Transcript Communication, Culture and Language

Week 1
What happened and Why?
 Does anyone know what happened when Euro-disney
first opened, just outside Paris in 1992?
Why this module?
 We live in a globalised world
 Migration is much more common now
 We are more likely to be working with/trading with people from other
countries
 Cultural misunderstandings can have a huge impact (teams, trade etc)
 Technology has helped this but we need to know how to use it
 English is the lingua franca of the business world but is all spoken English the
same?
 Brookes Graduate attribute of Global citizenship
Module Learning Outcomes
 Analyse the relationship between language,
communication and culture and how this impacts on
organisations
 Consider intercultural issues in your communications
 Critically evaluate the intercultural communication process
and identify barriers to communication in international,
national and local business relations
 Demonstrate a critical understanding of the various
communicative styles
Key Module Elements
 The Communication Process
 Culture and Communication in an
international/global context
 Communication and team work in diverse groups
Assessment
 Individual essay: due on Monday 15th December – 100%
weighting
 Don’t panic though because you can submit a draft by
Monday 10th November and receive formative feedback
 Review brief and marking grid
What is English culture to you?
 Think of all the words/sayings, pictures and symbols
that you think describe the English culture
 Write/draw them on separate post its and put them on
the flipchart
Which elements of culture as
easiest to discover
 Taking the words/symbols etc everyone has put on
their post its
 In pairs discuss and list which would be obvious when
you first meet someone/visit another culture and
which would take more time to find out
 Come up with your meaning of the word ‘culture’
Some definitions of culture
 “Culture is the way of life of a group of people” (Foster
1962)
 “..the sum of a social group’s patterns of behaviour,
customs, way of life, beliefs and values.” (Fox 2004
p10*)
 “the collective programming of the mind which
distinguishes the members of one human group from
another...” (Hofstede 1980)
Why is it difficult to see our own
culture?
 Fish 1 to Fish 2: How’s the water?
 Fish 2 to Fish 1: What’s water?
 Lao Tzu ‘Water is the last thing a fish notices’
Health check
 The study of culture is about generalisations. You need
to be mindful that not all elements apply to everyone
as we are individuals
 Generalisations are a starting point
 Stereo-types are dangerous and an end point
 Also be aware of ethnocentricity = belief that ones own
culture is superior to that of others’
Its not possible to learn about all
cultures so.......
Intercultural training model (Kohls and Knight,1994)
 Awareness of the concept of culture
 Awareness of one's own culture
 Development of general intercultural skills
 Awareness of a targeted culture
Steps in Intercultural Awareness
(Beamer and Varner 2008 = core text)
 1) Self analysis
 2) Understanding and accepting differences
 3) Use categories (tools for understanding how cultures
compare)
 4) Challenge the categories
 5) Analysis of communication behaviour
 6) Enacting what you have learnt
Country Profiles
 Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and
economic background of countries and territories, and
background on key institutions
 Look the BBC website and find a country profile:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
 How useful would this information be if you were:
 a) a short business trip
 b) a holiday
 c) going to live and work there for a year?
 Which sections might be useful for a), b) and c)
Cultural briefings
 Go to: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-
profiles.html
 Select a country profile, read it then consider the same
questions:
 How useful would this information be if you were:
 a) a short business trip
 b) a holiday
 c) going to live and work there for a year?
 Which sections might be useful for a), b) and c)
Informative websites?
 Other website that give you information on different
countries/cultures
 http://www.eiu.com/default.aspx (you need to set up
an account but its free)
 http://www.countrywatch.com/country_profile.aspx
 http://www.doingbusiness.org/
 http://www.vayama.com/etiquette/
Some Additional Reading for the
Module
 Joynt, P. & Warner, M. (2002) Managing Across Cultures:
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Issues and Perspectives. 2nd Edition. London: Thompson
Learning
Locker, K.O. & Kaczmarek, S.K. (2011) Business
Communication – Building Critical Skills. 5th Edition.
California: Wadsworth
Robbins, H. & Finley, M. Why Teams Don’t Work. London:
Texere
Schneider, S. (2003) Managing Across Cultures. 2nd Edition.
Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall
Scollon, R. & Scollon, S. (2012) Intercultural
Communication. 3rd Edition. Oxford: Blackwell (also
available as an e-book)