communication skills ele205 chapter two communication diversity eng.mohmmed alsumady

Communication SkillsELE205

Chapter Two

Communication Diversity

Eng.Mohmmed Alsumady

Outline

1. Diversity definition.

2. Acknowledge intercultural interdependence.

3. Principles of intercultural Communication

4. Intercultural Communication styles

5. Barriers to intercultural Communication

6. Tools of diversity

Diversity definition

•Diversity is defined as the condition of being different.

•In other words, it means dissimilarity and variance between things. The differences could be in size, weight, age, and so on.

•In communication, diversity could be in: cultural values, religion, habits, gender, origin, accents, stereotypes and so on.

Acknowledge Intercultural Interdependence

Sources of diversity:

a) Movement toward a global economy

• When OPEC raised the

Price of oil in the 1970, people

In the whole world had to stand in

waiting Lines at gas stations



a) Movement toward a global economy

• Many of our jobs are directly

or indirectly is dependent on

foreign trade.

• We are not just interacting with people

different from us, we rely on them in health, education and food



b) Increase in ethnic/ language minoritiesThe 2000 U.S genus's Data

characterized 12.5% of U.S

Population is Latino, 12.3% are

African, 10% others (Indian, Asian,…)

in addition to Bi-racial.

In short: 1 from 3 American can be

classified as ethnic minority



b) Increase in ethnic/ language minorities

Actually they are not numbers They are

people we know, care about, and depend

upon.

They enrich our lives, because of their

differences and they help us to Imagine

new ways of thinking and behaving



c) Variation in communication styles

Differences in communication styles can make the sender of the message appear to be pushy, rude, aggressive, passive, etc. Factors involved in this are volume and rapidity of speech, tone of voice, and emphasis on key words



c) Variation in communication styles

For example much has been

written about differences in

gender.

Best seller book in 1993 is

“Men are from Mars and women

are from Venus”

Cross-Cultural Communication

• Is a field of study that looks at how people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they try to communicate across cultures.

• Understanding these different perspectives about how communication works is a necessary first step in communicating

cross-culturally.

Picture Intercultural Communication

• Not all cultures view communications at the same way. For example the American way is different than Asian one .

• Enryo-Sasshi Communication: is certain to the image of Japan as a passive society, where people wok to avoid conflict.

1- Sender’s potential experiences.

2- Sender’s chosen ideas (enryo filtering)

3- Sender’s encoding (filtering)

4- Narrow, limited sending (filtering)

5- Channel

6- Wide, open receiving

7- Receiver's decoding

8 Receiver's expanded ideas (sasshi)

9- Receiver’s experience

This model works efficient because

Japanese are homogeneous people

Sender, Enryo1…2…3…4

Receiver, Sasshi6…7…8…9

5

Feedback (traditions, cultures)

Enryo:reservation, restraint, coyness,

regard, hesitation,diffidence

Sasshi: conjecture,judgment, guess,understanding,consideration,

sympathy

Principles of Intercultural Communication

1. The greater the cultural/linguistic difference, the greater the likelihood of communication breakdown.

• For example communicating with customer from France is more difficult than communication with Syrian customer (for Jordanian).

• Differences in world-views, values, and communication styles leads to misunderstandings.


2. Communication breakdowns are most often attributed to cultural differences

• Also such breakdowns could be the result of misunderstanding based on personal differences or any of the breakdowns described in chapter 1 (gaps, gossips,…)


3. Cross-cultural communication makes us more conscious of our own communication.

Choose our words carefully Clarify our questions Refrain from discussing some topics. Fear from misinterpretation of nonverbal.

This increased awareness can make us uncomfortable when communicating with people from other culture.


4.Cultures vary with their “do’s and taboos”(What is good to do or bad to do)

• The effective cross-cultural

communicators learn what they

are and respect them.

Example: giving small gift to

Japanese visitor.

Any other examples??


5. Learning about cultural norms and variation in communication styles of a particular cultural group helps ensure understanding.

• Cultural norms are behavior patterns that are typical of specific groups. Such behaviors are learned from parents, teachers, and many others whose values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors take place in the context of their own organizational culture.

