“I Thought You Meant....?” My Paper on Cross-Cultural Communication
In the twenty-first century the world is becoming increasingly smaller. Only forty years ago it would take a North American three months of boat travel to visit the continent of Africa; now it can takes less then twenty-four hours by airplane. A trip to South America, by airplane, can take less then six hours. Even the obstacle of language differences between countries have change. The English language has become the universal language and its speakers can be found in many cities across the globe.
With the speed of travel and the diminishing of the language barrier, North Americans feel confident communicating oversees. However, first-language English speakers can often find themselves being misunderstood, with sometime great consequence, by their international English listeners. There is more to cross-communication then just a common language. Effective cross-cultural communication comes from understanding the elements of communication, how culture, worldview, and value orientation impact the way one communicates, and demonstrating characteristics of competent communicators.
Understanding the elements of communication will increase the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication. There are many elements involved with the communication process. The transactional view of communication, as discussed in Looking Out Looking In, describes communication as a transaction process where, at least, two participants exchange messages and there is understanding of meaning. The communication process begins with a sender (also known as an encoder) who puts the message into some kind of coded system. The message is sent through some type of media like verbally speaking or writing or non verbal means. The receiver then decodes interprets or gives meaning to the message. The receiver (decoder) also gives either verbal or non-verbal feedback to the sender. The nature of the communication process demonstrates that meaning is found in the decoder and not in the words or behavior of the sender (Adler, Proctor 15). It is important for the sender to increase the mutual understanding between he and the receiver. Therefore when North Americans communicate cross-culturally they must seek to communicate in a way that the listener will understand the intended message. Even more, communicators need another level of awareness in order to communicate cross-culturally.
Effective cross-cultural communicators understand that culture impacts communication. Michael Powell in the book, Express Yourself, states that “every society you encounter will have an unique and intricate repertoire of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, facial and body gestures (or lack of them), and subtle ways of expressing or concealing thoughts and emotions” (7). These are called social codes, and they derive from the society’s historical legacy that spans for over thousands of years and that has formed each country’s culture and national character (Powell 7). In other words, the way one communicates is determined by the individuals social code and consequently their culture.
Culture is defined as a person’s “design for living” and the “acquired knowledge which one uses to interpret experience and generate behavior” (qtd. in Hesselgrave 102). D. Hesselgrave discusses that culture is composed of several layer, all of which determine the way the decoder will determine meaning of a message. The first level, at the core, is the ideology, cosmology, and worldview of the society. The second is value orientation and the third are institutions such as marriage, education, and law. These all lead to the surface, and final level, which is made up of the society’s observable behavior and material artifacts (102). Moreover, according to this explanation of culture, a persons worldview is the main reason for determining how that individual will send and receive messages.
To further this point, there is an understanding that all of mankind is born into and reared into culture. In the book Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally, D. Hesselgrave says, “[that] by this process [enculturation] culture is made to be uniquely their own-the cultural reality becomes their reality over a period of time” (195). This reality or the way a person perceives the world is called a worldview (Hesselgrave 197). As discussed earlier, the way an individual perceives the world shapes the way he will send or decode messages. “The greater the difference between our [the senders] culture and theirs [the receivers], the greater will be the opportunities for miscommunication.”(Hale 63) Therefore, to effectively communicate one must understand the worldview of his respondent(s).
Sonya Hamlin in her book, How to Talk So People Listen, argues that awareness of the decoder’s worldview will increase understanding of the message. She writes, “even if the person you’re speaking to has learned to speak English, we need to recognize that we’re all still not necessarily speaking the same language” (42). Hamlin suggest for senders to consider the following key issues:
• Work: what’s expected; how do you move up the ladder?
• Technology: its challenges and differing experiences
• Money; power, influence; how to get them
• Education; How important it is, who could get it, what it took to get it
• Success; what that means, who can achieve it and how
• Social and class structure
• Religious beliefs and the role those played
• Government; its systems, its regulations, and the law
• Acceptable behavior for groups and individuals
• Independence and human rights
• Individuality and the right to exercise it (45).
