Introducing Language and Intercultural Communication, Jane Jackson (Riassunto) PDF

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INTRODUCING LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION, JANE JACKSON (Riassunto) Chapter 1, Why study language and intercultural communication? Interpersonal communication is a form of communication that involves a small number of individuals, who are interacting exclusively with one another. Intercultural communication refers to interpersonal communication between individuals or groups who are affiliated with different cultural groups or/and have been socialized in different cultural environments. Intercultural communication research involves the investigation of interpersonal interaction between individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Cross-cultural communication refers to the comparison  of communication behaviours and patterns in two or more cultures. Cross-cultural communication research compares native discourse and communication behaviours in different cultures. -

Globalization

Globalization are all the spatial-temporal processes, operating on a global scale that rapidly cut across national boundaries, drawing more and more of the world into webs of interconnection, integrating cultures and communities across space and time, and compressing our spatial and temporal horizons. Globalizing forces are triggering profound changes in the social, cultural, political and linguistic dimensions of communities across the globe. Due to colonialism and globalization, there are many varieties of English in the world (World Englishes), and many are being developed. English has become a “lingua franca” (language which is used in communication between speakers who have no native language in common) in many parts of the world. Globalizing forces are also creating more interest in other languages (for example the entry of China into the WTO have had a significant impact on the number of non-chinese studying mandarin). Globalization is reconstituting the world as a single social space. Events, behaviours and values are in fact affecting many aspects of our daily “ways of being”. On the other hand, globalization has some negative aspects too. For some people globalization is a threat, removing the security of familiar local networks and imposing unwanted external uniformity. The process of homogenization is leading to the loss of linguistic and cultural distinctiveness. Furthermore, the globalizing process is exacerbating inequality of access to power and resources (for example, differential opportunities to learn english can divide societies).

It is this interconnected world that is bringing about more frequent intercultural contact. This necessitates the development of effective intercultural communication skills, as well as knowledge of more than one language. -

Internationalization

Internationalization is any systematic sustained effort aimed at making higher education more responsive to the requirements and challenges related to the globalization of societies, economy and labor markets. Internationalization is important due to the high demand for well-educated individuals who can interact effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and perform successfully in the competitive, global marketplace. Internationalization at home (IaH) refers to the embedding of international/intercultural perspectives into local educational settings. Intercultural education is vital to help prepare students for responsible intercultural citizenship in our global community, whether in the home setting or abroad. -

Advances in transportation and communication technologies

Due to globalization the world can be defined as a “global village”, where people become more and more interconnected through media and communication advances. Information and communications technology refers to the role of unified communications and the integration of technological systems, which allow users to create, access, store and manipulate information. Web 2.0 and social media tools are creating opportunities  for the rapid dissemination and sharing of information and viewpoints across the world. Web 2.0 has also facilitated collaborative learning and intercultural interaction in educational settings and beyond. -

Changing demographics

Human migration entails physical movement by people from one place to another. This movement of people is bringing more diversity, and it is creating opportunities of daily interaction with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Sometimes migration is voluntary but sometimes it’s not, such as in the case of ethnic cleansing and human trafficking. When individuals move due to war, economic crises, religious persecution, natural disasters or other calamities, they are defined refugees. In some parts of the world there is a great acceptance of intercultural relationships and consequently children of mixed heritage speak more than one language at home, developing multicultural identities.

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Conflict and peace

There are different causes that are contributing to increased conflict between culturally diverse people, such as global warming, globalizing forces, economic crisis etc… The key to community and world peace is the acceptance of our cultural differences. Conflict cannot be managed effectively without simultaneously considering both culture and communication. It is then important to develop an intercultural conflict competence. To accomplish this, we have to consider: 1 “conflict fluency”, that is the recognition of conflict as a difference that offers choices and growth; 2 “cultural fluency”, that is considering cultural as a series of underground rivers that profoundly shape not only who we are, but how we cooperate and engage conflict. -

Ethics

Our world is increasingly interconnected and this means that individuals of different ages, genders, languages, socioeconomic status etc… must coexist. Ethics may be defined as principles of conduct that help govern the behaviour of individuals and groups, that is, they provide direction for how we live our life. The ethical environment we live in determines what we find acceptable or unacceptable. A code of ethics (for example, religion) consists of guidelines that spell out what is “right” or “wrong” behaviour in everyday life. Our code of ethics can also impact our attitudes towards those who have divergent beliefs and traditions. Otherization (or othering) is the labelling and degrading of people who are different from oneself. -

Personal growth and responsibility

Enhancing our intercultural communication understanding and skills necessarily means building awareness of ourselves as well as learning more about individuals who speak different first language and have different values and habits. -

