DEFINITION AND NATURE OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

1. DEFINITION AND NATURE
OF INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
A QUICK INFORMATION GUIDE

2. INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
✓ For some scholars, intercultural communication
pertains to communication among people from different
nationalities(Gudykunst,2003)
✓ STIll, others look at intercultural communication as
communication that is influenced by different ethnicities,
religions, and sexual orientations.

3. ✓ Both interpretations show that intercultural
communication takes place when
people draw from their cultural identity to understand
values,
prejudices, language, attitudes, and relationships
(Gudykunst & Kim,2003).
✓ Moreover, this facet of communication can also be
seen
as a bargained understanding of human experiences
across diverse societies. Simply put, intercultural
communication is the sending and receiving of

4. According to benett
and benett(2004)
there are six(6)
STAGE
STAGE 1: DENIAL
STAGE 2: DEFENSE
STAGE 6: INTEGRATION
STAGE 5: ADAPTATION
STAGE 4: ACCEPTANCE
STAGE 3: MINIMIZATION
DEVELOPMENTAL
MODEL OF
INTERCULTURAL
SENSITIVITY

5. STAGE 1: DENIAL
✓ The individual does not recognize cultural
differences.
✓This stage is often created based on the belief that
a person culture is the only real culture.
✓People in this stage often fail to see cultural
diffusion and tend to isolate themselves from other
groups.

6. EXAMPLES
An individual's in denial stage might be heard
saying:
1." All cities are the same, they all have tall
buildings,fast food chains,and coffee shops."
2."As long as we speak the same language, there's
no problem."

7. STAGE 2: DEFENSE
✓ The individual starts to recognize cultural differences and is
intimidated by them, resulting in either a supervisor view on own
culture or an unjustified high regard for the new one
✓ A person in defense may feel threatened by other cultures and
their differences

8. EXAMPLES
An individual in defense stage might be heard saying:
1."This culture does not view life the way we do,our
culture is certainly better."
2."I wish that these people would just talk the way we
do."

9. STAGE 3: MINIMIZATION
✓ Although individuals see cultural differences,they Bank
more on the universality of ideas rather than in cultural
differences.
✓ People in this stage,begin to recognize that all people
are people, wether they have different traditions and
cultures or not

10. EXAMPLES
•"It's a small world after all."
."Once we see through the cultural
differences,we really are just the
same."
•"No matter what their culture,people
are pretty much motivated by the
same things."

11. STAGE 4:
ACCEPTANCE
✓ The Individual begins to appreciate important
cultural differences in behaviors and eventually In
values.
✓ This stage promote the belief that one own culture
is just one of the many cultures that exists in the
world

12. EXAMPLES
•This people and I have different values and
experiences,and I think we can learn from one other
• "I always try to study about a new culture before I
go there or interact with the people,"

13. STAGE 5:
ADAPTATION
✓ THE INDIVIDUAL IS VERY OPEN TO WORLD VIEWS WHEN
ACCEPTING NEW PERSPECTIVE.
✓ LEARNERS BEGIN TO BE MORE COMPETENT IN HOW TO
COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE OF OTHER CULTURES
✓ AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS STAGE IS THAT THE
LEARNER WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE WORLD THROUGH
ANOTHER "EYES"

14. EXAMPLES
• TO ADDRESS OUR ISSUE,I HAVE TO ADJUST MY
APPROACH TO CONSIDER BOTH MY OWN AND MY
COUNTERPARTS BACKGROUND,"
•" I CAN MAINTAIN MY VALUES AND ALSO BEHAVE
IN CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE WAYS,"

15. STAGE 6: INTEGRATION
✓ INDIVIDUAL START TO GO BEYOND THEIR OWN
CULTURES AND SEE THEMSELVES AND THEIR ACTIONS
BASED ON MULTIFARIOUS CULTURAL VIEWPOINTS.
✓INDIVIDUALS THAT OFTEN REACH INTEGRATION ARE
OFTEN CULTURE THEY ARE ABLE TO HELP OTHERS
UNDERSTAND DIFFERENT CULTURES AND PROMOTE
UNITY BETWEEN THESE TWO CULTURES.
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16. EXAMPLES
•" I CAN LOOK AT THINGS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OR VARIOUS
CULTURES."
•" EVERYWHERE IS HOME,IF YOU KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT HOW
THINGS WORK THERE."
•"I FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE WHEN I'M BRIDGING DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN THE CULTURES I KNOW."

17. CHARACTERISTICS OF
COMPETENT
INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
A QUICK INFORMATION GUIDE

18. 1 2
WORLD BANK IDENTIFIES THE FF,
TRAITS THAT DEFINE A COMPETENT
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATOR
STEP
REFLECTIVENE
SS OR
MINDFULNESS
STEP
FLEXIBILITY
AND THE
ABILITY TO
TOLERATE HIGH
LEVELS OF
UNCERTAINTY
STEP
ABILITY TO
ENGAGE IN
DIVERGENT
THINKING
STEP
ADAPTABILITY
STEP
SENSITIVITY
3 4 5