Intercultural Communication: Issues and Challenges (SOCU1025)

This assignment explores the multifaceted aspects of intercultural communication, emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural nuances to foster effective communication. The paper delves into the concept of linguistic politeness and how it varies across cultures, highlighting differences in non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and eye contact. It differentiates between high-context cultures, like those in Japan and China, which rely heavily on non-verbal communication, and low-context cultures, such as the USA and Germany, which emphasize verbal communication. The assignment addresses the significant issues that can prevent successful intercultural communication, such as a lack of understanding of cultural differences, which can lead to misunderstandings and conflict. It also underscores the impact of culture on business practices and the necessity of cultural sensitivity in a globalized world. The paper references key readings and sources to support its analysis, providing a comprehensive overview of the challenges and importance of intercultural communication.

Running head: INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Intercultural Communication
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Answer 1)
Human beings have to interpret and make sense of world so that they can
communicate in the effective manner. Culture can help in creating a common framework that
can allow communication. Linguistic politeness can be defined as the discursive strategic
interaction that can help in maintaining harmonious relation and it can help in avoiding
conflict with other people. Respect can be communicated in various manner- facial
expression, body stance or gesture. Politeness in Japanese culture can be expressed by
bowing and the avoiding of direct eye gaze and being lower than that of a statusful addressee
is an indication of politeness in the Samoan communities (Shaules, 2007). People have a
tendency of making judgements regarding what is polite and what is impolite and the
judgements can be said to be dependent on the context. People staying aware of the cultural
nuances of people belonging to a different country can give rise to confusion and
maladjustment. What is polite language use can vary from one person to another which can
give rise to conflict. One of the major issue that can prevent successful intercultural
communication is not understanding the cultural differences. Meaning can be said to be co-
constructed that varies from one person to another and this can give rise to issues in the
society. People do not reside within the objective world and the language that is spoken by
the people is influenced by context along with culture. An individual not being able to
understand the mannerisms of people residing in a different culture can give rise to issues
within the society (Piller, 2017).
The people of Japan, Arabic world and China belong to the high context culture who
depend on the aspect of non-verbal communication. For the people who belong to the high
context culture personal space is not that important (Davies & Bentahila, 2012). On the other
hand, the people of USA and Germany belong to the low context culture who depend more
on the aspect of verbal communication. For these people personal space is important. The

2INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
people who are from high context culture have a polychromic orientation in relation to time
whereas the people of low context culture have a monochromic orientation pertaining to time.
Intercultural communication is of great significance as it can provide one with the
ability of dealing with different cultures. The cultural differences should be dealt with in a
peaceful manner that can help an individual in surviving in the era of globalization.
Intercultural communication can help an individual in sharing information across the various
cultures along with the social groups (Geertz, 2008). Intercultural communication can help in
understanding differences regarding how people from across various cultures act and
interpret world that is around them. Culture has a great amount of impact on the manner of
conducting of a business and cultural implication is of great significance for the purpose of
succeeding within the global context. The dearth of cultural sensitivity within the business
dealing can offend the prospective client and have a negative impact on the bottom line of a
company.

3INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
References:
Davies, E. E., & Bentahila, A. (2012). 12 Anglo–Arab Intercultural Communication1. The
handbook of intercultural discourse and communication, 29, 231.
Geertz, C. (2008). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture. In The
Cultural Geography Reader (pp. 41-51). Routledge.
Piller, I. (2017). Intercultural communication: A critical introduction. Edinburgh University
Press.
Shaules, J. (2007). Deep culture: The hidden challenges of global living (Vol. 16).
Multilingual matters.