1. Chapter 3 Intercultural Communication Competence
Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication Across Cultures Myron W. Lustig & Jolene Koester
Chapter 3
Intercultural Communication Competence
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2. The United States as an Intercultural Community
Metaphors of U.S. cultural diversity
Melting Pot
Tributaries
Rainbow
Tapestry
Garden Salad
These metaphors are not completely accurate ways to describe the cultures in the U.S.
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3. Cultural groups in the United States
Terms with negative associations:
Dominant culture
Majority culture
Minority culture
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4. Cultural groups in the United States
Terms to describe cultural groups of people that reside in the U.S.
African American
Hispanic, Chicano, Mexican American, and Latino
Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders
European American
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5. Competence and Intercultural Communication
“Competent communication is an interaction that is perceived as effective in fulfilling certain rewarding objectives in a way that is also appropriate to the context in which the interaction occurs.”
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6. Competence and Intercultural Communication
Competence must be perceived by those involved.
Communication competence is a social judgment about how well a person interacts with others.
It will always be specific to the context and interpersonal relationship within which it occurs.
Competent communication must be appropriate.
Competent communication must be effective and achieve the desired personal outcome.
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7. Components of intercultural competence
Context
Behaviors
Knowledge
Motivations
Skilled actions
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8. Components of intercultural competence
Intercultural competence is judged by the context in which it occurs.
A context is shaped by where the communication occurs, who is there, what the subject of the communication is, the reason for communicating, and the rules communicators should follow due to these factors.
Intercultural competence is contextual.
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9. Components of intercultural competence
Both interpersonal competence and intercultural competence require behaviors that are both appropriate and effective.
Appropriate behaviors are regarded as proper and suitable given the expectations generated by a given culture, the constraints of the specific situations, and the nature of the relationship between interactants.
Effective behaviors lead to the achievement of desired outcomes.
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10. Components of intercultural competence
Knowledge refers to the information you need to know about the people, context, and norms of appropriateness that operate in a specific culture.
Knowing culture-general information provides insights into the intercultural communication process abstractly and can be a powerful tool in making sense of cultural practices regardless of the cultures involved.
Knowledge of culture-specific information is used to understand a particular culture.
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11. Components of intercultural competence
Motivations include the overall set of emotional associations that people have as they anticipate and actually communicate interculturally.
Human emotional reactions include both feelings and intentions.
Feelings refer to the emotional or affective states that you experience when communicating with someone from a different culture.
Intentions are what guide your choices in a particular intercultural interaction.
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12. Components of intercultural competence
Skills refer to the actual performance of those behaviors that are regarded as appropriate and effective.
To be competent in intercultural encounters, you must be able to perform the skills deemed necessary by the context.
You can have the necessary information, be motivated by the appropriate feelings and intentions, and still lack the behavioral skills necessary to communicate competently.
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13. BASIC behavioral assessment scale (Culture-General)
Displays of respect are present but shown differently in every culture.
Orientation to knowledge refers to the terms people use to explain themselves and the world.
Empathy is the ability of individuals to communicate an awareness of another person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Interaction management refers to the skills necessary to maintain a conversation.
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14. BASIC behavioral assessment scale (Culture-General)
Task role behavior refers to those skills that contribute to a group’s problem solving skills and performance.
Relational role behavior deals with efforts to build and maintain personal relationships that demonstrate support for others and that help solidify feelings of participation.
Tolerance for ambiguity refers to the extent to which an individual can deal with unpredictability and uncertainty.
Interaction posture focuses on the ability to respond to others in a way that is nonjudgmental.
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15. D-I-E tool
D-I-E tool allows people to control the meanings they attribute to the verbal and nonverbal symbols used by others.
The D-I-E tool is based on the assumption that most people process the information around them using a kind of mental shorthand.
The D-I-E trains you to distinguish among statements of description, interpretation, and evaluation.
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16. D-I-E tool
Statements of description detail the perceptual cues and information a person has received without judgments or interpretations
The purpose of using descriptive statements when you are communicating interculturally is that they allow you to identify the sensory information that forms the basis of your interpretations.
Descriptive statements allow a person to consider alternative hypotheses or interpretations.
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17. D-I-E tool
Statements of interpretation provide a conjecture or hypothesis about what the perceptual information might mean.
The interpretations people make of perceptual information are very closely linked to their personal evaluation of that information.
Being aware of how people make interpretations will help you test the various interpretations of behavior you are considering.
By testing alternative interpretations, it is possible to forestall the evaluations that can negatively affect your interactions.
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18. D-I-E tool
Statements of evaluation indicate an emotional or affective judgment about the information.
Evaluations are generally made without being cognizant of the specific sensory information perceived.
Being aware of how evaluations are made from descriptions and interpretations will help you avoid making inaccurate conclusions of others’ behaviors.
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19. Discussion Questions
How are metaphors useful when thinking about and discussing cultural diversity in the United States?
How do you want people to refer to your culture or nationality?
What three BASIC skills would you argue are most important for developing intercultural communication competence?
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