Intercultural Communication and Competence

The assignment covers various aspects of intercultural communication competence, including research papers, theories, and practical applications. It explores the concepts of intercultural communication apprehension, nonverbal immediacy, and contact anxiety. The document includes references to studies on international students' perceptions of intercultural communication apprehension and the impact of communication apprehension on college student retention and success. Additionally, it discusses the importance of body language in intercultural communication and provides a summary of key concepts and theories related to intercultural communication.

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Effective Business Communication
Reflective Essay
26-May-18
(Student Name: )

Effective Business Communication
Reflective essays come with the objective of reflecting upon or highlighting certain
aspect. When a reflective essay is related to effective business communication, the purpose of
it is to shed light over the flaws and the qualities of an individual. This is particularly helpful
in order for such individual to work towards improving on their possible shortcomings. This
helps a person in growing more and in excelling in both their personal and professional life.
Communications are of particular importance in business scenario. Thus, it becomes even
more important for a person to concentrate on improving their flaws in communication, be it
of large magnitude or of small. This is what the purpose of this reflective essay is. This
reflective essay is aimed at analyzing my possible shortfalls, be it of big in magnitude or
small. This analysis would help me in removing these shortfalls, or at least working on them,
so that my future would not be negatively impacted due to the presence of such flaws. In this
reflective essay, my journey would be covered, where I would initiate by making use of five
diagnostic tools, given to us under this module. Once this is done, I will analyze the results of
these diagnostic tools and would try to find out my flaws. In doing so, I would also show two
specific professional interactions of last two years, where I had encountered this problem.
The next stage in this reflective essay would be undertaking a literature review to get a better
understanding on my flaws. In doing so, I would not only analyse my problem in literature,
but would also try to find possible remedies covered for my flaws, under different literature.
Then I would move on to the last stage of this reflective essay, where I would create an action
plan for the coming six months, which would show the steps which I have planned to take,
for getting over my shortcomings.
In order to start with this reflective writing, we were given five diagnostic tools,
which we had to fill up. Each of these tools analyzed a certain aspect of our communication
skills and before going into the results of these tools, the very basic purpose of these tools has
been covered herewith. The first tool which I started with for this reflective essay was Self-
Perceived Communication Competence Scale or simply SPCC. This tool shows the self
perception of a person regarding their communication competency. In simple words, how
does the person think their communication skills are, when it comes to different groups of
people, is what this tool analyzes. The apprehensiveness or non-apprehensiveness of a person
regarding a certain group of people is highlighted through SPCC (Neuliep & McCroskey,
1997). The second tool for the purpose of this reflective essay was Nonverbal Immediacy
Scale-Self Report, or simply NIS-S. This tool covers more of the communication skills which
are in non verbal form. It is well known that people communicate through their body using
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gestures and movements. This tool analyzes how effectively or non-effectively a person uses
their gestures (Richmond, McCroskey & Johnson, 2003).
Coming to the third tool of this reflective essay, I was given Personal Report of
Intercultural Communication Apprehension, or simply PRICA. As the name shows, this tool
analyzes the apprehensiveness of an individual where they are asked to or required to
undertake communications with intercultural people. So, where a person sees a situation
where they are required to communicate with a person from different cultural background,
they may be indifferent or may get very anxious (McCroskey & McCroskey, 1988). In the
requirement of using diagnostic tools, I then moved on to talkaholic scale. As is the case with
any other tools, this tool too shows its purpose from its very name. This tool checks the
talking ability of any person. This tool analyzes if a person over talks or under talks in any
situation, apart from shedding light on the listening capacity of a person (McCroskey &
Richmond, 1995). The last tool given to us for this reflective essay was Tolerance For
Disagreement, or simply TFD. This tool checks if a person is able to be or is comfortable or
not, when another person does not agree with their viewpoint. So, where a person has high
TFD, that person can be comfortable in person disagreeing with them, and the vice versa is
also true (Teven, Richmond & McCroskey, 1998).