Dr. Timothy Clinton and Dr. George Ohlschlager would also agree with Hamlin. From a counselor’s prospective they stated that senders must “be aware of the differences in worldviews and in the underlying value assumptions between” the sender and the decoder (617). The above questions and Clinton and Ohlschlager’s statement leads to the observation on value orientation and its impact on communication.
Speakers must also recognize the differences in value orientations in order to communicate more effectively cross-culturally. Value orientation is the second layer of a culture. Thomas Hale, in the book On Being a Missionary, overviews general value differences between the West and East. The West orients around time, puts a high value on avoiding crises (crisis-oriented), and discipline and individual achievement are important (task-oriented). Where in the East, or Developing World, focuses on events rather than time (event-oriented), does not plan for future crises, and puts more value into relationships rather than performance (person-oriented) (62). Being that their are several differences and therefor opportunities for miscommunication, to communicate cross-culturally there must be a general understanding and consideration of the decoders’ value orientations. Even further, there must be an understanding of ones’ own culture.
In order to properly understand another culture, and communicate more effectively, one must study his own culture. James Henslin in his book, Down to Earth Sociology, says that once a person has learned a dialect (or have been enculturated) he “cannot choose to forget it, nor can he pretend to ignore messages he understood” (117). One cannot separate from his culture, therefore, one must be aware of how it effects his communication. This brings it back to the basic communication process and the idea of communication competence.
Finally, in order to effectively communicate cross-culturally one must demonstrate the characteristics of a competent communicator. Competence in cross-cultural communication not only will help during but also before the communication process. Adler and Proctor suggests that there are four characteristics for cross-cultural competence; motivation, tolerance for ambiguity, open-mindedness, and knowledge and skill. Because communicating cross-culturally can most often be difficult the speaker must have motivation to meet those challenges. As discussed earlier the speaker must be willing to study the culture and value orientations of his listeners. Tolerance for ambiguity and open-mindedness to new behaviors also can be doorways to understanding the other culture. “A tolerance for ambiguity make it possible to accept, and even embrace, the often equivocal and sometimes downright incomprehensible messages that characterize intercultural communication” (Adler, Proctor 33). The fourth characteristic of competence reiterates the main points of this paper. There must be a knowledge of the rules and customs of the audience and the sender must have skill in adapting their message accordingly. Practicing the characteristics of a competent cross-cultural communicator will help make the sender be more effective.
In summary, there are several aspects of communication that need to be understood in order to be effective at cross-cultural communication. First, that understanding the process of communication and that meaning is not found in words but in the interpretation of the words. Secondly, the communicator more realize that culture with its worldview and value orientation impact the way one perceives the world. Therefore, because of this impact, the speaker must study the intended audience’s culture. Finally, the sender must demonstrate characteristics of a competent communicator by being motivated and open-minded. In this way effective cross-cultural communication is more likely to take place.
Work Cited
Adler, Ronald, and Proctor, Russell. Looking Out/Looking In (13th Edition). Boston:
Wadsworth, 2007.
Clinton, Dr. Timothy and Ohlschlager, Dr. George. Competent Christian Counseling. Colorado
Springs: Waterbrook Press, 2002.
Hale, Thomas. On Being A Missionary. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1995.
Hamlin, Sonya. How To Talk So People Listen: Connecting In Today’s Workplace. New York:
Harper-Collins Publishers, 2006.
Henslin, James M.. Down To Earth Sociology:Introductory Readings (5th Edition). New York:
The Free Press, 2003.
Hesselgrave, David J.. Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally (2nd Edition). Grand Rapids:
Zondervan Publishing House, 1991.
Powell, Michael. Express Yourself! The Essential Guide to International Understanding.
Guilford: The Globe Pequot Press, 2007.
Tarr, Del. Cross-Cultural Communications (2nd Edition). Springfield: Global University, 1996.
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