Cultural Frameworks and Intercultural Communication: A Case Study

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Cultural Autobiography
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Executive Summary
The cultural frameworks help an individual to distinguish and compare between different
cultural beliefs existing in this world. Thus, to clarify it, interviews were subjected to two
culturally different individuals, one belonging to the USA and others belonging to India.
There were significant differences observed in the family relationships, as well as the ethical
values held by these individuals.
Through the implementation of numerous cultural theories, the perspectives of the individual
were noted. This suggests numerous differences possessed by various cultures. Thus, the
report summarizes the differences and similarities shared by both the candidates so that the
audience can get a clear view of the cultural differences that exist in this world.
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Findings......................................................................................................................................4
Demonstration of understanding of various cultural frameworks and strategies used in
intercultural communication by applying theories to practice in various intercultural
business interaction................................................................................................................4
Identification and definition of different value and belief systems present across culture
through cultural profiling and self-construal..........................................................................5
Understanding of the similarities and differences between the two biographies...................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Reference....................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
The report has highlighted the various cultural framework and understanding of the different
cultural through a cross cultural communication through interview. The participants of the
interview were extremely different from each other in terms of culture and background. The
report has been made from their interaction and has focussed on the understanding of
different cultural frameworks and strategies used in intercultural communication and relevant
application of theories for intercultural interaction in business (Neuliep, 2017). The report
also formulates definition and identification of values that are prevalent across various
cultural profiles along with the understanding of the similarities and dissimilarities between
two biographies.
Findings
Demonstration of understanding of various cultural frameworks and strategies used in
intercultural communication by applying theories to practice in various intercultural
business interaction
There are formulations of different cultural strategies and framework in order to
communicate with the people who are culturally digressive and different. Due to the presence
of multitude cultures and variations, the cultural theories have been proposed in order to
guide people to communicate effectively with culturally different people and understand the
basis through which they can communicate.
The primary theory of intercultural communication is the theory of Communication
Accommodation theory (CAT) that was formulated by Howard Giles. This theory primary
concerns about the various links and connection that are formed during communication
between two culturally opposite people (Giles, 2016). The people involved in the
communication focuses on the behavioural changes that make them accustomed to the person
and also takes into consideration the limit to which the people find their partner in
communication accommodating to their way of communication and behaviour. This theory
therefore focuses on the various adjustments and understandings that are relevant between
two people when they belong from absolutely different cultures and they are able to gather
sufficient information about each other through the implementation of this theory in the light
of cultural framework and intercultural strategies to initiate better communication (Giles,
2016).
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Another relevant theory is the Intercultural Adaptation Theory which prevents the barriers of
communication and helps in the competency of intercultural communication. This mode of
communication is adjusted and certified by the dominant culture and manipulates the
communication through thinking, feeling and behaving in accordance with the cultural
competency (Arasaratnam, 2016). The basis of this theory is used by people who are at a
culturally dominating area and in such a scenario they have no other option but to confirm to
the dominating culture and thereby they need to understand the ways of living and
communicating in that manner. This is a strategic implementation by the people who are
culturally different in order to suite him or her in that given cultural environment. This theory
can change the need for adaption to conforming to the modes and ways of living in a
culturally dominating area. Implementing these theories can be helpful in order to exist
within the cultural differences through effective ways of communication and evaluation of
the cultural differences that exist.
Identification and definition of different value and belief systems present across culture
through cultural profiling and self-construal
Various types of value present across culture and all of those will be described here. In
addition, this can be stated that different belief systems are also there across culture via the
cultural profiling along with self-construal. In this regard, this can be said that culture is
useful as this helps a person to connect with the humanity along with the community. Culture
mainly prioritizes on few elements such as racism, poverty etc. cultural is necessary for
braking down the boundaries, which can harm the humanity of a person. In addition, culture
plays a major role in order to develop the community a person lives. Community
development is one of the necessary aspects in today’s world. Therefore, this is a useful value
of culture via the cultural profiling along with self-construal. Culture is important for the
development of perspective of a person. Based on the opinion of Kim et al. (2018),
perspective needs to be very good for every person and culture plays a significant role in it. In
order to express the own personal values such as strengths and weakness, culture is highly
beneficial. This can be considered as one of the major values of culture via the cultural
profiling along with self-construal. As per the opinion of Gunia et al. (2018), expressing him
or herself is very much advantageous for a person as this assist them to develop their own
career. Stress is a common factor, which creates difficulties for many people in current time.
Stress can attack a person for different cause such as low income, lower grade etc. For these
reasons of this, a person experience difficulties like mood off and health deterioration.
