cross cultural understanding

1. NONVERBAL CODES
AND CULTURAL SPACES
CROSS-CULTURAL UNDRESTANDING

2. WHAT IS NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION?
• It is symbolic, meaningful and governed by societal or cultural rules
• Our facial expressions, eye gaze, posture and tone of voice, ect.
• It conveys status, power and deception.
• It plays an important role in intercultural interactions.
• It is enables us to show how we feel about each other and our cultural groups.
• The expectancy violation theory : We have expectations of how other people should behave or
communicate nonverbally in specific situations. These expectations are on a subconscious level.

3. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VERBAL AND
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Verbal Communication:
• People use actual words to speak.
• It is predominantly initiated on a
• Also includes sign language and
communication.
• The rate, volume, pitch, the
pronunciation of words.
Nonverbal Communication:
• Does not use words. Operated on a
subconscious and conscious level
Can communicate deception.

4. EXAMPLES OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION IN MY
CULTURE
• In my family we do not make eye contact with our elders, we look at the ground or elsewhere
when we communicate.
• As a woman I cannot shake hands with the opposite sex, it is considered a sign of disrespect or
forwardness in my culture.
• A hand laid across your heart is a sign of peace when we are introduced to someone.

5. •

6. FACIAL EXPRESSION
• Facial Expressions have been studied cross culturally and have been
found to be almost universal.
• Recent studies show people might be born with a certain set of facial
• Example: This video shows how blind athletes use the same facial
world wide.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G6ZR5lJgTI Facial Expressions

8. GESTURES
• Unlike facial expressions, gestures are unique to each culture. They can be learned and the
meaning can change over time.
• Some gestures have opposite meanings from one culture to another. Does this symbol mean
“peace,” the number “two” or does it look similar to a rude gesture? It depends on your culture.

9. EYE CONTACT
• Eye contact communicates respect, status, and turn-taking.
• Eye contact varies widely from culture to culture. Some cultures it is
much, in some too little.
• An interesting example of eye contact in another culture: Williams, D., &
Nonverbal communication in Italy: An analysis of interpersonal touch,
and seating behaviors. North Dakota Journal of Speech & Theatre, 1817-

10. PARALINGUISTICS
• How something is said
• Can indicate mood, meaning, intention.
• Vocalizations are filler words, “um, uh, ah, er.”
• Silence • Is used to reduce uncertainty in some cultures.
• Is not very valued in the US

11. CHRONEMICS
• “Time time time is on my side, yes it is” – The Rolling Stones
• Chronemics is how a culture uses and understands time.
• How late is acceptably late? 5 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour? • Monochronic cultures think time
can be lost, gained, spent ect. 5 minutes late is acceptable.
• Polychronic cultures think time is relative. Up to an hour late, or never showing up, is acceptable.

12. NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION IN POP CULTURE
• Non-verbal communication has become a popular topic for crime-based television shows such
as “The Mentalist” and “Psych.” In these shows observant people catch bad guys in a lie by reading
their nonverbal communication.
• “Cosmopolitan” and other gossip magazines frequently feature stories on how to catch your man
cheating just by watching his nonverbal cues.
• Pop culture often ignores the cross-cultural differences in nonverbal communication.

13. REFERENCES
• Nonverbal Communication Skills– this site gives an extensive breakdown of
nonverbal communication, tips on how to be a better communicator, lists
misinterpreted or missed and shows how to evaluate nonverbal skills.
• http://www.helpguide.org/mental/eq6_nonverbal_communication.htm
communication skills: Friedman, Howard S.; Miller-Herringer, Terry.
public and in private: Self-monitoring, personality, and expressive cues”.
Psychology, 1992 Nov, v61 (n5):766-775 Riggio, Ronald E.; Widaman, Keith
“Actual and perceived emotional sending and personality correlates” . Journal
1985 Summer, v9 (n2):69-83.

14. STEREOTYPY, PREJUDICE, AND DISCRIMINATION
• Stereotypy A problem that comes from nonverbal communication is stereotyping.
• Nonverbal communication should be used more as a interaction technique with others.
• cultures view differently nonverbal communication in a positive or negative manner. example: No eye contact can be
viewed differently Instantly by looks any person can feel, if they are welcomed or not in any occasion.
• Prejudice Physical appearance or behavior is a trigger to prejudgment in a negative or positive manner.
• Overall stereotyping and prejudice leads to discrimination. Discrimination is based on race, gender and any other
identities. Discrimination leads to out casting an individual or a group of individuals, because of their identities.

