Chapter 2: History of the Study of ICC

intercultural competence

the ability to behave effectively and appropriately in interacting across cultures

worldview

• underlying assumptions about the nature of reality and human behavior

• worldview shapes theory and method

social science approach

• can describe external reality

• human behavior is predictable

• culture is a variable that can be measures

• uses quantitative methods

  • surveys

• based on hypotheses and test them to generate theories that can be generalized to a population

• outsider view (etic)

face negotiation theories

conflict styles/face saving strategies

communication accommodation theory

adapting your communication style to the audience

diffusion of innovations theory

• usefulness

• compatible

• opinion leaders

limitations to social sciences approach

• human behavior not always predictable

• reality is external and internally constructed

• survey data don’t always reveal motivations

• some methods/measures not culturally sensitive

interpretive approach

• aims to understand and describe (not predict) behavior

• human experience is subjective

• human behavior is creative

• culture is created and maintained through communication

• qualitative methods

• insider view (emic)

limitations to interpretive approach

• can’t generalize findings

• few studies on intercultural communication

• researcher is outsider

critical perspective

• focus on subjective experience and material reality

• consider macro context

• focus on power relations

• culture can be a site of contested meanings and struggles

• qualitative methods

• historical archives

• political economy

strengths to critical approach

• shows how social reproduction occurs

• wants to change society for the better

dialectical approach

• emphasizes processual, relational, and contradictory nature of intercultural communication

six dialects

1. cultural-individual

2. personal-contextual

3. differences-similarities

4. static-dynamic

5. history/past-present/future

6. privilege-disadvantage

Kim’s integrative theory of adaptation

predicted that the more immigrants communicated with people in the US, the better adapted they were to US culture and the less they communicated with people back home

anxiety uncertainty management theory

the view that the reduction of anxiety and uncertainty plays an important role in successful intercultural communication, particularly when experiencing new cultures

conversational constraints theory

the view that cultural groups vary in their fundamental concerns regarding how conversational messages should be structured

diffusion of innovations theory

the view that communication and relationships play important roles in how new ideas are adopted (or not) by individuals and groups

individualistic

the tendency to emphasize individual identities, beliefs, needs, goals, and views rather than those of the group

collectivistic

the tendency to focus on the goals, needs, and views of the in group rather than individuals’ own goals, needs, and views

translation equivalence

the linguistic sameness that is gained after translating and back-translating research materials several times using different translators

conceptual equivalence

the similarity of linguistic terms and meanings across cultures

ethnography

a discipline that examines the patterned interactions and significant symbols of specific cultural groups to identify the cultural norms that guide their behaviors, usually based on field studies

qualitative methods

research methods that attempt to capture people’s own meanings for their everyday behavior in specific contexts

• use participant observation and field studies

participant observation

a research method where investigators interact extensively with the cultural group being studied

rhetorical approach

a research method in which scholars try to interpret the meanings or persuasion used in texts or oral discourses in the contexts in which they occur

etic

searches for universal generalizations across cultures from a distance

emic

focuses on understanding communication patterns from inside a particular cultural community or context

legisigns

culturally appropriate low-tech visual prompts that complement conventional in-depth interviewing

macrocontexts

the political, social, and historical situations, backgrounds, and environments that influence communication

textual analysis

examination of cultural texts such as media - television, movies, journalistic, essays, etc.

postcolonialism

an intellectual, political, and cultural movement that calls for the independence of colonialized states and also liberation from colonialist ways of thinking

hybrid

an identity that is consciously a mixture of different cultural identities and cultural traditions

social reproduction

the process of perpetuating cultural patterns

processual

refers to how interaction happens rather than to the outcome

dialectic

• a method of logic based on the principle that an idea generates its opposite, leading to a reconciliation of the opposites

• the complex and paradoxical relationship between two opposite qualities or entities, each of which may also be referred to as a dialectic

cultural-individual dialectic

• we share communication patterns with members o the groups to which we belong

• other traits are individual

personal-contextual dialectic

• focuses simultaneously on the person and the context

• we communicate as individuals, but context of communication is important as well

differences-similarities dialectic

• people are simultaneously similar to and different from each other

static-dynamic dialectic

• some cultural communication patterns remain relatively constant, whereas other aspects of cultures shift over time - they are dynamic

history/past - present/future dialectic

• we need to be aware of contemporary forced and realities that shape the interactions of people from different cultural groups

• we also need to realize that history has a significant impact on contemporary events

privilege - disadvantage dialectic

• people may be simultaneously both, or privileged in some contexts and disadvantaged in others