Intercultural communication: definition, challenges, benefits. Communication types.
Working in an international team
Culture shock and blunders. Stages of culture perception.
Language and culture connection
Body language
100
Give a definition: What is intercultural communication?
Intercultural communication involves the interaction of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, where they engage in verbal and nonverbal exchanges to share information, ideas, and emotions.
100
What main three points of self-presentation can you highlight?
– who are you? (your name, job or title, area of expertise);
– your background (something you specialize in; why you decided to study that);
– why are you there? (what is your objective or goal).
100
What are the types of subjects?
– Simple (one word)
– Compound (and, or, nor, together with, as well as)
– Complex
100
What is non-equivalent lexis? Give an example.
It is lexical units that do not have their equivalents in the target language, for example, serendipity.
100
Give a definition: What is body language?
Body language is a form of non-verbal communication in which people send and receive information through their physical postures, gestures, facial expressions, and movements.
200
What types of communication do you know (two)?
Give examples for each type.
Verbal communication:
Oral: speaking, listening.
Written: writing, reading.
Non-verbal communication:
facial expression, gestures, body language, proximity, touch, personal appearance, silence.
200
Take a look at the examples below of techniques for working in an intercultural team:
Encourage a person to give their ideas freely.
Encourage alternative and very different points of view.
Ask people to combine the different ideas around the table to find a creative solution.
Suggest a creative proposal based on the different ideas of people around the table.
Find out what type of work you can use these techniques for.
Brainstorming sessions / to influence people to work together and come up with creative ideas during discussions.
200
What is culture shock?
Give an example of a culture shock.
Culture shock is the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone when they are suddenly surrounded by a culture very different from their own. It can be a stressful experience and may involve feelings of confusion, anxiety, and loneliness. Culture shock can occur when traveling, studying, or living in a foreign country.
Example of culture shock: A student from a small town in the United States goes to study in a large, bustling city in Japan. They are overwhelmed by the constant noise and crowds, and they find it difficult to understand the language and customs. They feel homesick and isolated, and they struggle to adjust to their new surroundings.
200
What is background lexis?
Which of the following words can be considered background words: fine, orange, time, friend, water, succeed, tango.
Background lexis is commonly used vocabulary in a particular language, but it will have different meanings in different countries, depending on the cultural background.
Background words: fine, friend, succeed.
200
What are the types of predicates?
– Simple verbal (1 finite verb/phrasal verb in any tense)
– Compound:
verbal 1) modal verb + infinitive; 2) stop/continue/go on/ start/ begin] +gerund/ infinitive;
nominal (link verb [be/feel/sound/look and other state verbs] + nominal part of speech [noun, pronoun, adjective, numeral, gerund, infinitive])
– Mixed (a combination of verbal & and nominal compound predicates)
300
What are the key benefits of intercultural communication?
How do they impact personal growth, professional advantages, and educational outcomes (give answers to each of these points)?
– enhanced empathy, tolerance, and self-awareness;
– problem-solving and career opportunities;
– critical thinking and language learning.
300
Look at the words.
Determine how they are constructed: sugar-free, lab, RAM, a definite, blog.
a definite (noun from adjective) - Conversion
sugar-free - Compounding
lab - Abbreviation
RAM - Acronym
blog - Blend
300
What are culture blunders?
Determine in which situation this problem arose.
Situation №1: A foreign businessman is visiting a meeting in Japan. After the meeting, he wants to express his gratitude to his Japanese colleagues, so he bows. However, he bows for a much shorter time than is customary in Japanese culture.
Situation №2: A tourist from the United States of America is visiting India for the first time. Before the trip, she studied the peculiarities of Indian culture in detail. So later, when she arrives in India, she knows how to bow properly and avoids pointing her index finger at someone or something.
Culture blunders refer to mistakes or inappropriate actions that occur due to a lack of understanding of cultural differences. These can happen when someone from one culture interacts with someone from another culture and unintentionally offends or confuses them.
Situation №1.
300
What is slang? What is a neologism?
Can slang be a neologism? Is neologism slang?
Slang is an informal language that is typically used by a particular group of people, such as teenagers, friends, or people in a specific profession.
Neologism is a newly coined word or expression.
Usually, all new slang words are neologisms. But not all neologisms are slang.
300
How does body language affect intercultural communication?
Body language plays a crucial role in intercultural communication. Misinterpretations of gestures, facial expressions, and postures can lead to misunderstandings and communication breakdowns between people from different cultures.
400
What challenges can arise in the process of intercultural communication?
To identify the challenges, analyze three situations and name the problem in each.
Situation №1: A German manager is sent to work with a team in Japan. During a meeting, the manager directly criticizes the team's progress, which causes the Japanese employees to appear visibly uncomfortable. The manager interprets their silence as a lack of interest in improvement.
Situation №2: An American salesperson attends a business meeting in Saudi Arabia. The salesperson, accustomed to direct and time-efficient communication, gets impatient when the Saudi hosts spend a significant portion of the meeting on small talk and personal relationships rather than diving into business discussions.
Situation №3: A Chinese employee and a Dutch employee have a disagreement over a project deadline. The Chinese employee avoids addressing the issue directly, preferring to hint at their concerns to maintain harmony. In contrast, the Dutch employee openly confronts the problem and pushes for a solution, viewing the Chinese employee’s approach as passive.
The challenge in situation №1: problems with understanding the cultures and languages.
The challenge in situation №2: different communication styles.
The challenge in situation №3: different conflict resolution.
400
What are the main principles of effective feedback delivery? (Name at least three)
Key principles of effective feedback delivery:
feed forward, constructive, unbiased, impersonal, no comparison, ways of improvement, exact examples, neutral way.