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Culture is useful in this regard, this can be seen that this can be beneficial for the reduction of
stress and boost the mood along with health of a person.
Together with the other factors like personality, the genetic set up along with habits, belief
system can be considered as one of the strongest forces, which affects the decision that a
person is making. The communication styles that one is using and the process based on which
he or she will react. Belief system can be revealed as one of the portions of the environmental
side of the coin. Based on the opinion of Rogers et al. (2017), humans build up thousands of
beliefs all over their life time. In this regard, few facts are there related with the belief system.
In very drastic circumstances, the core beliefs are getting affected. A disruption of the belief
system can be considered as the scope for development. In this regard, it can be seen that
three key elements of belief systems are there. Those are self-regulation, autopoiesis and
Homeostasis.
Understanding of the similarities and differences between the two biographies
The autobiographies suggest that one person was raised in a joint family and hold moderate
values. On the other hand, another person was raised in a nuclear family where the family
values seemed liberal. Thus, they hold different opinions about various cultural
responsibilities they possess (Ogbu, 2017). The first person suggested that ethnicity was
highly maintained in his family and the individual was not allowed to go beyond their family
values. Additionally, he also stated that he was lucky to grow in an area between the city and
village. The family values were simple yet traditional. The family was headed by
grandparents. Moreover, the interviewee also stated that any ritual in the family was
celebrated broadly including distant family members. In comparison to this, the family values
of the second interviewee were liberal and he can spend his life the way he wants (Sheldon et
al., 2017). Both the parents were employed and they hardly get time to spend a leisure day.
The family values of both the interview differ significantly. One of them was a resident of the
United States having liberal values (Guiso et al., 2016). The other interviewee belongs to a
joint family residing in India. The cultural differences were enormous. It was observed that
the only attachment found is in the education system of both the employees. One of them was
an Engineer working as a Senior Engineer in a leading organization of the USA. The other
interviewee was a Doctor serving in a multispecialty hospital in India. The environment
where both the candidates were brought up was different. The person brought up in the USA
was surrounded by metropolitan hustle and bustle. On the other hand, the Indian nationality
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person was brought up in a greenery environment were an amalgamation of village and city
life was evident. Being a child of working parents, the America candidate has an experience
of shifting to numerous places of the country (Gibbons et al., 2018). However, the Indian
candidate did his schooling and acquired a high degree from his native place.
Conclusion
The report highlights the importance of cultural autobiography that must be put forward to
the audience. The audience will get to know the different cultural beliefs a liberal and
traditional family hold. Thus, the interview of two different persons, residing in India and
another residing in the USA can prove logical. The educational qualifications although are
different but the interviewees hold high educational degrees. This has helped them to get
established in their lives. The Indian interview suggested that he faced many restrictions due
to the traditional beliefs held by his family. However, the American candidate stated that he
could travel to different parts of the world as he has working parents who hold liberal values.
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Reference
Arasaratnam, L.A., 2016. Intercultural competence. In Oxford research encyclopedia of
communication.
Gibbons, C.J., Skevington, S.M. and WHOQOL Group, 2018. Adjusting for cross-cultural
differences in computer-adaptive tests of quality of life. Quality of Life Research, 27(4),
pp.1027-1039.
Giles, H. ed., 2016. Communication accommodation theory: Negotiating personal
relationships and social identities across contexts. Cambridge University Press.
Giles, H., 2016. Communication accommodation theory. The International Encyclopedia of
Communication Theory and Philosophy, pp.1-7.
Guiso, L., Herrera, H. and Morelli, M., 2016. Cultural differences and institutional
integration. Journal of International Economics, 99, pp.S97-S113.
Neuliep, J.W., 2017. Intercultural communication: A contextual approach. Sage Publications.
Ogbu, J.U., 2017. Understanding cultural differences and school learning. Education
libraries, 16(3), pp.7-13.
Sheldon, P., Rauschnabel, P.A., Antony, M.G. and Car, S., 2017. A cross-cultural comparison
of Croatian and American social network sites: Exploring cultural differences in motives for
Instagram use. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, pp.643-651.
Rogers, T., Moore, D.A. and Norton, M.I., 2017. The belief in a favorable future.
Psychological science, 28(9), pp.1290-1301.
Gunia, B.C., Brett, J.M. and Gelfand, M.J., 2016. The science of culture and negotiation.
Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, pp.78-83.
Kim, M.Y., Joshanloo, M. and Foldesi, E., 2018. Relationship Between Emotional
Expression Discrepancy and Life Satisfaction Across Culture and Personal Values. Current
Psychology, pp.1-11.
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