Lectures

1. Theme Guidelines to characteristics of other cultures

When  one  asks  “How  can  I  learn  about  culture  X?”,  all  too  often  we  are 

discouraged to  learn that there is no comprehensive book (or list) available 

on  culture  X.  the  lack  of    reading  matter  on  various  cultures  is,  in  some 

ways,  a  blessing,  since  knowledge  of  other  cultures  is  better  acquired  by 

experience  than  by  study.  Thus,  ones  in  foreign  mission  should  plan  to 

experience  cultures  different  from  their  own,  particularly  the  cultures 

represented in their mission or posts. To be valid, these experiences should

incorporate a few basic principles and discovery techniques. By discovering 

the  characteristics  of  other  cultures,  it  should  be  noted  that  cultures   vary 

internally and are changeable. There are usually many cultural differences 

within a single race or nationality.

2. Theme The components of intercultural competence

CONTEXT.  Intercultural  competence  is  contextual.  An  impression  or 

judgment  that a person is  intercultural  competent is made with respect to 

both  a  specific  relational  context  and  a  particular  situational  context. 

Competence is not independent of  the relationships and situations within 

which  communication  occurs.  Thus,  competence  is  not  an  individual 

attribute;  rather,  it  is  a  characteristic  of  the  association  between

individuals. It is possible, therefore, for someone to be perceived as highly 

competent  in  one  set  of  intercultural  interactions  and  only  moderately 

competent in another.  Judgments  of intercultural competence also depend 

on  cultural  expectations  about  the  permitted  behaviours that  characterise 

the  settings  or  situations  within  which  people  communicate.  The  settings 

help  to  define  and  limit  the  range  of  behaviours  that  are  regarded  as 

acceptable. Consequently, the same set of behaviours may be perceived as

very competent in one cultural setting and much less competent in another. 

For  instance, one person might want to use highly personalised nicknames 

and  touching  behaviours  in  public,  the  other  person  might  regard  such 

visible displays as unwarranted and therefore incompetent.

3. Theme 1: Theory of intercultural communication

A theoretical approach to intercultural communication

When does communication become intercultural communication? What 

distinguishes  intercultural communication from communication that is 

not  intercultural?  What  does  it  mean  to  be  a  competent  intercultural 

communicator?  I  believe  that  intercultural  communication  can  be 

understood via the same basic variables and processes used to  describe 

other  forms  of  communication.  All  communication  occurs  between 

people who  have varying degree of familiarity with each other. The key 

factor  of  understanding  intercultural  communication  is  the  concept  of 

the  stranger.  Different  cultures  (and  subcultures)  may  have  different 

rules  and  norms  in  accordance  to  which  I  would  point  out  that 

understanding  the  other’s  culture  facilitates  cross-cultural 

communication.  Attention  is  to  be  focused  on  the  components  and 

characteristics  of  intercultural  communication  competence  as  well  as 

boundaries and common understandings about  this central idea are to 

be established.

4. Theme 2: A theoretical approach to intercultural communication

Understanding communication

Strangeness  and  familiarity  make  up  a  continuum.  As  for  William 

Gudykunst and  Young Yun Kim the term “stranger” is to refer to those 

people at the most unfamiliar  end of continuum.1 Thus anyone could be 

considered  a  stranger,  given  a  sufficiently  foreign  context.  A  stranger 

has  limited  knowledge  of  their  new  environment  –  of  its  norms  and 

values. And in turn, the locals have little knowledge of the stranger –  of 

their  beliefs,  interests  and  habits.  Generally  speaking,  communication 

with another involves  predicting or anticipating their responses. When 

communicating with someone familiar  we are usually confident in our 

anticipation,  and  may  not  even  notice  that  we  are  making  such 

predictions.  In  contrast,  when  we  communicate  with  strangers  we  are 

more  aware  of  the  range  of  their  possible  responses,  and  of  the 

uncertainty of our predictions.  Communicative predictions are based on 

data  from  three  levels.  First  is  the  cultural  level.  This  level  involves 

information about the other’s culture, its dominant values and

norms.  This  level  involves  information  available  when  communicating 

with a stranger. Even so, a better understanding of the stranger’s culture 

yields better predictions.