Culture and Communication PDF Lecture Notes

Culture and Communication What is Communication To understand intercultural interaction, we must recognize the role of communication in that process. Communication – our ability to share our ideas and feelings – is the basis of all human contact. The Uses of Communication Communication for...

Culture and Communication What is Communication To understand intercultural interaction, we must recognize the role of communication in that process. Communication – our ability to share our ideas and feelings – is the basis of all human contact. The Uses of Communication Communication for interpersonal needs People are social creatures – communication to satisfy great needs. Imagine people in solitary confinement. People have a need to communicate and interact with others. Communication Assists with person Perception assists in collecting data about other people. When communicating with others for the first time, we start gathering information about others. These information serves two purposes: Enable you to learn about the other person. Assists in deciding how to present yourself to that person. These information both verbal and non-verbal in IC – communicate with strangers. The Uses of Communication Communication Establishes Cultural and Personal Identities. Establish a person’s personal identity, acquired through communicating with others According to Wood, through contacts with others, information is accumulated that helps define who you are, where you belong, and where your loyalties rest. Identity is dynamic and multi-dimensional - individual has numerous identities ranging from concepts of self, emotional ties to family, attitudes toward gender, to beliefs about one’s culture. Identities evolved through the course of interactions with others. The Uses of Communication Communication has Persuasive Qualities Verbal and nonverbal messages to shape other’s behavior. Daily engagement to influence others. E.g. selling, charitable cause. These judgments affect everything from the discussion topics selected to whether you decide to continue the conversation or terminate it. In all of these instances you are using communication as a means to regulate the world around you. Defining Communication Dance and Larson found 126 definitions of the word communication. According to Samovar et. al., “human communication – is a dynamic process in which people attempt to share their thoughts through the use of symbols in particular settings.” The Components of Communication Source – a person who has an idea, feeling, experience etc. that they wish to share with another person. The source as the other person, send and receives messages, since communication is an interactive process. While you sending messages, you also observing the messages generated by your communication partner. The Components of Communication Encoding – we rely on symbolic representations of our internal states. It is an internal activity, it occurs when the source creates a message through the selection of verbal and non-verbal symbols. By employing vocabulary, rules of grammar and syntax that relevant to the sender’s language, he or she attempts to symbolize what is going on inside them. The words and actions selected and how they are strung together have their origins in the culture of the language being used. The Components of Communication Messages – a set of written, pictorial, verbal and/or nonverbal symbols that represent a source’s particular state of being at a specific moment. While encoding is internal act, the sending of the messages is an external undertaking – it is the subject matter to be communicated. The Components of Communication Channel – messages moves from person to person, it is the channel that provides that necessary connection. The channel can take a variety of forms. Channels in face to face interactions are sights and sounds. However, channels cam include a host of types of media From TV to the internet, messages get moved from place to place. The Components of Communication Receiver – the receiver is person who takes the message into account, and thereby is directly linked to the source. Those whom the source intend to interact with or they may be other people who for whatever reason come in contact with the source’s message. Decoding – the receiver decodes the message The decoding process within the receiver is often referred to as information processing In this stage, the receiver attributes meaning to the behaviours generated by the sender. The Components of Communication Feedback – when you send a message to another person you usually perceive the response that person makes to your actions. That response may be words, a nonverbal reaction, or even silence. The perception of the response to your message is called feedback. Feedback typically has two stages. First, it applies to the reactions you obtain from your communication partner. Second, in most instances you use that reaction to decide what to do next. The Components of Communication Noise – in every communication event is characterized by a multitude of competing stimuli. Numerous stimuli are calling attention and seeking to get noticed and this is noise. It is defined and explained as “any unintended stimulus or unintended stimulus that affects the fidelity of a sender’s message, and often disrupts the communication process. Noise can be internal or external and it can influence ability to communicate. Characteristics of Communication Communication is a dynamic process – first the word indicate that communication is an ongoing activity that has no beginning or end. Communication is not static. Communication is like a motion picture, not a single snapshot. Second, once a word or action is produced, it cannot be retracted. Third, the phrase dynamic process conveys the idea that sending and receiving messages involves a host of variables, all in operation at the same time. Each of the parties reacting to others by seeing, listening, talking, thinking. Characteristics of Communication Communication is symbolic – in human communication a symbol is an expression that stands for or represents something else. Symbols are important in human interaction. In human communication, a symbol is an expression that stands for or represents something else. Human are able to generate, receive, store and manipulate symbols. Why symbols? Because human cannot directly access the internal thoughts of another person, must rely on and interpret their use of verbal and nonverbal symbols to represent those thoughts. It is important to remember that each person “defines” those words and phrases from their own cultural perspective. Characteristics of Communication Communication is contextual – communication does not occur in a vacuum. According to Littlejohn, “Communication always occurs in a context and the nature of communication depends in large measure on this context.” The setting and environment help determine the words and actions we generate and the meaning we give to the symbols produced by other people. This contextualization of communication involves a number of variables: number of participants, the environmental context, the occasion, and the time. Characteristics of Communication Communication is self-reflective – the focus on self can and usually does take place while you are communicating. You can think about the encounter you are involved in while being an active member of that encounter It is as if you are talking with yourself while also exchanging messages with other people. You can watch, evaluate, and alter your “performance” as a communicator at the very instant you are engaged in the event. Different culture – individual versus group Characteristics of Communication Communication is irreversible – once a message is sent, there can be no way to retrieve it. A Chinese proverb, “A harsh word dropped from the tongue cannot be brought back by a coach and six horses.” “Terlajak perahu boleh diundur terlajak kata buruk padahnya.” Characteristics of Communication Communication has a consequence – people can learn something from every experience to which they are exposed. There are thousand of responses, these are the responses to messages that you receive by observing, imitating, or interacting with others. Generally we are not aware that we are receiving these messages. E.g. parents act out gender role and you receive message about it. Important implication, we are changing other people each time we exchange messages with them. According to Wood, “What we say and do affects others: how they perceive themselves, think about themselves and how they think about others.” Characteristics of Communication Communication is complex – communication can involve controlling, informing, persuading, and relating to others. Bodily and mental activity involved. Smith stated, “Human communication is a subtle and ingenious set of processes. It is always thick with a thousand ingredients – signals, codes, meanings, no matter how simple the message or transaction. Communication becomes even more complex when cultural dimensions are added. Misconceptions about Human Communication Communication can solve all problems communication is not cure-all. E.g. personal relationships. From cultural perspectives, reliance on communication to solve all problems is a western idea. According to Wood, “Not all societies think it is wise or useful to communicate about relationships or to talk extensively about feelings. Just as interpersonal communication has many strengths and values, it also has limits, and its effectiveness is shaped by cultural contexts.” Misconceptions about Human Communication Some people are born effective communicators It is a fallacy and a myth. Example: learning to compromise, empathy and listening skills can be learned. Misconceptions about Human Communication The message you send is the message received The false premise that the recipient of the message decodes the message similarly in the same way the sender of the message encoded it. This view did not consider certain variables such as each person;s background, memory, values, beliefs, vocabulary when communicating. This misconception that causes major conflicts and misunderstandings.