Cultural Diversity and Intercultural

CommunicationEsther Langen

IHEYO Conference

What does the game show?

• Different cultural rules lead to confusion

• How do you react? You have to find a way to play the game together.

• Do you understand each other? How can you check it?

• How can you improve communication?• How do you decide which rules to

apply?

Growth of intercultural contact

• Modern means of communication• More e-mail and Internet• Increased migration and travelling• More international trade

Result: Growth of intercultural contact and an increased need for

intercultural communication skills

Group culture

Group culture refers to the combined knowledge which is produced in mutual communication between the members of the group, like a common language, habits, rituals, opinions, standards and values, etc.

Categories of cultural identity

A. LanguageB. Non-verbal behaviorC. Standards and values

Language

• Not only miscommunication because of different languages, also because language determines the frame of mind and communication style

• Language is an indicator of identity and is used to mark borders of groups (social in- and exclusion)

Nonverbal behavior

• Different meanings and use of gestures

• Differences in amount of physical contact between people

Result: Nonverbal behavior is a major cause of misunderstandings

Standards and values

• Values refer to what we find important in our lives (values are often ethical).

• Standards refer to rules for behavior.

Standards and values influence the way people structure and interpret their surroundings and time (exact / flexible).

Perception

Perception is the way we select and evaluate information from our surroundings.

Perception is the color of our glasses, we look at the same reality but we see it in different colors (e.g. my world looks blue, your world looks red).

Cultural filters & perceptions

Information and impressions from reality

Cultural filter(my coloredglasses)

My perception / personal evaluation of reality

What we need to know

• What’s the color of your glasses, what kind of values color your perception?

• Which perception of reality is the result?• Do you understand how I see the world,

are we talking about the same thing?• Is there a way in which we can combine

our two perspectives?

Respect diversity

• Everybody has his or her own truth. I should not impose my truth upon somebody else.

• You can ask your partner to change particular behavior (in a specific situation), you can’t ask your partner to change his or her values or perception

Skills for intercultural communication

• Mindfulness, acceptance of differences• Empathy / openness, try to look through

the others glasses• Patience• Flexibility with regard to behavior and

communication styles• Try to listen without interpretation• Explain the color of your glasses and

your perception of reality