Among Cultures

Bradford J. Hall is Head of the Department of Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies at Utah State University. He teaches in the areas of intercultural communication and communication theory, focusing on the link between our talk, thoughts, and actions. His research deals with issues of culture, identity, membership, conflict, and everyday conversation. Patricia O. Covarrubias is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of New Mexico where she teaches cultural and intercultural communication, cultural discourse analysis, global metaphors, qualitative research methods, and the ethnography of communication. Her research has been dedicated to understanding the linkages among culture, communication, and peoples’ unique ways of life. Kristin A. Kirschbaum is Associate Professor at East Carolina University, and has taught courses in health communication, intercultural communication, organizational health communication, interpersonal communication, and communication theory. Her research includes measures of communication in physician populations with structured research protocols aimed to increase collaboration and medical communication among physicians.

Preface

Chapter 1: What is Meant by Intercultural Communication?

Culture

System

Historically Shared

Symbolic Resources

Make our World Meaningful

Selection

Organization

Evaluation

Communication

Interdependent

Situational

Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication as a Field of Study

Hazards of Studying Intercultural Communication

Oversimplification

Overgeneralization

Exaggeration

Benefits of Studying Intercultural Communication

Personal Empowerment

Freedom from Ignorance

Productive Relationships

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 2: What is the Relationship between Communication and Culture?

Manifestations of Culture

Worldviews

Individualism/Collectivism

Ascript ion/Achievement

Egalitarian/Hierarchical

Good/Evil

Mastery/Adaptive

Social lubricant/Information

High context/Low context

Polychronic/Monochronic

Final Thoughts on Worldviews

Values

Norms

Two Perspectives on the Culture Communication Connection

Monolithic Force

Reflexive Force

Sense Making

Situational

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 3: How Can We Learn About Our Own and Others' Cultures?

The Learning Process

Need

Precedent

The Etic/Emic Distinction

Hymes SPEAKING Framework: An Etic Grid

Scenes

Participants

Ends

Acts

Keys

Instrumentalities

Norms

Genres

Narratives

Narrative Teaching Functions

The way the world works

Our place in the world

How to act in the world

How to evaluate what goes on in the world

Interpreting Narratives

Ritual

(Mis)impressions about the Nature of Rituals

Just the same thing over and over again

Outdated, hypocritical and meaningless

Reserved for specialized settings

Engaged in by those less sophisticated than I

Recognizing Rituals Around Us

The Worth of Rituals

Social Dramas

Key Terms

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 4: How is Culture Related to Our Identities?

Identity

Expectations Related to Ourselves and Others

Role Expectations

Language Expectations

Interplay between Similarities and Differences

Personal, Relational and Communal Levels of Identity

Personal

Relational

Communal

Communication's Relationship to Identity

Reflective

Constitutive

Pathways to Identity

Avowal

Ascription

Reactive

Proactive

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 5: Where Can We Look to Explain Verbal Misunderstandings?

Verbal Communication and Context

Contextual Frames

Frames and Expected Forms of Communication

Frames Evoking and Assuming Informal Rules

Frames Evoking and Assuming Identities

Verbal Communication: Structure And Content

Quality

Idioms

Quantity

Silence

Elaborated & Restricted Codes

Relevance

Forms of Address

Questions & Answers

Manner

Code-Switching

Gratuitous Concurrence

Terms of Address

Pronouns

Honorifics

Face Considerations

Direct/Indirect Communication

Language and Thought

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 6: Where Can We Look to Explain Nonverbal Misunderstandings?

Roles of Nonverbal Communication

Repetition

Contradiction

Substitution

Accentuation

Complementary

Regulation

Forms of Nonverbal Communication

Kinesics

Facial Expressions

Body Movements

Five Functions

Emblems

Illustrators

Affect displays

Regulators

Adaptors

Proxemics

Space

Touch

Paralanguage

Silence

Silence and sociocultural identities

Silence and social relationships

Silence and conflict

Other Forms of Nonverbal Communication

Living environment

Clothes

Food

Smell

Time

Intercultural Listening and Nonverbal Communication

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Answers to Face Test and to Intercultural Kinesics Cues Quiz

Chapter 7: Why Do So Many People Get Treated Poorly?

