Chapter 11: Communication and Culture

Question 1

Culture

Answer 1

Culture is the beliefs, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a number of people or a larger community (nation, tribe, ethnic group, etc.)

Question 2

Cultures are

1. System
2. vary along 5 dimesions
3. are dynamic
4. May include multiple social communities

Answer 2

are coherent systems of understandings, traditions, values, communication practices and ways of living

Question 3

5 dimensions

Answer 3

1. Individualism/Collectivism: people who understand themselves as part of family, group or individually (China vs Europian)
2. Uncertainty Avoidance: avoid misunderstanding by speaking out exactly what they mean
3. Power Distance: respect inherited (from ancestor)
4. Masculinity/Femininity: Male and Female
5. Long-term/Short-term Orientation: respect elders and ancestor (long-term)

Question 4

cultures are dynamic

Answer 4

Change over time

• Sources of Culture from :
  1. Invention: technological, institutional, and c0nceptual
  2. Diffusion: borrow something from other culture (words)
  3. Calamity: extreme events that necessitate that change the culture
  4. Communication: through new terms, ideas, social movements, intellectual movements

Question 5

Social communities

Answer 5

Social communities (co-cultures, subcultures) exist within a larger culture, maintaining differing practices and values -> interact with dominant culture in complex ways

Question 6

Guideline for improving communication

Answer 6

1. Resist Ethnocentrism: use the traditional way to communicate to others from another culture (japanese think europian as rude because maintaining eye contact)
2. Recognize Intercultural Communication a Process
   a. Resistance is a common response to cultural difference -> put some particular situation is the other shoe
   b. Tolerance implies acceptance of difference
   c. Understanding implies adopting a position of cultural relativism
   d. Respect implies appreciation of those differences
   e. Participation ==> incorporate other culture into our lives and nurture them => we can be multilingual (speak and think more than one language)

Question 7

high-context commnunication style

Answer 7

use metaphor commnunication, people in collectivists will understand

Question 8

low-context commnunication style

Answer 8

have to communicate in detail to know what they say.