1. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
between cultures
8TH EDITION
Chapter 2
Communication
And Culture:
The Voice and the Echo
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

2. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
Key Ideas
Defining communication
Uses of communication
Characteristics of communication
Characteristics and functions of culture
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

3. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
Human communication
Communication is the basis of all human contact
To understand a culture we must examine communication first
Communication is the ability to share ideas and feelings
While verbal and nonverbal symbols may be different reasons people communicate are the same
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

4. Defining Communication
Human communication is a dynamic process in which people attempt to share their thoughts with other people through the use of symbols in particular settings.
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

5. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
Uses of communication
Communication and identity
Defines who you are
Defines loyalties
Defines where you belong
Communication and person perception
Enables you to learn about another person
Assists in how you will describe yourself to others
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

6. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
Uses of communication
Communication and interpersonal needs
Communication satisfies a basic social need
Provides a sense of inclusion and affection
Communication and
persuasion
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

7. Components of communication
Source
Encoding
Messages
Channel
Receiver
Decoding
Feedback
Noise
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

8. Characteristics of communication
It is a dynamic process – it is not static
It is symbolic – inferences are drawn from the symbols people produce
It is contextual – it is part of a larger system
Location
Occasion
Time
Number of participants
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

9. Characteristics of communication
It is a learned behavior
Language
Non-verbal
It has a consequence
Messages “do” something to someone else
You change people when you exchange messages with them
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

10. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
Culture is communication and communication is culture. (Hall 1977 p. 14)
Culture is shared and has shared meanings
Culture Defined -Culture is a set of human-made objective and subjective elements that in the past have increased the probability of survival and resulted in satisfaction for the participants in an ecological niche, and thus became shared among those who could communicate with each other because they had a common language and they lived in the same time and place. (Triandis 1994 p. 23)
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

11. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
Functions of culture
Teaches people how to adapt to surroundings
Passes along previous knowledge and experiences to future generations
Elements of culture
Religion
History
Values
Social Organizations
Language
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

12. Characteristics of culture: Culture is learned
Informal through interpersonal means
Formal teaching often through social institutions
Teaching through proverb
Teaching through folktales, legends and myths
Teaching through art
Learning culture through mass media
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

13. Characteristics of culture: Culture is passed along
Culture is based on symbols – symbols tie people together
People can package, store and transmit symbols
Symbols can be verbal or nonverbal
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

14. Characteristics of culture: Culture is dynamic
Cultures are subject to change
Changes can be brought about by new technology
Changes today are more prolific
Promoted by rise of American capitalism
Promoted by worldwide population growth
Promoted by large movement of immigrants
Promoted by proliferation of information technology
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

15. Dynamic culture and Communication
Culture is deeply rooted in tradition
Cultures seek to endure
The deep structure of a culture resists major alterations
Popular culture may be open to change
Values, beliefs, role of government, ethics, morals, religious practices etc. persist from generation to generation
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

16. Characteristics of culture: Culture is an integrated system
All parts of a culture are interconnected
You touch a culture in one place and everything else is affected. (Hall 1976, p )
Values can influence things like family size, work ethic, use of time and spiritual pursuits
Changes in technology can influence other cultural values, attitudes and behaviors
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo

17. Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo
between cultures
8TH EDITION
Chapter 2
Communication
And Culture:
The Voice and the Echo
© Cengage 2012
Chapter 2 Communication and Culture: The Voice and the Echo