As the purpose served by each of the diagnostic tools has been clarified, we can move
out to the scoring and results of these tools. The first tool which I started with was SPCC. In
this tool, I got a score of 60.33 under public, 80 under meeting, 93.33 under group, 86.67
under dyad, 133.33 under stranger, 100 under acquaintance, and 130 under friend, giving me
a total score of 121.11. Analysing these scorings, I got average under public, average under
meeting, high under group, average under dyad, high under stranger, high under
acquaintance, and high under friend, giving me a total ratings of high self perceived
communication apprehensions. This shows that I very comfortable in talking to people, and
am even good at interacting with strangers. Hence, this tool could not show any area of
improvement for me. The second tool for the purpose of this reflective essay was NIS-S,
where I got a score of 93. This was an average scoring, highlighting the possibility of
improving on my non-verbal immediacy skills.
The third tool for the purpose of this reflective essay was PRICA, in which I scored
41. This again positioned me in average scoring giving me another aspect in my
communication skills to work upon. This average score shows that neither I outshine at
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talking to people from other cultures, not am I very comfortable at it. There is a scope of
improving this aspect and hence I would focus my literature on it. The fourth tool for the
purpose of this reflective essay was talkaholic scale. In this tool, I got an average score of 29.
However, there is no need of improving upon this average scoring, as being overly talkative
is a negative thing and so is being under talkative. Hence, despite these average scores, this
shows a good aspect regarding my communication effectiveness. The last tool given to us for
this reflective essay was TFD, where I got a score of 47. This is a high scoring which shows
that I comfortable even when people do not agree with my viewpoint, which shows a strong
point about my communication effectiveness. Hence, the two issues which I need to work on
for the purpose of this reflective essay are regarding intercultural apprehensions and
nonverbal immediacy.
As I had stated earlier, I would be linking my areas of improvement to two
professional interactions which happened in the last twelve months. So before going into the
literature review, these two instances have been summarized. I have a fondness for travelling
and love to explore new places. Inclining my fondness with a way of earning some
experience, I enrolled myself to a volunteer programme which took place in the city some 7-8
months back. This work required me to distribute brochures to different people on the beauty
of Australia and the different places which a person could visit in Australia for a good
vacation. I was required to approach people and talk to them about their experiences in
Australia, what they thought of the nation, and the tourism worthy spots as per them. Once
this was done, I had to inform them about the various other options in the nation which they
could tap in to enhance their experience. Naturally, the people I approached were of different
cultural backgrounds. Even though no per se “blunder” or big incident occurred, or even such
a thing took place, which could have ruined the other person’s experience, or even come to
their knowledge, I felt a little uneasy when talking to different people. This was particularly
when I had to communicate with such people about whose culture I do not know much of. I
was unsure if I was communicating with them properly or whether they were able to
understand me. Even though there was nothing to show any such thing taking place, I still did
not feel 100% confident. This is when I started fidgeting and blurred up a few words. This
did seem like a normal thing but I knew that I was not very comfortable in this situation.
The second professional incident is also related to this very incident. Once we had
done with our awareness of sorts’ campaign, we were required to share our experiences in the
group and had to give the feedback on this experience to Amanda, who was the head of this
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campaign. After sharing the experience in the group, which was done in brief, we went to
Amanda for sharing our experiences. When I was having a conversation with Amanda, it was
very different from the one which I had in the group earlier. Amanda asked me to tell my
experience in detail and to not leave anything unstated, as she wanted thorough feedbacks. I
started from the very first meet to the very last meet. Once I was done, she asked me to repeat
the very incidents where I felt uncomfortable. Initially I told her that I never got
uncomfortable, but upon her insistence, I did tell her about the entire episode that whenever it
came to interactions with people of certain cultural backgrounds, I got a bit apprehensive. In
order to improve me, she handed me over a task of approaching the nearby Coles and gaining
the review of such Coles’ visitors, who were from different ethical background. I thought that
this was an easy enough task and so I took up this challenge. However, it was not as easy.
The reason for this was that people did not have time to answer my questions. And as a result
of this, I started using verbal gestures, which Amanda later on told me about. As per Amanda,
I was using agitated gestures, where I was biting my nails, fidgeting a lot, tapping my feet
and kept my hands busy through clicking. This was not the case, as per the analysis of
Amanda, when I was talking to Indian people, as they are the ones who have similar
backgrounds as I have. These two incidents are the ones which were in my mind when I filled
up the diagnostic tools, which confirmed my possible areas of improvement for this reflective
essay. And these are the results which were highlighted for me by combination of diagnostic
tools and personal experiences.
