Question | Answer |
Intercultural communication | the symbolic exchange process whereby individuals from two different cultural communities attempt to negotiate shared meanings in an interactive situation within an embedded system |
Symbolic Exchange | refers to the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols between a minimum of two individuals to accomplish shared meanings |
Process | refers to the interdependent nature of the intercultural encounter |
Transactional | refers to the simultaneous encoding and decoding of the exchanged messages |
Different Cultural Communities | a broad concept |
Cultural Community | refers to a group of interacting individuals within a bounded unit who uphold a set of shared traditions and way of life |
Negotiate Shared Meanings | refers to the general goal of any intercultural communication encounter |
Content Meaning | refers to the factual information that is being conveyed to the receiver through an oral channel or other communication medium |
Relational Meaning | offers information concerning the state of the relationship between the two communicators |
Identity Meaning | refers to the following questions: "Who am I and who are you in this interaction episode?" "How do I define myself in this interaction scene?" |
Interactive Situation | refers to the idea that every communication episode occurs in a relational context, a psychological context, and a physical context |
Relational Context | examples of intercultural acquaintance relationships, friendships, dating relationships, and business relationships to illustrate diverse relationship contexts |
Psychological Context | refers to our psychological moods, meaning-making interpretations, and normative role expectations of a given situation |
Physical Context | refers to the immediate physical features and layouts surrounding the face-to-face or mediated interaction |
Societal Embedded System | refers to the multilayered contexts such as history, politics, economies, social class, formal institutions, and policies, as well as community or organization of the actual intercultural communication encounter |
Flexible Intercultural Communication | emphasizes the importance of integrating knowledge and an open-minded attitude and putting them into adaptive and creative practice in every day communication |
Inflexible Intercultural Communication | stresses the continuation of using our own cultural values, judgements, and routines in communicating with culturally different others |
Ethnocentric Mindset | means staying stuck with our own cultural worldviews and using our own cultural values as the baseline standards to evaluate the other person's cultural behavior |
Ethnorelative Mindset | means to understand a communication behavior from the other person's cultural frame of reference |
Knowledge | refers to the systematic, conscious learning of the essential themes and concepts in intercultural communication flexibility |
Formal Studying | includes taking classes in intercultural communication and ethnic-related studies; includes attending intercultural communication seminars and diversity-related training |
Informal Learning | include international traveling, studying abroad, volunteering for community services, and visiting ethnic neighborhoods |
Attitude | can include both cognitive and affective layers |
Cognitive Layer | refers to the willingness to suspend our ethnocentric judgement and readiness to be open-minded in learning about cross-cultural difference issues |
Affective Layer | refers to the emotional commitment to engage in cultural perspective-taking and the cultivation of an empathetic heart in reaching out to culturally diverse groups |
Skills | our operational abilities to integrate knowledge and a responsive attitude with adaptive intercultural practice |
Appropriateness | refers to the degree to which the exchanged behaviors are regarded as proper and match the expectations generated by the insiders of the culture |
Effectiveness | refers to the degree to which communicators achieve mutually shared meaning and integrative goal-related outcomes |
Communication Adaptability | refers to our ability to change our interaction behaviors and goals to meet the specific needs of the situation |
"Full Mindfulness" | stage when an individual is aware of her intercultural communicaton "nonfluency" and is committed to integrating the new knowledge, attitude, and skills into competent practice |
Unconscious Incompetence Stage | individuals have no culture-sensitive knowledge to communicate competently with the host members of the new culture |
Conscious Incompetence Stage | individuals have some notion that they behave incompetently, however, they lack the knowledge or skills to operate appropriately in the new cultural setting |
Conscious Competence Stage | individuals are actively pursuing new intercultural knowledge to improve their communication competencies |
Unconscious Competence Stage | "mindlessly mindful" zen-like stage where individuals move in and out of spontaneous yet adaptive communication with members of the new culture |