Stereotyping

Categorization

Fundamental Attribution Error

Five Points of Variance

Direction

Intensity

Specificity

Consensus

Accuracy

Ethnocentrism

Concern/Indifference

Involvement/Avoidance

Enjoyment/Intolerance

Prejudice

Forms of Prejudice

Blatant

Conceit

Symbolic

Tokenism

Arms-length

Rationalizing Narratives of Prejudice

Morally better

Personally afflicted

Social pressure

Their turf

System Abuse

Functions of Prejudice

Utilitarian

Social status

Ego-defensive

Value-expressive

Easy knowledge

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 8: How Can We Manage Conflict in Intercultural Settings?

Cultural Approaches to Conflict

Avoiding

Accommodating

Competing

Compromising

Collaborating

Types of Intercultural Conflict

Object conflicts

Relationship conflicts

Priority conflicts

Intergroup Conflict

Group Membership and Communication

Group Membership and Conflict

Ingroup bias

Fears surrounding intergroup communication

Origins of Intergroup Conflict

Histories

Dividing up the pie: competition and power

Strategies for Managing Intercultural and Intergroup Conflict

Appropriate Conditions for Successful Contact

Joint goals

Supportive social climate

Equal status

Variety of contexts

Desire for contact

Recognizing Reasonableness

Factoring in Face

One Final Point to Ponder: Forgiveness

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 9: How Can We Succeed in Our Intercultural Travels?

Hierarchy of Human Needs

Acculturation

U-curve Model

Honeymoon

Crisis

Recovery

Adjustment

The Hero's Journey: Osland's Model of Working Abroad

Call to adventure

In the belly of the whale

The magical friend

Road of trials (paradoxes)

Ultimate boon and return

Surprise and Sense-making Model

Change

Contrast

Surprise

Sense-making

Attribute meaning

Update expectations

Select behavioral approach

Kim's Adaptation Model

Personal communication

Predisposition

Environment

Social communication

Intercultural transformation

Returning Home: Readapting to Our Own Cultural Community

Reverse Culture Shock

Change in Self and Others

Unrealistic Expectations

Lack of Appreciation in Home Community

Final Thoughts on Cultural Transactions

Summary

Reflection Questions

Chapter 10: How does Culture Impact Applied Contexts?

Environmental Communication

Environmental Communication as a Symbolic Resource for Making Sense of

our World.

Environmental Communication as a Place of Conflict

Environmental Communication as Gendered

Environmental Communication in the Context of Ecotourism

Environmental communication as Inherently Cultural

Healthcare and Intercultural Communication

Differing Cultural Expectations

Specific Applications of Cultural Communication in Healthcare

Sensitivity to Cultural Communication Considerations in Healthcare

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication in Healthcare

Other Cultural Considerations and Applications of Communication

Public Health

Holistic Approaches

Organizational Leadership and Intercultural Communication

Social Scientific Approach: Dimensions of Intercultural Leadership Success

Interpretive Approach: Leadership and Sense-Making in Intercultural

Settings

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 11: What Diversity Exists in the Study of Intercultural Communication?

Major Perspectives in Intercultural Communication

Interpretive Perspective

Critical Perspective

Social Scientific Perspective

Popular Culture

Characteristics of Popular Culture

Easily Accessed

Commercial

Tells Us What We Believe and What We Should Believe

Tells Us Who We Are and Who We Should Be

Popular Culture Artifacts

Icons: Real and Imagined

Celebrities: Real and Imagined

Critical Perspectives of Popular Culture and the Media

Social Scientific Perspectives of Popular Culture and the Media

Impact of the Media on Culture

Impact of Culture on the Media

Culture as an Intervening Variable

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Chapter 12: Can Judgments of Right and Wrong Be Made when Dealing with Other Cultures?

Ethics

General Perspective

Six Golden Approaches

Golden Purse

Golden Mean

Golden Public

Golden Law

Golden Consequence

Golden Rule

Ethics and Communication

Constraint

Empowerment

Ethics and Culture

Universalism

Relativism

Critique

Efforts to Find Universal Ethics that Acknowledge the Relativistic Nature of Cultures

Ethical Principles for Intercultural Relations

Effort to Understand

Teachable Attitude

Mutual Legitimacy

Dialogue

Considering Context

Peaceful Disagreement

Nonviolence

Truth/Openness

Loving Relationships

Intercultural Marriage Microcosm

Nature of love

Summary

Reflection Questions

Activities

Activities

Notes