Samovar, Porter, McDaniel, and Roy (2013) have defined intercultural
communication as the interaction which takes place between such individuals who have
difference in symbol systems and cultural perceptions to such an extent, which has the ability
of influencing the communication of any event. As a result of increasing internalization of the
global colleges, the role of intercultural communications has been enhanced (Fall, Kelly,
MacDonald, Prim, & Holmes, 2013). With growing globalization, there is a stronger
importance of culture and this has made understanding of intercultural communications as the
key of avoiding ethnic and racial tensions in view of Neuliep (2014). Liu (2007) has
highlighted that as a result of factors like unfamiliarity, language barriers and cultural
uncertainty, a number of international students have developed intercultural communication
apprehensions. As a result of this, people feel anxious during their social and academic
activities, where the individuals are required to interact with people from different cultures
and of the host society. Such an experience takes place owing to difference in cultures,
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backgrounds, beliefs, languages and ethnicities (Fall, Kelly, MacDonald, Prim, & Holmes,
2013).
A person experiences anxiety in certain forms which cover noticeable loss of control,
fear of visual scrutiny, fear of revealing said anxiety, and psychological arousal which is
similar to a person getting panic attack (Horowitz, 2002). Pate and Merker (1978) have
highlighted that this can be deemed as a frightening feeling which takes place even before the
very possibility of being engaged in such interactions, as the individuals create a
predisposition against their encounters regarding the communication which is set to take
place. This anxiety is faced by a high number of students, especially when they are in their
initial years of college life. This requires the corrective steps to remove such apprehensions to
be taken place in the early years. When a person is set to face an intercultural different people
or face them, they get apprehensive feelings, which are deemed as a casual agent in success
of students. Where a person has high communication apprehensions, they get lower grades
and have less chances of completing college degree. So, high communication apprehensions
show poor academic outcomes (McCroskey, Booth-Butterfield, & Payne, 1989).
The higher levels of intercultural communication apprehension in the case of
international students is related to negative expectations before experiencing the study abroad
(Kim & Goldstein, 2005). This is particularly when a person tries to relocate in an
ethnocentric society, where people are hostile, defensive or suspicious to global students,
particularly when they have different social and cultural norms (McKeiver, 2013). Both the
verbal and nonverbal communication styles are impacted due to the intercultural variances
(Spencer-Rodgers & McGovern, 2002). Baraldi (2006) suggested a harmonious state of such
communications as a way of coping with multicultural identity having universal values.
There is a need to create such global state where every person shares common interest in each
other, which would enable people as being eager to give and take in an equivalent way (Kim,
2007). Mak, Brown, and Wadey (2013) have highlighted the need to channelling the
emotions to control the negative perceptions. There was a similarity in physical reactions in
people faced with normal communication apprehensions and intercultural apprehensions,
where both psychological and physical reactions could be noted (McCroskey & Richmond,
1996). Another solution to this problem is to improve upon the language of a person as such
apprehensions are often noticed in Asian students as per Lin (2012).
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Coming to the second aspect of this literature review, which is on non-verbal
immediacy, there is an ample amount of literature on this topic as well. A number of
literatures have covered that verbal communications are used in conveying information.
However, where it comes to the negotiations aspect, body language plays a key role (Pease &
Pease, 2004). Body language is a major part in nonverbal immediacy and is considered as a
key tool in business communications. The effective use of nonverbal immediacy can make or
break deals. For instance, an overuse of body language shows that an individual is getting
anxious (Cohen, 2015). Thus, when an individual uses lot of hand movements and shifts a lot
in the chair, this shows the lack of confidence of such person and that the person is feeling
anxious. The reason for this stems from the nonverbal cues being a reflection of mind of
people. There are scholars who have noted that nonverbal communications or body language
often covered involuntary acts, which were based upon time, space, use of objects,
appearances of people and of others, and smells, as the person perceives (Gamble & Gamble,
2013). Through the use of such nonverbal cues, a better clarity is brought and the meaning of
the entire conversation is changed. Thus, where a person inevitably rolls their eyes while
having a conversation with another person, this shows the dismissal or disapproval of the
person rolling his eyes to the conversation which takes place. This is the reason for the
famous proverb of actions speaking louder than words, and proves to be quite true in context
of this literature (Nelson, 2012).