400
There are 6 stages of cultural perception.
Combine the stage with its characteristics and place them in the sequence in which they occur.
adaptation
minimization
denial
acceptance
integration
defense
a) inability to perceive cultural differences; living isolated from other cultures; basing all the relations on stereotypes;
b) minimizing the role of cultural differences; accepting only superficial cultural differences; and believing that all people are the same;
c) reconciling conflicting cultural frames; taking the role of an intercultural mediator; awareness of the absence of the only right and correct answers; awareness of different cultural groups inside foreign culture; understanding that foreign culture is not homogeneous;
d) the ability to perceive cultural differences but attach negative characteristics to the foreign culture; fighting against changes of the stable worldview; using violence in defense of the cultural identity;
e) recognizing cultural differences; awareness of the culturally influenced thinking and viewing the world; acceptance of the existence of different ways of thinking and behaving, though probably not liking it;
f) using knowledge about native and foreign cultures to be able to take other people's perspective; the ability to modify behavior in ways to make it appropriate to other cultures; adapting other cultural frames in addition to the native;
3) denial - a) inability to perceive cultural differences; living isolated from other cultures; basing all the relations on stereotypes;
6) defense - d) the ability to perceive cultural differences but attach negative characteristics to the foreign culture; fighting against changes of the stable worldview; using violence in defense of the cultural identity;
2) minimization - b) minimizing the role of cultural differences; acceptance of only superficial cultural differences; believing that all people are the same;
4) acceptance - e) recognizing cultural differences; awareness of the culturally influenced thinking and viewing the world; acceptance of the existence of different ways of thinking and behaving, though probably not liking it;
1) adaptation - f) using knowledge about native and foreign cultures to be able to take other people's perspective; ability to modify behavior in ways to make it appropriate to other cultures; adapting other cultural frames in addition to the native;
5) integration - c) reconciling conflicting cultural frames; taking the role of an intercultural mediator; awareness of the absence of the only right and correct answers; awareness of different cultural groups inside foreign culture; understanding that foreign culture is not homogeneous;
400
What are the types of sentences?
– Simple ;
– Compound ;
– Complex ;
– Compound-complex.
400
Can you give an example of a body language gesture that has a different meaning in different cultures?
The "OK" sign: In many Western countries, this gesture means "okay" or "all right." However, in some parts of Europe and South America, it is considered an offensive gesture. In Japan, it means "money."
The "V" sign: With the palm facing outward, this gesture means "peace" or "victory" in many Western countries. However, with the palm facing inward, it is a rude gesture in the UK and some other Commonwealth countries.
500
Make a syntactic analysis of the sentence:
Tenacious D., who write songs about their own greatness, are the most feared and respected rock band in the galaxy.
Tenacious D. (subject), who (subject) write (predicate) songs (direct object) about (indirect object) their own (attribute) greatness (indirect object), are (predicate) the most feared (attribute) and respected (attribute) rock band (predicate) in the galaxy (adv. modifier of place).
500
Analyze the situation: John, an American manager, sends a direct email to Li Wei, a Chinese software engineer, asking for immediate updates on a project. Li Wei feels uncomfortable. Why?
Li Wei might feel uncomfortable due to cultural differences, specifically the emphasis on hierarchy and face-saving in Chinese culture. A direct, urgent email could be perceived as disrespectful and insensitive.
500
Analyze the situation. Determine at what stage of cultural perception the main character is and what cultural blunder he has made.
Situation: John, an American engineer, moves to Japan to work for a multinational company. He believes that, deep down, “people are the same everywhere.” At his first team meeting, he noticed that his Japanese colleagues avoided making direct eye contact and hesitated to voice strong opinions. John interpreted this as shyness and decided to take the lead by speaking openly and confidently, as he would in the U.S., assuming everyone would appreciate his directness.
However, his colleagues perceived his behavior as overly assertive and even disrespectful, as it disrupts the group harmony and disregards the subtle communication style valued in Japanese culture. When John cracked a joke to "lighten the mood," no one responded, leaving him confused and embarrassed. Later, one of his colleagues privately suggests that he tone down his approach, but John brushes it off, thinking they are "too reserved" and need to “loosen up.”
John's behavior reflects a minimization stage of the cultural perception. While he recognizes some superficial differences in behavior, he assumes that everyone shares the same preferences for communication styles and values. This belief leads him to project his own cultural norms onto his colleagues, ignoring the deeply ingrained cultural importance of indirect communication in Japan.
A cultural mistake - he doesn't know that the Japanese are used to indirect communication, and hierarchy is important to them.
500
Analyze these expressions: "It's raining cats and dogs", and "A stitch in time saves nine".
What is the difference between them?
Idioms are expressions with figurative meanings that differ from the literal meanings of their words (e.g., "It's raining cats and dogs" means it's raining heavily).
Proverbs are short, well-known sayings that offer general advice or truths (e.g., "A stitch in time saves nine" means solving a problem early can prevent bigger issues).
500
Point out the importance of taking cultural differences into account by analyzing the key points of the situation.
Imagine a business meeting between an American and a Japanese company. During the negotiation, the American negotiator nods and smiles frequently to show enthusiasm and agreement. In contrast, the Japanese negotiator remains relatively still and maintains a neutral expression.
Cultural differences in non-verbal communication: American and Japanese cultures have different norms for using non-verbal cues, such as nodding and smiling.
Misinterpretation: An American negotiator misinterprets the behavior of a Japanese negotiator due to a lack of cultural understanding.
This case study highlights the importance of considering cultural differences in sign language when doing business internationally.