• It is helpful to understand the world-view and the value systems different groups of people hold.


6. Barriers are more easily overcome if people see each other as friendly, cooperative and trustworthy.

Outline







Intercultural Communication Styles

1. Variation in spoken communication: begin with the value cultures place in language itself.

• Americans generally value the power of the spoken word. So they often feel uncomfortable in silence. In contrast other cultures believe language can never reveal the truth. they feel comfortable with silence.

2. Variation in nonverbal communication:Nonverbal communication is the sum total of our body's

communication. It is how our body communicates or sends a message.


1. Variation in spoken language:

• values placed in language:American generally value the power of the spoken word,

other cultures are skeptical of language.

• Purpose of language- American are concerned with language that accomplish

tasks to get the point quickly.



• Purpose of language:

- Pay attention to the language variation help us to learn

how people regards relations.

- For example in English we use the word “you” for

friend, boss, or president of USA while in Spanish they

use “Su” for Boss and use “tu” for informal relations.



Structure of language: Subject- Verb –Object format used for communicating in English. In Spanish order of words doesn’t matter.

- Classes of words (parts of speech), meanings of words is called semantics (( االلفاظ دالالت .علم

- how words are organized in relation to each other is called syntax ( الجمله .(بناء


1. Variation in spoken language:• Structure of language:

- Morphology is how words are formed

- The study of sounds of words is phonology .

- There are overall 800 sounds in human languages, in

English there are about 45 sounds and in Hawaiian

there are 18 sounds.


1. Variation in spoken language:• Structure of language:

- In English : she hit the ball

- In Spanish: she the ball hit, the order of words dose

not matter



• Most languages are tonal:

- In English : we don’t know how to pronounce word

start with “ng” or “ts” but can read them at the end of

word “for example: cats, meaning”.

- In Spanish; words don’t begin with “sp” but begin with

“es”. Spanish speaker will read “speech as espeech”


1. Variation in spoken language:• Differences in word meanings: Denotative differences: in English chair means the object

you sit in or the head of committee but in Arabic different words would be used for each version of chair that you mean.

Connotative differences: emotional meaning that come with words, in English we describe a woman supervisor as “aggressive” but a man supervisor as “assertive”. Also we usually have negative feeling about “propaganda” but Spanish has no such feeling.


1. Variation in spoken language:• Word meanings: • Figurative language:

for example:

- White hands?! Clean hands or cocasion person?

- Fish sleeping?! Does it mean lazy or boring? (wishy-

washy person).

- You are just like palm tree?! Tall person?


1. Variation in spoken language:• Knowing how language is used is called

(pragmatics):• Where and with whom we are communicating

- Person talks while you are talking, example Hawaiian

- Respond to a question by telling a story that irrelevant to the

topic, example Native American.

- The appropriateness of topics changes from culture to culture,

asking about your age or money you make.


1. Variation in spoken language:• As a result;- We tend to make modification to our communication

depending on where and with whom we are communicating. In class or in coffee shop.

- We change depending on informal or formal relationships.

- How we think people will respond to our use of slang or regional variation in dialect.

- Talking louder and slower when talking with children or non-English speakers.


2. Variations in nonverbal communication: is the hidden dimension of our communication

• Use of time:(chronemics) how we regard time

• Use of personal space: proxemics

• Use of eye contact: oculesics

• Use of gestures (kinesics), touch (haptics) and

voice (vocalics)


2. Variation in nonverbal communication:

• Use of time: chronemics

- time is important for Americans “ losing time, killing

time, saving time, time is money,..etc”

- In contrast to time orientation is relationship

orientation where the quality of the interaction

indicates how much time will be spent.



• Use of personal space:(proxemics):

- Refers to differences in the distance we stands when

talking with one another .

- People in middle east have shorter distance and people

from England have large distance compared to USA.



• Use of eye contact: oculesics

- Americans: like soft eye contact where people look at

them, from time to time, look away. Intense stars makes

most Americans feel very nervous.

- Other cultures is very little eye contact

- For middle Easters the eye is the window of the soul, they

can read eyes (read our true messages).



