Strategies for Improving Intercultural Communication

Strategies for Improving Intercultural Communication

Communication is heavily influenced by a person’s culture; therefore, during intercultural interactions, being aware that people encode and decode messages differently based on their culture is important. For example, while interacting with someone from a culture that differs from my African American culture, an Indian, for instance, it is crucial that both of us know that our cultures will determine how we communicate. In addition, ethnocentrism, the assumption that one’s culture is better than someone else’s, is a challenge for everyone to overcome, which can negatively affect interactions (Hamilton, 2016).

Using empathy is one of the strategies I use to improve my communication with individuals from Indian culture. Notably, one can achieve effective communication only through truly understanding what the other person thinks or feels and how they behave. Additionally, empathy helps one not only experience another person’s emotions but also reflect on these emotions and then compare them to theirs (Calloway-Thomas et al., 2017). As such, through empathy, I can ask myself questions like “Suppose I was an Indian, what would be my perspective on this issue?”, or “How does an Indian see this issue?”

The second strategy is applying intercultural awareness. This is the ability to recognize, appreciate and respect cultural differences. Intercultural awareness also involves understanding that all diverse cultures manifest themselves in terms of communication, behaviour, language, etc. (Baker, 2015). Being interculturally aware requires respecting different perspectives, actively listening, and questioning assumptions. As mentioned before, all individuals are ethnocentric; therefore, it is crucial for everyone to have strategies like intercultural awareness for effective communication and collaborations to take place in intercultural communication.

References

Baker, W. (2015). Research into practice: Cultural and intercultural awareness. Language teaching, 48(1), 130-141.

Calloway-Thomas, C., Arasaratnam-Smith, L. A., & Deardorff, D. K. (2017). The role of empathy in fostering intercultural competence. In Intercultural competence in higher education (pp. 32-42). Routledge.

Hamilton, C. M. (2016). Communicating for success. Routledge.

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Strategies for Improving Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication and the Influence on Interpersonal Communication

Culture can influence how you think and feel about the world and can shape your communication choices.

For this discussion, please respond to the following:

Identify a culture that varies from your own, and describe two strategies you can use to improve your communication with individuals from that culture.

This discussion addresses the following unit learning outcomes:

Explain how intercultural communication can impact interpersonal relationships.
Identify strategies to eliminate barriers to communication among various cultures.
It also addresses the following Course Outcomes:

Define effective interpersonal communication in diverse contexts.