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Recall from Chapter One that you do not need to travel to faraway countries to understand the need for, and experience the benefits of, intercultural communication. Largely because of immigration trends, cultural and ethnic diversity in the United States is a fact of life. Immigrants, in record numbers, are crossing U.S. borders. According to the latest available US government statistics (i.e., 2004), nearly 34 million persons living in the United States, about 12 percent, were not U.S. citizens at birth. More than half of these people were born in Latin America and approximately 25 percent are Asian. Every ten years, at the beginning of a new decade, the U.S. Department of Commerce conducts a census. The results of the 2000 census profile the remarkable racial and ethnic diversity that has been a hallmark of American society. From 1990 to 2000 the U.S. population growth of 33 million people was the largest census-to-census increase in American history.

Internet Exercise:

Visit the United States Census Bureau at www.census.gov
Once you have arrived at the Census Bureau home page, in the far right corner is a column labeled Data Finder. Within Data Finder you can select your home state or home town and investigate the population trends over the past several years. As you explore the site, you will discover how the population in your own home state has diversified over the years.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Report: Diversity growing in nearly every state:Census Bureau finds minorities are bigger share of population in 49 states. At http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14348539/

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Chapter Two describes the Cultural Context, which is perhaps the most defining influence on human interaction. Culture provides the overall framework wherein humans learn to organize their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in relation to their environment. Although people are born into a culture, it is not innate. Culture is learned. Culture teaches one how to think, conditions one how to feel, and instructs one how to act, especially how to inter-act with others; in other words, communicate. Over the past few decades, anthropologists, communication researchers, psychologists, and sociologists have isolated several dimensions of cultural variability that can be used to differentiate cultures. One of those dimensions is individualism and collectivism.

Internet Exercise:

Go to www.youtube.com and search for videos using the search term Individualism-Collectivism. Several videos will appear. Compare and contrast how individualism and collectivism is defined and presented across these videos.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Clearly Cultural: Making Sense of Cross Cultural Communication. At: http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/individualism/

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Within most cultures there are groups of people who differ in some custom, habit, or practice from the general societal culture. In your book the term microculture is used to refer to those identifiable groups of people who share the set of values, beliefs, and behaviors of the macro-culture, possess a common history, and use a verbal and nonverbal symbol system. Most microcultural groups are groups of individuals who have much in common with the larger macro-culture yet are bonded together by similar experiences, traits, values, or in some cases, histories. Hence the term microculture includes different types of groups that could be classified by age, class, geographic region, sexual preference, disability (e.g., deaf), ethnicity, race, size, or even occupation. Hispanics/Latinos comprise the largest microcultural group in the United States. In 2006 there were 43.2 million Hispanics in the United States. That is just over 13 percent of the population. Verbally, many Hispanics speak Spanglish, a combination of Spanish and English.

Internet Exercise:

Explore Spanglish at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1438900

At this site you can learn more about Spanglish, listen to an interview with Ilan Stavans, author of the book, Spanglish: The Making of a New American Language, and see and hear examples of Spanglish.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
‘Pardon My Spanglish:’ Bill Santiago’s bicultural crash course. At http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/2008/09/10/2008-09-10_pardon_my_spanglish_bill_santiagos_bicul-2.html

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All human communication occurs within some physical and percep­tual environment. The environmental context includes the physical-geographical location of intercultural communication and how interactants think about it. How we see the physical world around us is very much influenced by our individual psychological perceptions, which, in turn, are shaped by cul­ture. People from all cultures project their mental perceptions onto the physical environment and act as though what is projected is, in fact, the true quality of the physical world. In other words, even the physical environment is subject to cultural interpretation. A major component of the perceptual environment is time.

Internet Exercise:

Explore how cultures perceive and use time differently. First, go to http://www.stats.govt.nz/products-and-services/Articles/time-use-time-culture.htm and explore how New Zealanders spend their time and how their culture affects it. Then, go to http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/zodiac/zodiac.html and discover how Chinese use animal signs in a 12-year cycle for dating the years. Finally learn about Kimberly Ross’s experiences with time as she worked in Guinea athttp://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/stories/stories.cfm?psid=165

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Time Management: Monochronic Time. At:
http://www.time-management-basics.com/time-management-monochronic-time.shtml

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The perceptual context refers to how people take in, store, and recall information. Our knowledge of the world is dependent on what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Yet, what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch is subjective and quite biased. Thus, our perception of the world is subjective and biased. Some of our subjectivity is based on the simple physiological differences among humans. No two humans are biologically exactly alike, for example. Thus, what smells good to you may stink to the person sitting next to you. Some of our subjectivity is based on culture. To a degree, culture teaches us what smells good and what smells bad. Think of the human mind as a computer where information is entered, stored, and recalled. The human minds works in the same way. Via our senses, we take in information, we then store the information in memory, and then later we recall it. All human brains, regardless of culture, take in, store, and recall information. Without this ability, human communication would be impossible.