• Use of gestures (kinesics), touch (haptics) and voice (vocalics)

- Hand gestures are by

no mean universal

- hug and a kiss is a typical

greeting even among strangers

in Latin America.



• Use of gestures (kinesics), touch (haptics) and voice (vocalics)

- Some cultures talk too loud in conversation

(Americans), and others tend to vocal volume

deemed.

Outline







Barriers to Intercultural Communication

We will identify four barriers to

effectiveness in intercultural

communication:

1.Walking on eggs

2.Hot buttons

3.Container myth

4.Language, vernacular ( (عاميهand

accent bias

Barriers to intercultural Communication

1. Walking on eggs:

Certain topics create tension for ethnic minorities When someone says they feel like they are walking on eggs, what is that telling you? It's

telling you :

- that they can no longer be themselves in your presence.

- that they fear your reaction whenever they speak.

- that they are stuck, that they cannot move in either direction, for fear of upsetting you.

- It is also telling you that they need to stop this feeling that is tearing them apart.


1. Walking on eggs:

If you are walking on eggs, you are being

very careful not to offend someone or do

anything wrong.

Barriers to intercultural Communication1. Walking on eggs:

2. Certain topics create tension for ethnic minorities

- This tension can make those communicating with ethnic minorities hesitant to

approach these topics.

- Its difficult to know exactly what these topics are?

- one example is ethnic jokes.

Barriers to intercultural Communication1. Walking on eggs:Several things can help with this barrier:

- Remember that these topics are profoundly (deeply) personal.

- Have implication (ضمنا) for how people feel and think about themselves.

- Learn to handle defensiveness and to support ethnic minority people.

Barriers to intercultural Communication1. Walking on eggs:Several things can help with this barrier :

- It may work to invite these ethnic minority people to discussion and to share their perception(فهم) of the topic at hand .

- Remember that listening is vital(( حيوي link in any constructive communication interaction.

- Finally, and the best is to avoid these topics, until stronger relationship (trust) is established.

Barriers to Intercultural Communication

2. Hot buttons:

- Hot buttons are words that invoke an emotional response in other person.


2. Hot buttons:

- Sometimes words simply are misunderstood

- Swearing can become hot button for ethnic minority people

who have a more formal view of the world.

- Derogatory words used for

people from specific ethnic

minority groups (Red necks).


2. Hot buttons:To avoid:

- Identify the hot buttons for you and for other people you

communicate with, then try to avoid them.

- If they are used then work hard to control your emotional

response.

- When tension is minimized talk about why and how these buttons

produce that reaction, the other will cease from using these hot

buttons next time.


3. Container myth

Is assumption that words mean the same thing across all cultures


3. Container myth:

- Sometimes words is misunderstood, for example, as

when our students told that “foul” language is not

allowed, a concerned student from Turkey came to

office to ask why they could not talk about chickens

and birds “fowl” in class.


3. Container myth:- Also as we talk before about denotative (داللي and

connotative (تلميحي )meaning of words.

- A relationship built on trust will create a climate where people share their understanding.

- It would be helpful to be curious about language use across culture.

- Stay away from jargon.(specialized language of an occupation).


4. Language, vernacular and accent bias:- Every group have particular affinity for their

language.

- There are certain biases that come with a particular accent.

- You must identify your biases about languages, vernaculars (the specific language used in particular communities) or accents and actively work to overcome them.


4. Language, vernacular and accent bias:

- There is power in learning new languages.

- There are advantages of being able to use multiple languages.

English is the international language of business. relationships are strengthened with others when you can demonstrate some competence in there language.

Outline

1. diversity definition.


3. principles of intercultural Communication

4. intercultural Communication styles



Tools of diversity:

The specific tools for effective communication across cultures are easy to list and describe but difficult to employ, we will discuses four tools:

1.Overcome personal biases

2.Relate culture to communication

3.Empathizing with non-English speakers

4.Developing intercultural competence.

Tools of diversity:Overcome personal Biases• Racism, stereotypes and discrimination negatively impact our

communication with others.

