Intercultural communication takes place whenever two people of different culture communicate and their cultural differences influences the communication process.
Culture and communication are inseparable as they are acquired simultaneously. Thus intercultural communication requires greater levels of communication skills.
Approaches to the Study of Intercultural Communication
There are basically four approaches used to investigate intercultural communication competence. They are the Trait Approach; the Perceptual Approach, the Behavioural Approach, and the Culture-specific Approach.
Cultural Variables in the Communication Process
Cultural similarities and differences are a key factor in the communication process, as it affects how one interprets the meaning.
Cultural variables that affect intercultural communication process are attitudes, social organisation, thought patterns, roles, language, and non-verbal communication.
Effective intercultural communication can only take place when the receiver is able to decode the message used by the sender without the influence of his or her own culture values.
Because of language barriers, non-verbal encoding and decoding differences and value divergences, intercultural communication can easily lead to conflict.
Managing or working with people from various cultures can be both interesting and stimulating, but it can also be stressful, confusing, and frustrating when we do not understand what they are trying to communicate.
So always remember, when communication with people from different cultures, it is important to remember that culture and communication are strongly connected.
About the Author:T.K. Lee has strong interest in the studies of communication, especially in cross cultural communication at cultural diversity work place. In his final year thesis he had studied on the topics on The Importance of Understanding Intercultural Communication in the Australia’s & Singapore’s Construction Industry. Lee and his then thesis supervisor Martin Loosemore from the Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney had also published a joined Journal Title: Communication problems with ethnic minorities in the construction industry in International in Journal of Project Management 20(2002) 517-524. This and some of his articles on cross cultural communication can be viewed on his website www.createmillionfromhome.com
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