The characters of an ethical intercultural communicator

A good intercultural communicator: 1 regards all people as equal 2 actively seeks out and interacts with persons of diverse backgrounds 3 listens attentively and refrains from making negative judgments about people from different cultures 4 patiently asks questions to confirm the intended meaning 5 recognizes that misunderstandings may arise due to linguistic and cultural differences 6 seeks and provides feedback to ensure that messages were received as intended

7 makes a genuine effort to learn about the language and cultural practices of people who have been socialized in different cultural backgrounds 8 works from the perspective that the behaviour of people from other cultural backgrounds is apt to be rational when understood in its situational and cultural context 9 values intercultural cooperation and peaceful conflict mediation/resolution 10 recognizes diversity within cultural groups and acknowledges that no individual can serve as a representative of an entire community or culture 11 seeks to include all voices in intercultural interactions 12 treats people of other cultures with respect and dignity

Chapter 2 Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary nature of intercultural communication In a multidisciplinary approach, scholars from different disciplines investigate an issue separately, with each discipline retaining its own methodologies and assumptions. In an interdisciplinary approach, scholars from multiple disciplines work together to examine an issue or topic of concern (mixed-method study). This method is challenging because there may be fundamental differences in understandings of various concepts. The field of intercultural communication has widened its multidisciplinary scope, due to this new vastly interconnected world. The study of language and intercultural communication The early works Franz Boas, Edward Sapir and Dell Hymes founded the discipline linguistic anthropology. This discipline studies how language influences social life. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that differences in the way languages encode cultural and cognitive categories significantly affect the way users of particular language view the world around them. The strong form of this theory, linguistic determinism, is no longer accepted today. Instead, linguistic relativity is today accepted. This theory posits that language influences our thinking but does not determine it. Insights from ethnography ---- leggi capitolo 2

Chapter 3, Culture and the primary socialization process

Conceptions of culture Today the concept of culture remains complex, variable and difficult to define. Kroeber and Kluckhohn definition of culture is however today the most quoted. For these cultural anthropologists culture consists of patterns, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups. We define today 7 facets of culture: culture as learned, culture as shared, culture as relative, culture as dynamic and mediated, culture as individual, culture as contested, culture as communication. Culture as learned Our cultural orientation begins at birth, during the primary socialization, through: 1 enculturation, which entails observation, interaction and imitation (it’s both conscious and unconscious) 2 socialization, which is the process by which a person internalizes the conventions of behavior imposed by a society or social group It is through language and cultural socialization that our primary cultural beliefs, values, norms and worldviews are internalized. -

Beliefs

Beliefs are a set of learned interpretations that form the basis for cultural members to decide what is and what is not logical and correct. Many core beliefs are religious, other may relate to notions of health and wellness. Others may be peripheral, that is, they may simply relate to personal perceptions and tastes. Peripheral beliefs may also be superstitious in nature. Some superstitions and folk traditions are limited to a particular country, region or village, or to specific social group. -

Values

Values are shared ideas about what is right or wrong, fair or unfair, just or unjust, kind or cruel, important and unimportant. Valence refers to the positive or negative nature of particular value, while intensity  points to its strength for the individual. -

Worldviews

Cultural values and beliefs form together an individual’s perception of the world, the worldview. The  w  orldview is defined as the philosophical ideas of being, a culture’s beliefs about its place in the cosmos, and beliefs about the nature of humanity. Religion often plays a fundamental role in shaping worldviews, including one’s ideas about nature, deity and the origin on life on earth. Notions of life, death and time together influence one’s worldview and shape how one sees and interprets life. In today’s multicultural world we are exposed to diverse beliefs, practices and worldviews, so we carry with us different notions about life, which draw on our unique experiences and evolve understandings of the world. -

Traditions

Culturally-shared traditions are customs or rituals that have been passed down from one generation to another. Each tradition has its own rituals and practices, some of which are linguistic in nature. Cultural traditions also include healing rituals, folk art, handicrafts, myths and legends, the singing of folk songs, funeral rites…. -

Cultural norms

During the process of primary socialization elders, and the media convey messages about what is expected, what is polite, what is impolite… These shared expectations of appropriate behaviors are referred to as cultural norms. -

Cultural schema

Cultural schema is a mental structure in which our knowledge of the world is organized so that it can be efficiently used in thinking, communication etc... -

Cultural scripts and language socialization

A cultural script, which is a type of schema, refers to a pre-existing knowledge structure for interpreting event sequences, therefore a sequence of actions that is associated with a particular event or situation. These scripts are l earned through enculturation, and they create expectations and assumptions about social action, but they are not definitive. A cultural script is not in fact intended as a description of actual behaviour, but as a depiction of shared assumptions about how people think about social interaction. Language socialization is the acquisition of linguistic, pragmatic, and other cultural knowledge through social experience.

