Foundations of Intercultural Communication
What is culture?
Is a learned set of shared interpretations
about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect
the behaviors of a relatively large group of
people.
Define cultural identity
a person’s sense of belonging to a specific culture, co-culture or ethnic group that may change overtime.
What is racism?
The tendency by groups that control institutional and cultural power to use it to keep
disadvantage members of groups who do not hold power in an inferior position
What are verbal codes?
A set of rules about the use of words in the creation of messages. Language is symbolic. Humans
provide the meaning to words.
What is proxemics?
Space (Proxemics)
• 1.Cultural differences in the use of personal
• space exist
• 2.Cultural differences in territoriality exist
• and can seriously affect communication.
What is a value? Please provide a specific example.
oncerned with what a culture regards as good or bad, right or wrong, fair or
unfair, beautiful or ugly, valuable or worthless, etc.
1. the desired characteristics
or goals of a culture.
Explain what is a co-culture. Provide a specific example.
referring to the identity of individuals whose memberships to various groups such as hobbies, occupation, and
interests also shapes their everyday ways of living. Some scholars feel the term lifestyle or social group is more
accurate.
Name the differences between prejudice and discrimination.
Prejudice: the thought
Negative reactions to other people based on faulty and inflexible stereotypes along with
a lack of firsthand knowledge about others.
Discrimination: the action
Refers to behavioral manifestations of prejudice
What is the difference between denotative vs connotative language?
Denotative meanings
• are the more public, objective, dictionary-based meanings.
Connotative meanings
• are the more personal, emotionally charged, private, individually-based meanings.
What is the difference between monochronic and polychronic time?
Monochronic-time is organized in small units, life is scheduled
• (Germany, Us)
• Polychronic-several things at the same time
• have multiple appointments(France African countries)
Define norms. What is the difference between an implicit or explicit norm? Provide examples.
e outward manifestations of beliefs and values that are socially shared
expectations of appropriate behaviors.
1. exist for a wide variety of
behaviors and include typical social
routines (e.g., greeting behaviors,
good manners).
2. Can be explicit or implicit
What is ethnicity? Can religion be considered an ethnicity?
a group of people who share a language, historical origins, religion, nation-state, or cultural system.
often used interchangeably with culture
Why are stereotypes always inaccurate
Assumed to apply to all members of a group or category.
Group tendency, as suggested by the stereotype, is altered or twisted.
Positive stereotypes are not positive
What is the difference between pragmatics and semantics? Provide a unique example.
Semantics
• refers to the study of meaning of words.
Pragmatics
• How language is used in context. Semantics is more about the literal meaning. Pragmatics is
how we use words in contexts. Think of the phrase What's up? We are not asking what is above
our heads. If I say the phrase to you, you know I am asking casually, "How are you?"
Explain Hall's distance model
Hall's distance model.
Intimate: 0-18"
Personal: 18"-4'
Social: 4'-10'
Public Distance: 10' and more
What is Intercultural Communication? Provide an example.
ntercultural communication occurs when
large and important cultural differences create
dissimilar interpretations and expectations about
how to communicate competently.
Define race. How has race been limiting in describing and understanding people?
ace commonly refers to certain physical similarities, such as skin color or eye shape that are shared by a group of
people and are used to mark or separate them from others
People from Poland, Italy, Ireland, European Jews were at one time considered “non-white”
Race is best understood as a social construction
Name three differences between privileged groups and marginalized groups.
Privileged Groups
• Have access to power
• Given multiple options
• Assumed capable
• Makes the rules and decisions
• Define the organizational culture
• Seen as normal
• Given the benefit of the doubt
• Often unaware of differential treatment
• Focus on how far we’ve come
• Marginalized Groups
• Need access to power and resources
• Adapt to rules and decisions
• Work to assimilate and fit into dominant culture
• Feel out of place
• Have their truth and experiences questioned and often invalidated
• Often assumed to be deficient
• Viewed as outsiders
• Focus on how far we have to go
• Adapted from Dr. Becky Martinez
Explain the Sapir Whorf hypothesis; provide an example
Language affects how people think and experience the world.
Name and define four areas of kinesics?
. Emblems have a direct verbal counterpart
Substitute the verbal channel
(e.g. the two-fingered peace symbol is
familiar to U.S. Americans, Okay hand
symbol, etc. ).
• 2. Illustrators are directly tied to, or accompany, the verbal message. Needs verbal
message showing size (huge house)
• 3. Affect displays are facial and body
movements that show feelings and emotions.
Happiness, anger, surprise through face;
posture.
• 4. Regulators help to synchronize natural
conversation: eye contact, gestures, posture
head nods.
• 5. Adaptors are personal body movements
• that occur as a reaction to an individual's