Intercultural Communication and a Significant Learning Experience - Essay Example

Intercultural Communication Table of Contents Introduction 3 Degree and Setting of Intercultural Interaction 3 Hall’s High-Context/Low-Context Communication 3 Hofstede’s Value Dimensions 4 Define and Explain the Specific Concepts/Skills You Have Chosen Briefly 5 Description of Situation 6 Evaluation of Situation 7 Conclusion 7 Works Cited 8 Introduction In present days, the world has become an international village. Thus, intercultural contacts are omnipresent in today’s life. Intercultural contacts or intercultural communication acts as a method for developing skills and communication techniques to deal with the regular problems. As an employee of ‘California State Disability’, intercultural contacts are a vital part of my daily work life. I require communicating with different types of people who need assistance with respect to disability claims. My intercultural contacts comprise several international entities comprising Hispanics, African American, Caucasian and Asian people. Degree and Setting of Intercultural Interaction Since I need to deal with different people having varied disability claims, I require interacting with varied cultural people to the highest degree. Most of the time of my work life is spent on communicating with people of different cultures. I need to communicate with attorneys, doctors, actors, employers and several claimants. Most of the conversations take place in a telephonic setting. I require attending calls on numerous aspects. Approximately eight hours per day I need to talk though telephone with various people. Hall’s High-Context/Low-Context Communication Communication is by far the most vital as well as challenging area for me. The most critical problem I face within the context of intercultural communication is to get acquainted with each other’s culture. With respect to Hall’s cultural differences, there are two major types of communication which can be used by individuals which are high context and low context. These communication styles depend on the aspects which are used for conveying any kind of meaning. In this context, it can be stated that I prefer using high context culture based communication style. High context communication depends on the use of verbal and nonverbal communication. On the other hand, low context culture depends on the literal and precise communication. I intend to be a direct communicator and use informal communication methods. Due to my direct nature of communication, I at times face problems with low context culture people who prefer indirect communication methods. In order to counter the problem, I attempt to find a middle ground for communication by comprising the interests of every person (Gupta, “Communication Styles”). Hofstede’s Value Dimensions Hofstede’s value dimensions describe the impacts of culture on the value of people. He had described five value dimensions which have significant influences on the behaviors of the individuals. One of the five dimensions of Hofstede is individualism versus collectivism. Individualism is defined as a social structure where people are likely to take care of themselves as well as their families only. On the other hand, collectivism signifies the preference for such societies where individuals presume their families to look after them in return for absolute faithfulness. With respect to this facet, I consider myself as individualistic. I value individuality and self-support. I am highly concerned about attaining any type of accomplishments and prefer any kind of challenging work. I always demonstrate respect to people and also never allow anyone to disrespect me (Geert-Hofstede, “National Cultural Dimensions”). The other vital value dimension of Hofstede is masculinity and femininity. The masculinity society signifies a preference set forth by a society for accomplishment, bravery, decisiveness and reward for success. On the other hand, femininity signifies a preference for collaboration, modesty and consideration for weak. This type of society is highly focused on harmony. With this concern, the society I belong to is based on masculinity values. In this society, men are expected to be tough, assertive and strong. Furthermore, there is a well defined distinction between the profession of male and female. Males are considered to be self-confident, motivated and competitive. Females have their own role in the society (Geert-Hofstede, “National Cultural Dimensions”). Define and Explain the Specific Concepts/Skills You Have Chosen Briefly I have chosen several skills in order to effectively communicate with different cultural groups. The specific skills are described below: Individualism and Collectivism Issues Since I consider myself as individualistic, I have weak group unity. I foster contractual relationship with my clients. I concentrate mostly on looking after my close ones and my family is a close knit one. Religion plays a vital part in my life. I prefer pleasure and individual satisfaction more in comparison to social standards and liabilities. I also value my rights. Power Distance Power distance is considered as the other valuable aspect which impacts on my concepts about cultural values. It denotes to the level of inequality which exists in the society. American organizations are considered to be possessing low level of power distance. Thus, I prefer teamwork and involve many people in any kind of decision making. The communication is casual, direct and participative in nature (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel 146). Silence Silence is considered as one of the most important skills I have chosen as a part of my job. In certain circumstances, silence can send a nonverbal signal about the communication situation. A period of silence can have an impact on the personal communication process by creating an interval in the process of constant communication through which the applicants can have time to think, review or suppress feelings. Silence also expresses longer reactions and inculcates different opinions. In my job setting, silence helps me to provide responses and ascertain clarity of ideas which facilitate me to generate appropriate implications in overall relational interchange (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel 225). Description of Situation With respect to the above concepts, I have faced a situation where I was quite mindful regarding my communication behavior. The situation rose due to cultural differences as I faced a claimant who belonged to Pakistani Indian culture, having different values in life. The major problem appeared due to communication misunderstanding since I and the person belonged to completely different cultures. In order to handle the situation, I had communicated according to his perceptions and preferences. I had shown them respect about their culture and valued their rights which had impressed them about my demeanor. Evaluation of Situation The situation has provided mea significant lesson about the preferences of different cultures. The outcome was positive since I gained valuable understanding about the issues of communication. I understood when to remain silent and also to cautiously use words while communicating with people belonging to different cultural groups so that appropriate message is conveyed to them. I have also become confident to further deal with this type of individuals in future with appropriate knowledge and communication skills. Conclusion Intercultural communication has proved to be a significant learning experience for me about different cultural aspects and how it impacts on the process of communication. In the past, I only used my preferred communication style without providing strong consideration towards others’ values. Intercultural communication study has changed my communication pattern where in present days I have learnt to maintain a balance between different types of communication and to suppress my feelings as well as words while communicating with people from different cultural groups. Ultimately, I have learnt about Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory as well as Hall’s high-context/low-context communication theory which guide my behavior in the present days. Works Cited Gupta, Sangeeta. Communication Styles. A Quick Guide to Cultural Competency, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. Geert-Hofstede. National Cultural Dimensions. The Hofstede Centre, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. Samovar, L. A., Richard E. Porter and Edwin R. McDaniel. Communication between Cultures. United States: Cengage Learning, 2007. Print. Read More