The sociopragmatic competence implies that the speaker knows how to vary speech-act strategies according to the situational or social variables present in the act of communication. The s  ociocultural context will largely determine the appropriate form of a particular speech act. Social sanctions are the measures used by a society to enforce its rules of acceptable behavior. Unwritten rules about what is acceptable behaviour can of course differ among cultures as well as within cultural groups. In our interconnected world the primary socialization process is increasingly multicultural and in many cases bi- or multilingual. Culture as shared All of us live out our lives as members of groups. Initially, the groups to which we belong are decided by others, as we mature and experience life we gradually make more choices for ourselves. -

Race

The term race is frequently used in everyday discourse and social perception, it has meaning as a social category, but it has no defensible biological basis. -

Ethnicity

Ethnicity is also a social construct. An  e  thnic group is a group of people of the same descent and heritage, who share a common and distinctive culture passed on through generations (for example: italian americans, malays, chinese). Heritage refers to aspects that are inherited or linked to the past. -

Subcultures

Subculture (or co-culture) refers to smaller groups of people that exist within a larger dominant culture and which are often distinctive because of race, social, class, gender, age, appearance, behaviour, profession, sports… -

Speech communities

Speech communities are groups of people who use the same variety of language (vocabulary, grammatical conventions, speech styles...) and who share specific rules of speaking and for interpreting speech. It is through living and interacting together that people in a speech community come to share a specific set of norms for language use. Speech communities may emerge among any groups that interact frequently and share certain norms and belief systems.

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Ingroups and outgroups

Ingroups are groups with whom one feels emotionally close and with whom one shares an interdependent fate. Outgroups are groups with whom one feels no emotional ties and, at times, from whom one may experience great psychological distance as a result of perceived scarce resources and intergroup competition. Individuals are not entirely free to move in and out of groups/subgroups at will, one’s attributes/aspects may exclude him from becoming a member of a particular cultural group or community. Language may also play a leading role in enabling or negotiating entry. One’s dialect or accent can reinforce, or prevent membership in a particular group. Fear of being “outgrouped” can compel people to conform, whereas in other settings individuals may be less concerned about standing out. -

Discourse communities

Discourse communities are groups of people who share particular registers and use the kinds of text in which these registers occur. Registers are linguistically distinct varieties in which the language is systematically determined by the context. Whereas speech communities are sociolinguistic groups with communicative needs such as socialisation and group solidarity, discourse communities are groupings based on common interests. Culture as relative The notion of “culture as relative” refers to the belief that a culture can really only be understood or appreciated when reference is made to another. Culture is not an absolute concept, rather, it is relative, as culture may only be truly understood in relation to another. -

Ethnocentricism

Ethnocentricism is defined as a point of view that accepts one’s group’s standards as the best, and judges all other groups in relation to theirs. An ethnocentric mindset does not foster the respect that is essential for cordial intercultural relations. Essentialism and reductionism occur when one treats a heterogenous collection as homogenous, as if all those of a single nation or even subgroup have the same cultural characteristics. -

Ethnorelativism

Ethnorelativism is the assumption that cultures can only be understood relative to one another and that particular behavior can only be understood within cultural context. In fact there is no absolute standard of rightness or “goodness” that can be applied to cultural behavior. An ethnorelative mindset is the opposite of an ethnocentric mindset, in this mindset the experience of one’s own beliefs and behaviors is recognized as just one version of reality among many other possibilities. Culture as dynamic and mediated Culture can also be seen as something dynamic, mediated through discourse. In this point of view culture is not something that you think or possess of live inside of, but it is something you do. When we encounter people who have been socialized in other linguistic and cultural environments, we are naturally exposed to new, unfamiliar ways of being. Intercultural interaction offers the potential for further  self-expansion, if we are genuinely open to this possibility. Culture as individual, fragmentary and imaginary Culture is a variable concept, and within cultural groups, perceptions of cultural elements vary from individual to individual. Culture is often defined as a process, and not as a thing. Just as understandings of the same culture differ from one person to the next, how that culture is represented and understood by others also differs. Culture is variable and continuously produced through discourse, and language interaction is central to how culture evolves within and between groups at every level. Benedict Anderson coined the term imagined community, which refers to the idea that the national identity felt by people is imagined. Anderson suggests that we belong to an imagined community in which we assume that other members follow norms, practices and beliefs similar to our own. Hegemony refers to the domination through consent where the goals, ideas, and interests of the ruling group or class are so institutionalized, and accepted that people consent to their domination, subordination, and exploitation. In our interconnected world the homogenizing notion of “national cultures” is becoming obsolete. Culture as contested Culture is multiple and contested at many levels, both externally and from within (it may be contested at the...