Purposive Communication - Chapter 3

Purposive Communication - Chapter 3

• This chapter discusses culture and its impact on communication, barriers to local and global communication in multicultural settings, and the varieties/registers of spoken and written language.

What Will You Learn

• Demonstrate cultural diversity awareness by identifying dialects and languages.
• Explain how cultural diversity affects effective communication.
• Explain the importance of using appropriate language varieties and registers in various contexts.
• Explain the differences between spoken and written language.

What is Culture

• Culture is a learned system of meanings that fosters a shared identity and community among people.
• It comprises shared traditions, beliefs, values, norms, symbols and meanings, which are part of a group identity.
• Individuals are simultaneously members of multiple cultural groups, such as national, ethnic, religious, gender, media, and social class cultures.

Global Communication

• Modern global communication is complex, involving numerous actors (e.g., translators, editors, and commentators) interpreting messages differently based on cultural contexts.
• Communication becomes more complicated due to language and cultural differences among recipients.

Local and Global Communication

• Local communication involves direct data transfer.
• Global communication uses various media, like email, the internet, and speeches, to connect people across the world.
• Communication involves awareness of cultural diversity in order to effectively communicate globally.

Communicating Across Cultures

• Communicating across cultures is challenging due to unspoken cultural rules and assumptions.
• Cultural biases and anxieties are often learned subconsciously.
• Adapting to intercultural communication is crucial in a globally interconnected world.

Barriers to Communication

• Language is a common barrier to both local and global effective communication.
• Cultural differences in interpretation of communication may present barriers to intercultural understanding and communication.

Multicultural vs Cross-cultural

• Multiculturalism refers to a society with multiple cultural groups coexisting, but possibly without much interaction.
• Cross-cultural communication focuses on the comparison and contrast of cultures to help understand and navigate cross-cultural interactions.

Cultural Encounters

• Individuals react differently to cultural encounters:
• Assimilation: Efforts to eliminate differences
• Accommodation: Respecting uniqueness while adjusting to another culture.
• Separation: Rejecting the dominant culture and forming groups with shared values. -Ethnocentrism (judging other cultures by your own standard) and cultural relativism (considering all cultures as equal)

Language Encounters

• Sociolinguists argue gender impacts communication styles.
• Women's communication is often characterized as indirect, apologetic, sensitive, relationship-oriented - men's often described as assertive, dominant, or power-oriented.

Generation Culture Communication Differences

• Different generations use unique language varieties (jargon, acronyms, etc.) and have various communication styles influenced by their respective contexts (e.g., media, events, achievements)

Language Varieties and Registers

• Language registers (formal, casual, intimate, private, frozen, and consultative) vary depending on context and relationship between communicators.
• Spoken and written language have distinct characteristics, including variations in speed, loudness/quietness, gestures, intonation, and stress levels.
• Written language tends to be more complex and using formal language structures, whereas in spoken communication the context and tone play an important role.

Specific Words/Phrases (Slang)

• The text includes examples of slang in modern communication.

Tasks

• Specific tasks are mentioned for in-class activities, but no detailed instructions are included.

Explore the intricate relationship between culture and communication in Chapter 3 of Purposive Communication. Delve into the barriers faced in multicultural settings and learn about the significance of language varieties in effective communication. This chapter emphasizes the importance of cultural diversity awareness and its impact on spoken and written language.