Types of Language Register

• Static/Frozen Register is fixed and unchanging, as seen in the Pledge of Allegiance, marriage vows, and laws.
• Formal Register is used in structured, official settings, such as speeches, sermons, and court rulings.
• Consultative Register involves professional and structured discourse, as in doctor-patient, teacher-student, and lawyer-client conversations.
• Casual Register is informal language used with friends or peers, such as in chats, emails, and blogs.
• Intimate Register is private communication with close family or significant others, as in conversations between spouses, siblings, or parents and children.
• Moving between adjacent registers is natural, but skipping multiple levels may seem inappropriate.

Genre

• Genre is defined as language conventions used for specific purposes (inform, persuade, influence, or actuate behavior).

Distinct Language Genres

• Language of Information relays facts and details; an example is news reports.
• Language of Persuasion attempts to influence someone but allows choice; for example, "Strict safety protocols must be followed to flatten the curve."
• Language of Argumentation seeks to impose a viewpoint without choice; for example, "Smoking should be banned in all places to protect public health."
• Language of Narration/Description tells a story with detailed descriptions, as in novels, storytelling, and history books.
• Language of Aesthetic focuses on emotions and feelings, as in poems and song lyrics.

Language Style

• Language style is a technique used in presenting communication.

Types of Style

• Plain Language (Formal Style) uses clear, factual statements, such as "Acid rain lowers pH levels, causing damage to structures."
• Artistic Language (Informal Style) uses figurative language and creativity, such as "Like a spinning wheel, acid rain falls from poisoned clouds."

Formal Vs. Informal Writing

• Informal: "Sorry, I can’t make it." Formal: "I am afraid I will not be able to attend."
• Informal: "See you next week!" Formal: "I look forward to meeting you next week."

Characteristics of Formal Writing

• Impersonal writing avoids emotions and personal pronouns.
• Structured writing uses logical organization and nominalization which turns verbs into nouns, such as "crucifixion" from "to crucify" and "anger" from "angry".
• Hedged writing uses cautious language to avoid strong opinions, such as "Perhaps, this may be the best solution."