Enriquez, Allea Rose Y.

Social Dimension of Education

2nd yr. BSED- Physical Science 2:30-4:00 pm TF

Chapter V: Intercultural Education

Topic:
1. Barriers to Intercultural Communication
● Anxiety
● Assuming similarity instead of difference
● Non-verbal misinterpretations
● Ethnocentrism
● Stereotype and Prejudice
● Language

2. Intercultural Communication in School

I. Introduction
Everything we do is consider as communication.We chat to our
friends, We explain our answers in school and etc.. Even within the same
culture, communication isn't always easy. Spouses get divorced, friends fall
out and workers change jobs -- often because of misunderstandings. Add
cultural differences to the mix, and the sources of potential problems
multiply.Due to different culture , traditions and beliefs . Miscommunication
occur that leads to a chaos . Today we will tackle about these
factors.Whether you're a student, businessperson or traveler, knowing the
barriers to intercultural communication is the first step to overcoming
problems.We need to stumbling these blocks to improve intercultural
competence in any school and in any social setting.
II. Content:
● Anxiety
Fear, Differences in culture and communication styles can
even cause fear. As a result of this anxiety, people from different
cultures may pull back and avoid trying to communicate at all. Lets
watch a cartoon I made using powtoon… Anne came from the
individualistic culture, Individualistic means that a person is willing to
communicate with strangers. While Andre could possibly come from
collectivistic culture where in he regards the strangers as a “ non-
 persons” and he didn’t show any rules of politeness and social
etiquette .
Definition of terms:

Individualistic-a person who shows great independence or individuality in

thought or action.

Collectivistic-Personal or social orientation that emphasizes the good of the

group, community, or society over and above individual gain.

● Assuming similarity instead of difference

Commonly, When we are meeting people with different culture

we often compared each other by seeing the similarity which is one of the
barriers.When people are acting in a home manner in the different culture it
might cause a lot of problems. In order to prepare yourself for various
circumstances it is very important to assume laws, habits, and attitudes of
another society.For example , Anne and other native citizen, The citizen only
observe their similarity to break down this barriers we must be observant
and look on important differences.
● Non-Verbal Communication

People sometimes take offense because of differences in body

language across cultures.Non-Verbal Communication includes gestures ,
postures , eye contact, and facial expression.

There are more than a few types of nonverbal interaction: proxemics,

kinesics, chronemics, paralanguage, olfactics, clothing appearance, haptics,
oculesics, etc. All of them are very different in every culture. All these
became barriers when the nonverbal symbols without sharing the same
nonverbal codes.

Definition of terms:
 Proxemics-the branch of knowledge that deals with the amount of
space that people feel it necessary to set between themselves and others.

Kinesics-the study of the way in which certain body movements and

gestures serve as a form of nonverbal communication.

Chronemics-The study of the role of time in communication

Paralanguage-the nonlexical component of communication by

speech, for example intonation, pitch and speed of speaking, hesitation
noises, gesture, and facial expression.

Olfactics-The study of smells and how they are perceived

Oculesics-a subcategory of kinesics, is the study of eye movement,

eye behavior, gaze, and eye-related nonverbal communication.

● Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is based on the idea that your own race, nation, or
group is better than any other. Usually ethnocentrism is common for people
who come across the “culture shock”. During the period of time when an
individual is learning the new culture he might find this novel worst than his
home culture.It may block communication and hinders the exchange of
ideas and skills among people. It may also lead to fuel conflict because
people may think that other culture is inferior.

Definition of terms :

Ethnocentrism -the attitude or belief that one’s culture is the best

and that one can understand or judge another culture in terms of his own
cultural spectacles.

● Stereotype and Prejudice

Both of them are to make a judgment about individuals according to

group membership.Stereotyping can be a roadblock to intercultural
communication.
 Positive examples of stereotyping are: Japanese people are good in
mathematical sciences; French are the gods in the kitchen. Negative:
Russians – Mafia – Vodka – Prostitution – Cold winter; the Arabs are
terrorists.

Prejudice is unreasonable hatered and dislike to a race.. This two is a

form of discrimination..

Definition of terms:

Stereotype-a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a

particular type of person or thing.
Prejudice-preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual
experience.

Discrimination-the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of

people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.

● Languange

The language is the set of symbols shared by a community to

communicate meanings and experiences.But even you and I are in the same
community , miscommunication still occur.Language considered as one of
the root causes.Adding the variation of culture , it multiply the trouble and
blocks the intercultural communication.

There are five actual factors that generally produce the difficulties in
the translation. They are lack of equivalences in vocabulary, idioms,
grammar and syntax, experiences, and concepts.

I. Essential Question:
1. Cite some of your experiences where you experienced
miscommunication.
2. Interpret the images . How does these words are connected?
3. Why does the School have a big role in the intercultural
communication?
II. Theory / Concept into practice
This barriers must be stumbled so there is a better Intercultural
Competence. As a student, Intercultural Communication is important
because it help me to understand others. It is true that you must listen
before understanding each other.We must not easily judge other people .
As a Future teacher,We must aware or be sensitive enough.We need to be
flexible in terms of communication. We are the one to break the ice between
the two of us.As a member of the society,We must not judge other races,but
try to listen and understand them.