The definition of Culture and intercultural communication

The definition of Culture and intercultural communication

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The definition of culture:

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As we have seen, culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional, complex, all-pervasive. For our

purposes, we are concerned with those definitions that contain the

recurring theme of

how culture and communication are linked together

. Hoebel and Frost, who see culture

in nearly all human activity, define culture as an

“integrated system of learned behavior

patterns which are characteristic of the members of a society and which

are not the

result of biological inheritance.”

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For

them,

culture

is

not

genetically

predetermined

or

instinctive

.

They

have

two

reasons for taking this position---both of which help us understand

the bond between

culture

and

communication

.

First,

as

all

scholars

of

culture

believe,

culture

is

transmitted

and

maintained

through

communication

and

learning;

that

is,

culture

is

learned.

Second

, those who take this view believe each individual is confined at birth to

a specific geographic location and thus exposed to certain messages while denied others.

All

of

these

messages

,

whether

they

be

about

religion,

food,

dress,

housing,

toys,

or

books, are culturally based; therefore, everything that a person experiences

is part of his

or her culture.

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From

a

definition

that

includes

all

learned

behavior,

we

can

move

to

a

definition

that

proposes culture has distinct boundaries

. Again, we will see the role of communication

in this definition. Bates and Plog propose a descriptive definition:

“Culture is a system of

shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of a society

use

to

cope

with

their

world

and

with

onanother,

and

that

are

transmitted

from

generation to generation through learning

.

?

This

definition

includes

not

only

patterns

of

behavior

but

also

patterns

of

thought

(shared meanings that the members of a society attach to various phenomena, natural

and

intellectual,

including

religion

and

ideologies),

artifacts

(tools,

pottery,

houses,

machines, works of art), an the culturally transmitted skills and techniques used to make

the artifacts.

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The Bates and Plog definition includes most of the major territory of culture on which

scholars

currently

agree.

Using

their

description

as

a

starting

point,

we

advance

a

definition of our own

that is more suited to the goals of this book. We define

cultureas

the

deposit

of

knowledge,

experience,

beliefs,

values,

actions,

attitudes,

meanings,

hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relation, concepts of the universe,

and

artifacts

acquired

by

a

group

of

people

in

the

course

of

generations

through

individual and group striving

.

?

Your

views

on

work

,

immigration,

freedom,

age,

being

graded

by

your

teachers,

cleanliness

and

hygiene,

ethics,

dress,

property

rights,

etiquette,

healing

and

health,

death

and

mourning,

play,

law,

magic

and

superstition,

modesty,

sex,

status

differentiation, courtship, formality and informality, bodily adornment, and the like

are

part of your cultural membership.

The characteristics of culture

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1. Culture is learned;

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2. We learn our culture through proverbs;

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3. We learn our culture from folk tales, legends, and myths;

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4.

We learn our culture through art;

5. We learn our culture through mass media

;

6. Culture is transmitted from generation to generation;

7.

Culture is subject to change;

8. Culture is integrated;

9. Culture is Ethnocentric;

10. Culture is adaptive;

Intercultural communication

?

In its most general sense,

intercultural communication occurs

when a member of one

culture

produces

a

message

for

consumption

by

a

member

of

another

culture.

More

precisely,

intercultural

communication

is

communication

between

people

whose

cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication

event.

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Culture, as we have presented the concept, is a complete pattern of live. It is elaborate,

multidimensional,

and

all-pervasive.

Aspects

of

culture

are

acted

out

each

time

members of different cultures come together to share ideas and information

. Because

documenting all of these variables would be an impossible task, we have selected

those

cultural

elements

that

we

believe

have

the

greatest

impact

on

intercultural

communication

. These elements work in combination. They are like the components of a

stereo or computer system: each one is related to and needs the others.

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The interacting elements fall into four general groupings: perception, verbal processes,

nonverbal process, and contextual elements

.

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Most communication scholars grant that

(a)

perceptions

are part of every communication

and have evolved a fairly consistent

taxonomy(

分类学）

for perceptual variables that

influence intercultural communication.