15. SEMIOTICS AND NONVERBAL
COMMUNICATION
• Semiotics are the relationship between signs to the meaning of a word
related to nonverbal communication.
• Signifiers are the meaning that culturally are placed in words or signs.
• A word or sign can mean a variety of means to any culture.
• Example: Any colors have different meanings to any culture.

16. DEFINING CULTURE SPACE
• Culture Space is a way where we can use to describe where we come from
or who we are.
• Not everyone comes from the EXACT culture space.
• We describe ourselves differently.
• It doesn’t always have to be a place it can also be a person, that is or has
a symbol of who we are.

17. EXAMPLE
• An example which I can relate to everyday, would have to be the Semiotic.
• • I live in Livingston, Ca and one two ethnicities that live in the small town are
Indians and Mexicans.
• To Mexicans (myself included) the color red symbolizes “danger” or “rich.”
• But Indians think of the color red as a symbolic color for purity, they
traditionally use the color red for the bridal gown color.
• Mexicans will never use the color red for a bridal color, we think of the color
white as purity for Quinceneras and Weddings. This proves that the Semiotic
meaning varies from culture to culture for a symbol or word

18. A HELPFUL WEBSITE
• To help you understand what Semiotics is I found a video that can help. I
had some difficulty understanding the meaning at first. Hope this link
helps you as it helped me. Http://youtube.com/watch?v=rEgxTKUP_WI

19. CULTURAL SPACES ARE DYNAMIC AND EVER
CHANGING
• They are not just physical places, but also metaphorical places Social
places includes communicating as: parents, colleagues, customers,
Californians Defining Cultural Space

20. REGIONALISM
• Further Reading • Regions are not clearly identified on world maps
• Cause for many struggles over cultural spaces
• National boundaries often hide regions
• Example: Some U.S. citizens identify themselves as southerners
• http://www.digitrends.com/crossingcultures/iden.htm
• The link to the above article offers more explanation on cultural space
Cultural Identity & Cultural Space Cont.

21. TRAVEL & MIGRATION
• Traveling enables us to change cultural spaces easily
• Changing cultural spaces even for a short time means that you must change the way
you interact with people
• An example would be when I traveled to North Carolina I had no idea that many
southerners find the term “Bible Belt” offensive. I had to refrain from saying that while I
was there.
• When moving, you also change cultural spaces • People who migrate often find it
difficult to adjust to the change in cultural spaces
• This is true for not only moving from one country to another but also for moving from
one region in a country to another. Changing Cultural Space

22. POST MODERN CULTURAL SPACES
• They are defined by cultural practices, languages, and identities and they
change as new people move in and out of the spaces
• An example would be chat rooms on the internet, you can go in and out
different topics relatively easy
• Another example is the Central Valley of California, there are a great deal
living here but there really are no “Portuguese neighborhoods,” like
can still visit Portuguese bakeries and markets, or attend traditional Festas
Cultural Spaces

23. QUIZ
• 1. True/False: Home, neighborhoods, and regions are examples of
cultural spaces
• 2. True/False: Regions have clearly defined borders. •
• 3. Internet chat rooms are an example of:
a. Neighborhoods b. post modern cultural spaces c. Travel d. none of the

24. • 4. Nonverbal communication involves all of the following except:
A. Use of words
B. Gestures
C. Facial expressions
D. Eye contact
5. __________ and humans share nonverbal behaviors
A Giraffes
B Rats
C Chimpanzees
D Goats

25. 6. Verbal communication predominantly operates on a _________ level.
A Conscious
B Subconscious
C Meditative
D Spiritual

26. • 7. ____________ communication plays a vital role in intercultural
communication. A Verbal B Nonverbal C Oral D Tele 8. Nonverbal
status, power and __________. A Education B Health C Deception D
• 9. Semiotics is the interpretation of signs: True or False? 10. Facial
expressions are different in each culture : True or False? 11. Stereotyping
over nonverbal actions to exclude, called _____ Quiz

27. • True or False 12. There are no differences between Verbal and Nonverbal
communication. T/F ? 13. Nonverbal communication enables us to show
other and our cultural groups. T/F ? 14. The expectancy violation theory
how we react to nonverbal cues from other people. T/F? 15. Nonverbal
governed by rules. T/F? 16. Verbal communication also involves the rate,
articulation of words. T/F?
• True • False • B • A • C • A • B • C • True • False • Discrimination •
False • True • False • False • True Answers