Summary:
Barna, a professor of intercultural communication, presents six main stumbling blocks in intercultural communication, which is becoming more important as globalization advances:
The first three are:
1. Assumption of Similarities, which basically means that a person from one culture naively assumes that a person from a different culture will have similar beliefs or customs. This type of assumption causes problems because in reality various cultures have differences. (Definition key sentence=p.1, L14-17)
The solutions she suggests are basically to be ready for and sensitive to differences, to understand your own culture and beliefs, and to try to understand another culture deeply from history or literature, not superficially only with second-hand information from guidebooks.
2. Language differences basically means vocabulary, syntax, idioms, slang, dialects differences between languages. In addition to that, Barna says the tenacity which means a person will cling to just one meaning of a word or phrase in the new language regardless of connotation or context is a greater problem. Barna also says there are other problems of language including the different styles of using language. They are such as direct, indirect; expansive, succinct; argumentative, conciliatory; instrumental, harmonizing; and so on.
3. According to Barna, non-verbal misinterpretations occur because different cultures have different nonverbal communication styles in terms of gestures, facial expressions, and other patterns and people cannot understand nonverbal messages they are not familiar with.
3 Critical Reactions:
1. On p.2, Barna says "There seem to be no universals of human nature" to be a basis of automatic mutual understanding, but I wonder whether this is true or not.
2. On p.2, Barna basically says Japanese believe they are distinct from the rest of world and this leads to exclusionary attitudes and passive efforts toward mutual understanding. I wonder what evidence she bases this on.
3. On p.6, Barna quotes Mead's idea that it is important to sensitize people to intercultural variables instead of developing stereotypes. This sounds like a good idea, but how exactly can this be done?
2 Discussion Questions:
1. Have you ever felt frustration with intercultural communication, in Japan or outside Japan?
What happened and why was it so frustrating? Was it A of S? or LD? or NM?
2. Are Japanese people "distinct" from the other cultural group's of the world? What aspects of Japanese culture are "unique"?
Hi,
返信削除My name is Ingrid and I am a music education student at Indiana University. I have joined a Cultural Immersion Project with the education department and we are required to take a preparation course. The course helps me prepare to go student teach overseas and I have chosen Hiroshima, Japan. I found your blog because I was trying to understand the many differences in "styles of using language" based on Barna's article in the Language Differences category. Could you go more in depth on it? Or give your on thisexplanation on how the various types of styles can affect communication (i.e. direct, indirect, expansive, succinct, argumentative, conciliatory, instrumental, harmonizing, etc)?
Thank you!