Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group Newsletter no. 5 - July 2015 | Page 44
Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2015 Newsletter
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Defining intercultural communication
by Adil Tugyan
Intercultural communication takes place when
individuals influenced by different cultural
communities negotiate shared meanings in
interaction. What counts as intercultural
communication depends in part on what one
considers a culture, and the definition of culture
itself is quite contestable. Some authorities limit the
term “intercultural communication” to refer only to
communication among individuals from different
nationalities.
2. Avowed identity is comprised of the group
affiliations that one feels most intensely. For
example, if an individual is assimilated into a new
culture, then the values and practices of that
destination culture will figure importantly in her
avowed culture. A related concept is reference
group. A reference group is a social entity from
which one draws one’s avowed identity. It is a
group in which one feels competent and at ease.
Ascribed and avowed identities are important for
understanding intercultural communication because
a person from another culture usually
communicates with you based on your ascribed
identity; that is how you are being perceived by
that other person. But sometimes your avowed
identity – the groups with which you really feel a
sense of comfort and affiliation – diverges from that
ascribed identity. In such cases, the interaction is
bound to be frustrating for both parties.
Other authorities, in contrast, expand the notion of
intercultural communication to encompass interethnic, inter-religious, and even inter-regional
communication, as well as communication among
individuals of different sexual orientations. In this
sense, all interactions can be arrayed along some
continuum of “interculturalness”.
Interactions are most highly intercultural when
individuals’ group identities are most salient in
determining the values, prejudices, language,
nonverbal behaviors, and relational styles upon
which those individuals draw. To the degree that
interactants are drawing more on personal or
idiosyncratic values, personality traits, and
experiences, the interaction can be characterized as
more interpersonal than intercultural. When
individuals from different cultural backgrounds
become more intimate, their interactions typically
move along the continuum from more intercultural
to more interpersonal, though intercultural
elements may always play a role. For casual or
educational communication, sensitivity to
intercultural factors is key to success.
Communication and Group Identity
Traditional theories of group identity recognize two
types of group identity:
1. Ascribed identity is the set of demographic and
role descriptions that others in an interaction
assume to hold true for you. Ascribed identity is
often a function of one’s physical appearance,
ethnic connotations of one’s name, or other
stereotypical associations.
Bibliography:
1 Ting-Toomey, S. (1999). Communicating across
cultures. New York: The Guilford Press.
2 Gudykunst, W. B. (2003). Intercultural
communication: Introduction. In W.B. Gudykunst
(Ed.), Cross-cultural and intercultural
communication, 163–166. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage.
3 Martin, J. N. & Nakayama, T. K. (2007).
Intercultural communication in contexts, 4th ed.
Boston: McGraw Hill.
4 Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E. (2004).
Communication between cultures, 4th ed. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Press.
5 Gudykunst, W. B., & Kim, Y. Y. (2003).
Communicating with Strangers, 2nd ed. Boston:
McGraw Hill.
6 Collier, M. J. (1997). Cultural identity and
intercultural communication. In L.A. Samovar and
R.E. Porter (Eds.), Intercultural communication: A
reader, 8th ed., 36–44. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
Press.
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