(beliefs, values, and attitudes, world views and

social organizations, etc);

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(b) verbal process

: It is impossible to separate our use of language from our culture, for

in its most basic sense, language is an organized, generally agreed on,

learned symbol

system

used

to

represent

the

experiences

within

a

cultural

community

.

The

various

ways

cultures

employ

s

ymbols

to

portray

the

“things”

and

experiences

that

are

important to that culture will be examined.

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(c) nonverbal process

:

All human beings use nonverbal symbols to share their thoughts

and

feelings

.

Although

the

process

of

using

action

to

communicate

is

universal,

the

meanings

for

those

actions

often

shift

from

culture

to

culture.

Hence,

nonverbal

communication

becomes

yet

another

element

one

must

understand

if

one

is

going

to

interact

with

people

from

different

cultures.

There

are

three

categories

of

nonverbal

communication: bodily behavior, time, and space

;

?

(d)

contexturalelements

:

all

communicative

interaction

takes

place

within

some

physical

context,

and

more

important

for

our

purposes,

that context influences

how

we send and respond to messages

. Unless both parties to intercultural communication

are aware of how their cultures affect the context, they may encounter some surprising

communication

difficulties.

The

business,

education,

and

health

care

settings

are

the

three

contexts

where

we

are

most

likely

to

encounter

people

from

different

cultures,

and in all three instances, cultural “rules”

come into play

. (

开始运转；起作用；

）

Some concepts of intercultural communication (II)

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Perception:Perception is the means by which we make sense of our physical and social

world.

“There is no reality except the one contained within us.” The world inside of us

includes symbols, things, people, ideas, events ideologies, and even faith.”

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Our perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting sensory data in

a way that enables us to make sense of our world

.

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How we perceive the elderly is tempered by culture

. The elderly in Africa:

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“It is believed that the older one gets, the wiser one becomes

---life has seasoned the

individual

with

varied

experiences.

Hence,

in

Africa

age

is

an

asset.

The

older

the

person, the more respect the person receives from the community, and especially from

the young.

“

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But the situation is quite different in America

. “In the United States, we find a culture

that

teaches” the va

lue of youth and rejects growing old. In fact, young people view elderly

people

as

less

desirable

interaction

partners

than

other

young

people

or

middle- aged

people. “

?

Culture

strongly

influences

our

subjective

reality

and

that

there

direct

links

among

culture,

perception,

and

behavior

.

Behavior

---how

we

react

to

our

perception

of

the

universe---is largely a result of our learning and cultural conditioning.

?

We

will

look

at

some

differences

in

cultural

beliefs,

values,

and

patterns

that

might

influences

both

perception

and

communication

.

By

understanding

these

differences,

you

will

be

better

able

to

define

the

communication

behavior

of

other

people

and

to

adapt your own behavior to those definitions.

?

Being

able

to

adapt

to

each

communication

event

is

one

of

the

hallmarks

of

a

successful intercultural communicator

.

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One of the most important functions of belief systems is that they are the basis of one’s

values.

A value may be defined as an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or

end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to another

.

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Values are “a learned organization of rules for making choices, and for resolving conflicts.”

These

“rules”

and

guideposts

are

normative

(

标准的；规范 的

)

and

teach

us

what

is

useful, good, right, wrong,

what to strive for, how to live our life

, and even what to die

for. As Robert says, a value system “represents what is expected or hoped for, required or

forbidden.

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It

is

not

a

report

of

actual

conduct

but

is

the

system

of

criteria

by

which

conduct

is

ju

dged and sanctions applied.”

?

Values

can

be

classified

as

primary,

secondary,

and

tertiary

.

Primary

values

are

the

most

important:

they

specify

what

is

worth

the

sacrifice

of

human

life.

In

the

US,

democracy and the protection of one’s self and close famil

y are primary values.

?

In

America,

the

relief

of

the

pain

and

suffering

of

others

is

a

secondary

value

.

The

securing of material possessions is also a secondary value foe most Americans.

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Examples of

tertiary values

in the USA are hospitality to guests and cleanliness.