DEFINING COMMUNICATION AS AN ELEMENT OF CULTURE

à WESTERN DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION

F  Origin

Described the process of communication as involving a speaker, the speech act, an audience, and  a purpose.

F  Transmission models

Communication was studied as the means of transmitting ideas.

Communication is a dynamic process.

F  Components of communication

1.  Source : person with an idea to communicate

2. Encoding : puttting an idea into a symbol

3. Message : resulting object

4. Channel : media

5. Noise : anything that distorts the message

6. Receiver : person who attends to the message

7. Decoding : assigning meaning to the symbols received

8. Receiver Response : anything the receiver does

9. Feedback : portion of the receiver response

10. Context : the environment in which the communication takes place and which helps define the communication

F  Humanistic Models

Emphasize a humanistic approach to understanding communication.

Recognizing that communication is transactional allows us to understand.

àOTHER DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNICATION

Superior and Subordinate Roles

=> the way communication was defined reflected important cultural values.

=> The transmission models leading of communication as consisting of an active source and passive receiver.

=> an element of culture.

Confucianism

Ø  a set of ethical beliefs, sometimes called a religion, that were developed from the teachings of the scholar Confucius, who lived in the 6th century BCE in China.

Ø  emphasizes virtue, duty, patriotism, hard work, respect for hierarchy both familial and societal.

Five effect that Confucianism has on interpersonal communication:

—  Particularism

—  Role of intermediaries

—  Reciprocity

—  Ingroup/ outgroup distinction

—  Overlap of personal and public relationship

à COMMUNICATION STUDIES APPROACHES

—  International                           

- between and among countries

            - mass communication systems

            - between national governments

—  Global

- Transfer of information, data, opinion, and value by groups, institutions, and government.

—  Cross-Cultural

- comparing phenomena across cultures.        

—  Intercultural

- face to face interactions among people of diverse cultures.

à INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ETHICS

Ø  MAJOR ETHICAL THEORIES

Western : autonomy, justice,,responsibility,            care

African  : well-being of the community and economic considerations

Buddist : individualistic

Hindu   : ending human suffering

Islamic  : based in its religious concepts

Ø  ETHICS ACROSS CULTURES

- address people of other cultures

- seek to describe the world as they perceive it as acurately as possible

- encourage people of other cultures to express their uniqueness

- strive for identification with people of other cultures

à INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

—  Business Approach

concern with the success of individuals abroad

1. skills:           maintenance of self

            2. skills:           fostering of relationships with host nationals

            3. cognitive skills

—  Military Approach

concern with success of individuals overseas

The Navy identified 8 skills :

            1. self-awareness

            2. self-respect

            3. interaction

            4. emphaty

            5. adaptability

            6. cetainty

            7. initiative

            8. acceptance

—  Communication Approach

have tended to stress the development of skills

The skills :

            1. Personality Strength

            2. Communication Skills

            3. Psychological Adjusment

            4. Cultural Awareness

à FROM THE INTERCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

—  Very different views of communication makes misunderstanding between two or more cultures.

—  Western and Asian cultures often have the greatest misunderstanding when ethics are considered.

—  Differing ethics can cause conflicts

—  Good intercultural communication have personality strength, communication skills, psychologycal adjusment, and cultural awareness.