communicating with cultural awareness
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Communicating With Communicating With Cultural AwarenessCultural Awareness
#1 Be open minded about cultural differences!
Be mindful or aware of how other cultures’ behaviors and ways of thinking are likely to differ from your own. Be sensitive to the
differences.
Avoid ethnocentrism, the tendency to judge other
cultures’ practices as inferior to one’s own. Realize your
way of doing things isn’t the only right way.
#2 Be knowledgeable
about different communication
codes!
Communication codes are verbal and nonverbal
behaviors whose meanings are often understood only by people from the same culture (e.g., idioms, jargon, gestures)
An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is purely figurative.
We cannot understand its meaning by interpreting the
words, and they don’t translate from one culture to the next
(e.g., The girl has two left feet = She is not a good dancer)
Jargon is language whose technical meaning is
understood by people within a given co-culture but not
necessarily by those outside of it. Being culturally aware means switching to plain language to
be understood by others.
Gestures are movements of the hand or arm that express an idea, and their meaning varies from one culture to
another. Being culturally aware means being knowledgeable
about different meanings associated with gestures and
using them appropriately.
#3 Be flexible and
respectful when interacting with
others!
When interacting cross-culturally expect ambiguity, or uncertainty, and use it as an opportunity to learn more
about the other culture.
Realize and appreciate that there are differences in access to technology. Not everyone
has access to the Internet!
Adapt, or change, your communication behaviors to
match others. However, make sure you do it respectfully, not
in a mocking way. It should appear natural, not forced.
Competent communicators
communicate with cultural awareness!