Internet Exercise:

A central focus of this chapter is stereotyping. Kevin Wu is an American-based comedian who has become a YouTube phenomena. He is best known by his username KevJumba. In 2008, he was YouTube’s number one subscribed comedian and third most subscribed user overall. One of KevJumba’s most popular videos is titled “I have to deal with stereotypes.”

Watch KevJumba’s video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbZ9zJ22WfQ. Do you think KevJumba handles the issue sensitively? Watch some of his other videos. Is he dealing with this issue fairly or unfairly? Does his video make you laugh or does it make you angry? Why? What do your friends think?

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Girls Resisting Sexual Stereotyping - survey results - Brief Article. At http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2663_129/ai_63986716

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All human beings, regardless of culture, belong to groups. Although some cultures (like the United States) promote individuality and independence, our survival depends on our interdependency and cooperation with other humans.

Intercultural communication is a group phenomenon experienced by individuals. When people from different cultures come together to interact, they typically view each other not as unique individuals, but as members of a different cultural group. Think about your own communication experiences with strangers from different cultures. Do you see that person as an individual or as a member of a cultural group that is different from your own? For example, you may have international exchange students in your classes. And you probably refer to them as “that Japanese guy” or “that German guy.” You see them as a member of a culture. Even intraculturally, that is, within your own culture, when we meet strangers, we typically see them in terms of the groups to which they belong (e.g., sex, race, age, and so on.). In fact, there is no other way to describe a stranger than by the groups to which he or she belongs. The socio-relational context, then, refers to how group memberships affect communication.

One group in which everyone belongs is a sex group. Throughout the world, cultures treat members of sex groups differently.

Internet Exercise:

Watch the video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIwWS2atEmc
In this video you will see the presentation of sex roles in a rather androcentric fashion. The video appears to be targeted at several cultures and is presented in two languages. Hence, the film makers seem to believe that their depiction of sex roles is at least somewhat universal.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Girlish Images Across Cultures: Analyzing Japanese versus U.S. ‘Seventeen’ Magazine Ads. At: http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/advertising/292454-1.html

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Human language is the most human thing about being human. The capacity of the human brain to acquire language is the distinguishing feature that separates humans from the rest of the living beings on the planet. Our ability to put thoughts into a code in order to communicate with someone else empowers us beyond imagination. Other living beings are larger, stronger, faster, and smaller, but no other living being has the capacity for language. Language has put humans on top of the evolutionary ladder. Because of their capacity for language, humans have become the most powerful living beings on earth. Yet, while cultures appear to use vastly different languages, linguists believe that most of the world’s 5000 or so languages are remarkably similar.

Internet Exercise:

Go to: http://www.arabic-language.org/ and explore the world of Arabic.
Go to: http://japanese.about.com/ and explore the world of Japanese.
Go to: http://masterrussian.com/ and explore the world of Russian.
Go to: http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/ to learn about many of the world’s languages.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Go to: http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html to see which languages are spoken by most people throughout the world.

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The human verbal code evolved from a system of nonlinguistic (nonverbal) communication. To be sure, language and communication are not the same. As humans we possess a host of nonlinguistic ways to communicate with each other through the use of their hands, arms, face, and personal space. When we combine verbal and nonverbal language, we create an intricate communication system through which humans come to know and understand each other. All animals interact nonlinguistically—that is, nonverbally—through sight, sound, smell, or touch. Moths, for example, communicate by smell and color. Through smell, some species of male moths can detect female moths miles away. Elephants communicate with low frequency sound waves undetectable by humans. Felines are well known for rubbing their scent on (marking) people and objects to communicate their ownership of such property. This kind of animal or nonlinguistic communication is probably innate and invariant within a particular species. Most scholars also recognize that a significant portion of our nonverbal behavior, such as the facial expression of certain emotions, is innate and varies little across cultures. Like verbal language, however, much of our nonverbal communication is learned and varies across cultures.

Internet Exercise:

Go to: http://nonverbal.ucsc.edu/ where you can take a series of short quizzes on nonverbal communication across cultures.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Nonverbal Communication in Business. At:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Nonverbal-Communication-in-Business&id=5406

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Initiating and maintaining relationships with others is one of the most necessary and challenging functions of human survival. Our self-concept and self-esteem are sustained largely by the substance of our relationships with others. From our relational partners we receive feedback that we use to assess ourselves. In essence, the only way we know ourselves is through our relationships with others. Our existence is relative to other people. Regardless of one’s cultural origins, relationships provide the substance of life. Several variables affect the initiation and maintenance of personal relationships. Much of our communication behavior during the first stage of a relationship is designed to reduce uncertainty about our relational partner. One factor that affects our ability to do that is the degree to which we experience intercultural communication apprehension. Another variable that affects the uncertainty process is our sociocommunicative style—that is, the extent to which we are assertive and responsive with our relational partners. Two other variables that affect our relations with others are the degree to which we can empathize with others and how similar we perceive ourselves to be to the other. Uncertainty reduction, intercultural communication apprehension, sociocommunicative style, empathy, and similarity are experienced differently by each interactant in a relationship and vary considerably across cultures.

