Intercultural Communication

 It happens when individuals

interact, negotiate, and create
meanings while bringing in
their varied cultural
backgrounds (Ting-Toomey,
1999)
 For some scholars,
intercultural communication
pertains to communication
among people from different
nationalities (Gudykunst, 2003).
 Others look at intercultural
communication as
communication that is
influenced by different
ethnicities, religions, and sexual
orientations.
 This facet of communication
can also be seen as a bargained
understanding of human
 experiences across diverse
societies
 It refers to the sending and
receiving of messages across
languages and cultures.
Developmental Model of
Intercultural Sensitivity
DMIS offers a structure that
explores how people experience
cultural differences. According to
Bennett and Bennett (2004), it
has six stages. These are the
following:
Stage 1: Denial. The individual
does not recognize cultural
differences.
“All cities are the same; they all
have tall buildings, fast food
chains, and coffee shops.”
Stage 2: Defense. The individual
starts to recognize cultural
differences and is intimidated by
them, resulting in either a
superior view on own culture or
an unjustified high regard for the
new one.
“This culture does not view life
the way we do; our culture is
certainly better.”
“Their ways are better than my
own; I wish I were one of them.”
Stage 3: Minimization. Although
individuals see cultural
differences, they bank more on
the universality of ideas rather
than on cultural differences.
“Once we see through the
cultural differences, we really are
just the same!”
Stage 4: Acceptance. The
individual begins to appreciate
important cultural differences in
behaviors and eventually in
values.
“These people and I have
different values and experiences,
and I think we can learn from one
another.”
Stage 5: Adaptation. The
individual is very open to world
views when accepting new
perspectives.
“To address our issue, I have to
adjust my approach to consider
both my own and my
counterpart’s background.”
Stage 6: Integration. Individuals
start to go beyond their own
cultures and see themselves and
their actions based on
multifarious cultural viewpoints.
“I can look at things from the
perspective of various cultures.”
Characteristics of Competent
Intercultural Communicators
World Bank (2010) identifies the
following traits that define a
competent intercultural
communicator.
1. flexibility and the ability to
tolerate high levels of uncertainty
2. reflectiveness or mindfulness
3. open-mindedness
4. sensitivity
5. adaptability
6. ability to engage in divergent
thinking (or thinking creatively)
and systems-level thinking (or
thinking how each one in a
system or organization
influences each other)
7. politeness
Refrain from showing bias
when talking to someone by
following the tips below.
1. Avoid stereotypes, i.e.,
generalizations about a certain
group.
2. Challenge gender norms; avoid
using “he” and “man” to refer to a
general group of people. To
remedy this, you may use plural
pronouns or rewrite a sentence
to avoid using pronouns. The use
of his/her is also acceptable.
3. Do not talk down on younger
people and the elderly.
4. Be sensitive to the religious
practices of others.
5. Be polite at all times; do not
belittle people you perceive to be
on a lower social class than you.