There have been some other scholars who have provided that nonverbal
communication is a very complex topic on its own and further becomes more complex due to
different perceived meanings of it (Butland, 2012). This can be related to the uneasiness
which I felt, where I started fidgeting. In view of some people this can show my
communication apprehension, and for others, it can be deemed as my intercultural
apprehensions. Further, some people may not even contribute fidgeting to intercultural
apprehensions at all. However, as per Navarro and Kartins (2009), it does often happen that
people use nonverbal cues without a conscious knowledge of using such cues, leading to
people animating unconsciously. A person can show their displeasure through their nonverbal
cues used. A common example of this is a person clinching on to the table cloth, which
shows unhappiness or anger in such person. Hence, there is a need of making effective use of
nonverbal cues, particularly in business scenarios, so that the next person does not get a
negative feeling owing to such unconscious verbal cues being used (Gamble & Gamble,
2013).
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The reflective essay, through the use of diagnostic tools highlighted that I have two
possible areas of improvement, which is of using nonverbal communications in a better
manner and in trying to remove the anxiety which is faced when I have to talk to people from
different cultural background. The literature highlighted that this is a common problem with
international students, particularly with Asians, and so I have drawn certain possible steps,
from this literature review, which would possibly help me in removing my hesitations. These
steps have been presented through the action plan presented here.
Jun-18
Jul-18
Aug-18
Sep-18
Oct-18
Nov-18
5 10 15 20 25 30
Chart Title
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The Gantt chart prepared above shows the different activities which I will be taking in
the upcoming six months. The values covered under the month segment are the estimated
days for which I would undertake each activity in every month. I would initially be
attempting to approach strangers at new places in the city only. I would be doing this on
weekly basis, and would try to do these on the days which are free in my schedule. I would
also organize a culture meet after from August 2018 onward, where I would invite university
students to come and meet me for half an hour and have a conversation on any topic. People
could both suggest and take my ideas for the conversations. As the literature stated that
language often acts as a barrier, I would attempt to work on it. Even though I do not have any
language problem as such, but I would still try to improve my spoken language skills. I would
also attempt to learn a new language, particularly of such a culture of which I am
apprehensive. This would allow me to meet people of different cultures, get comfortable with
them and also acquire a new language skill.
I would also make attempts to read more about the possible ways of improving upon
my communication skills, so as to have an efficient future. I would also be taking help of our
tutor and mentor, in order to get their suggestions on the possible ways of improving my
areas of shortcomings. In order to track this journey, I would maintain a personal diary,
which would be filled on daily basis, to cover what I have done and where I have failed. The
success of this action plan would be reflected in the success of my university activity, where I
would sit with a board for people from different background to approach me and talk to me,
regarding their possible intercultural apprehensions. This would be a fun activity, where I
would be sitting on the main campus grounds, with a banner stating “intercultural
communication help needed”. This would give me an opportunity of learning about the
perceptions of people on this very issue, along with giving me a chance of meeting new
people. If I am able to go back to successful events as took place in the volunteering activity
highlighted above, this action plan would prove truly to be big success.
Thus, in this reflective essay, I went on through a very enlightening journey, where I
really got to know more about myself. I took five diagnostic tools scoring which included
SPCC, NIS-S, PRICA, talkaholic scale and TFD. Through the use of these tools, I came to
know that I have average intercultural apprehension and also have average nonverbal
immediacy. In order to have a successful professional life, I selected these two measures and
read literature on the backgrounds of these two issues. This literature review showed me that
students, particularly Asian students faced such intercultural immediacy issues, due to
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difference in perceptions. Further, the nonverbal immediacy skills showed me that I do tend
to indulge in involuntary physical reactions when I get anxious. Thus, based on this analysis,
I created a gannet chart which depicted by future activities for six months, in order to
improve my shortfalls. There are more of my areas of improvements and I expect that by
strictly following the aforementioned activities, I would be able to get over my
apprehensions, and these areas would truly be improved.
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communication apprehension and emotional intelligence in higher education.
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Gamble, T.K., & Gamble, M.W. (2013). Interpersonal Communication: Building
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