• These are the source of hurt feelings and result in

miscommunication, damaged relationships and loss in

productivity.

• The history of ethnic relations in America makes it difficult

to overcome Americans current struggles with racism. (the

mentality that justified slavery……).

Tools of diversity:Overcome personal Biases

• Relations become strained when many Euro-

Americans assert that these historical practices are

over (and thus ethnic minority people should “just

get over it”) or when feeling of guilt keep them

away from creating meaningful relationships with

ethnic minorities.

Overcome personal Biases

To overcome:

• Develop an understanding about what is

biases?

• Recognize that racism and discrimination are

still a powerfully part of the American land-

scape.

To overcome:

• Not only be sensitive to your own racisms but

also develop strategies to resist the racism

that may occur in your workspace.

• Be attuned to how we communicate our

prejudices.


Forms of racism:

• Overt racism ( (علني such as “all… are lazy” or

“they should go back where they came from”.

• Symbolic racism, is attacking some symbol of

importance to a particular group of people.


Forms of racism:

• Symbolic racism, such as saying “ affirmative ( (ايجابيaction

required companies to hire people who were not qualified is a

distortion of the actual policy”. The response is emotional and

not based on fact.


Forms of racism:

• Arms – length racism: is suggesting that you don’t mind to

work or know minority people, but you oppose any closer

relationship.

• Tokenism: is communicated by people who say ”I can’t be

racist one of my best friends is….”believing that knowing one

person from (different race….) is enough to prove that he is

not racist.


Forms of racism:

• Institutional Racism: Ideologies and structures that are

used to systematically legitimize unequal division of

power and resources between groups on the basis of

race.

Tools of diversity:

Some Important Definitions

Stereotype: negative beliefs about a particular group, it does not

consider people as individuals, but rather categorizes them as

members of a group who all think and behave in the same

way. We may pick up these stereotypes from what other

people say, from T.V or from what we read.

Prejudice: a set of rigid and unfavorable attitudes toward a

particular group. An unsupported judgment usually

accompanied by disapproval.

Scapegoating: The policy of blaming an individual or group

when the fault actually lies elsewhere. Those who we

scapegoat become objects of our aggression.

Scapegoating can lead to verbal and physical violence,

including death.

Tools of diversity:Some Important Definitions

Discrimination: the differential treatment based on unfair

categorization. It is denial of justice prompted by

prejudice. When we act on our prejudices we engage in

discrimination. It involves keeping people out of

activities or places because of the group to which they

belong.

Racism: the belief that one race is superior to another.

Tools of diversity:Some Important Definitions

• Recognize the connection between culture and

communication

• Its hard to learn language without its culture.

• Nonverbal communication is impacted by culture

specific meanings.

• We learn more values and world- view if we

communicate with others.

Tools of diversity:Relate culture to communication

• Seek to understand these cultural differences

• Recognize the interdependence nature of

groups.

• Seek culture specific knowledge which

includes history, current social issue,….

• Learn a second language your self

Tools of diversity:Relate Culture to Communication

• Develop empathy for second language learners, and learn second language yourself.

• Appreciate others attempts to learn your language

• Support those attempts by minimizing stress and making your messages understandable

Tools of diversity:Empathize non-English Speakers

The kind of competence meant here is an ability to

accomplish goals while also reducing misunderstanding

and building strong interpersonal relationships, these

competencies will enhance your overall quality of your

life.

Tools of diversity:Develop Intercultural Competence

• Acknowledge and work on overcoming prejudices and biases

• Work toward equal-status relationships

• Challenge personal assumption

• Learn how your culture is different from others

• Communicate with those from other cultures

• Learn how others want to be treated and try to accommodate them

Tools of diversity:Develop Intercultural Competence

• People fail to get along because they fear each other, they fear each other because they don’t know each other, they don’t know each other because they have not properly communicated.

End of chapter 2Any Question?

communication skills ele205 chapter two communication diversity eng.mohmmed alsumady

Documents

diversity definition

communication diversity

tools of diversity slide

crosscultural communication

communication works

food slide

behaving slide

venus slide