Internet Exercise:

Listen to: Intercultural Relationships: Can They Work? At:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10184979

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Who is Affected by your Intercultural Relationship? At:
http://gorigirl.com/who-is-affected-by-your-intercultural-relationship

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Intercultural conflict is the experience of emotional frustration and/or mismatched expectations between individuals from different cultures who perceive an incompatibility between their values, norms, goals, scarce resources, and/or outcomes during an intercultural exchange. Intercultural conflict occurs when cultural group membership factors influence how individuals approach, avoid, and manage conflict. During intercultural conflict, one’s group membership (i.e., culture) becomes a factor in how conflict is perceived, managed and resolved. Some of these cultural factors may be unconscious, such as one’s degree of individualism or collectivism. Other factors are probably very conscious. Intercultural conflict involves a certain degree of ethnocentric perceptions and judgments.

Internet Exercise:

Go to:
http://www.nvcc.edu/home/npeck/conflicthome/conflict/Intercultural/Intercultural.html
At this site, you can explore many dimensions of intercultural conflict, including bi-racial relationships. There are several links that will take you to alternative sites dealing with the various factors that contribute to intercultural conflict.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Intercultural Conflict in the Workplace: Every Organization’s Nightmare. At:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Intercultural-Conflict-in-the-Workplace:-every-Organizations-Nightmare&id=385503

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Coordinating and managing people from different cultures within an organizational context represents one of the greatest challenges for the corporate world in the new millennium. Few managers will survive and function effectively without an understanding of the subtleties and complexities of managing others in a multicultural and multinational business environment. Businesses and organizations from virtually every culture have entered into the global marketplace. Given the dramatic cultural transformation in today’s marketplace, the relevance of intercultural communication competence cannot be overstated. To compete in the global and U.S. markets, today’s managers must possess the skills to interact with people who are different from themselves. There is no culture-free theory of management. Managing other people is the responsibility of people who, like everyone else, have been acculturated and socialized into a cultural set of values and beliefs that governs their thinking, emotions, and behaviors. Like communication, management is culture bound. Moreover, managerial perceptions regarding the factors that lead to organizational success vary across cultures.

Internet Exercise:

• Go to: http://www.icmassociates.com/html2/index2.html
• Go to: http://www.imi.american.edu/
• Go to: http://cic.cstudies.ubc.ca/organizational_programs/index.html

Each of these sites is devoted to intercultural training and consulting. Careers for experts in intercultural communication often involve intercultural training within organizations. As you explore each site, you can see the types of careers available to people with an expertise in intercultural communication. You will also discover how what you have learned in your intercultural communication class can be applied in organizational and career settings.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
That’s Not What I Meant! Intercultural Communication Tips For Managers in Diverse Organizations. At:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Thats-Not-What-I-Meant!-Intercultural-Communication-Tips-For-Managers-in-Diverse-Organizations&id=1586949

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Three important features associated with intercultural communication as related to traveling abroad to foreign cultures include: (1) acculturation, (2) culture shock, and (3) intercultural communication competence. Acculturation is the process whereby you adapt to a new culture by adopting its values, attitudes, and practices. Culture shock is a multifaceted experience resulting from the stress associated with entering a new culture. Intercultural communication competence is defined as the degree to which you effectively adapt your verbal and nonverbal messages to the appropriate cultural context. When you communicate with someone from a different culture you will have to adjust and modify the kinds of verbal and nonverbal messages you send. This process requires that you have some knowledge about the person with whom you are communicating, that you are motivated to communicate with him or her, and that you have the appropriate verbal and nonverbal skills in order to encode and decode messages. Each of these variables affects the success rate of your intercultural communication experiences. When individuals or groups of individuals enter a new culture, they are faced with a different set of values, different behavioral patterns, and a different verbal and nonverbal communication system. In most (perhaps all) cases, such people are affected by their new cultural surroundings.

Internet Exercise:

• Go to: http://www.esl-lab.com/shock1/shock1.htm where you can listen to a mini-lecture on culture shock and take a quiz.
• Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQtzQn1Rvc8 and see and listen to international students’ reactions to the US and there experiences with culture shock.

Internet Resource:

Read the following article…
Tips for Living Abroad: Cultural Shock. At:
http://www.diversityabroad.com/study_abroad_guide/minority_cultural_shock.php