Communication In Personal Relationships Across Cultures

Communication in Personal Relationships Across Cultures examines the communication practices of non-Western cultures. The international cast of contributors assembled here leaves behind the biases typical of most research and theorizing done in this area of communication and enables the reader to develop a thorough understanding of how people communicate in non-Western societies. Chapters focus on communication practices in China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Iran, Africa, and totalitarian societies. Through both emic and etic approaches, this groundbreaking volume explores how members of a culture understand their own communication, and compares the similarities and differences of specific aspects of communication across cultures. --From publisher's description.

With so much business happening on a global scale, cross-cultural communication is more important than ever before. Communication is always a challenge, and when diverse cultures interact, good communication can be even more challenging. For example, after a major U.S. corporation introduced a new breakfast cereal in Sweden, the company was horrified to discover that the cereal's name translates roughly as "burned peasant" in Swedish. Imagine the embarrassment, not to mention the loss of revenues that probably ensued. And while this example seems amusing after the fact, cross-cultural miscommunications aren't always benign. For instance, a large airline manufacturer developed its newest plane model to be flown by two pilots, with both pilots helping and correcting each other. But what do you suppose happens when the pilots are from a culture in which a subordinate is inhibited by custom from correcting a superior? At least one airline company has had several close calls as a direct result of this "design flaw" - which is ultimately a communication lapse. Now, you may not be involved in public safety or an industry in which communication errors can cause horrendous mishaps. But you'll likely soon be working with people from different cultures, if you aren't already. You need to learn how to handle cultural differences and maximize your communication opportunities. And this course will help you do just that. You'll learn about important cultural differences that will help you adapt your communication style to be more effective. In the first topic, you'll learn about the importance of achieving a proper mind-set for cross-cultural communication. In the second topic, you'll study aspects of cultures that affect how people communicate across cultural boundaries. In the third topic, you'll learn about a model of cultural dimensions that will help you enhance your communication abilities. The globalization of communication has brought with it opportunities to conduct business with people from all over the world. Inevitably, this means interactions and relationships between people who are culturally different. This is known as cross-cultural communication.A simple definition of a culture is a group of people who share a common set of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and who communicate through common language or symbols.The culture in which people are socialized influences the manner in which they work, socialize, and interact with others.If you want to understand and communicate effectively with people of different cultures, it's imperative that you understand how culture affects communication.There are many different ways that people of different cultures give and receive information. They communicate in a variety of ways - through talk, silence, expression, emphasis, and gesture. People from different cultures place different emphasis on these methods, and have distinct expectations as to how each should be used to communicate, and what the message is that each conveys.The best way to understand intercultural communication is to be aware of the five elements of the communication process.The elements are sender, encoding, channel, decoding, and receiver. To communicate effectively, you'll need to understand the cultural context influencing each of these elements.

Is falling in love the same the world over? What makes a 'happy marriage' in different cultures? How does our society influence us in the way we raise our children? Is modern life incompatible with intimacy? In this innovative new text, Robin Goodwin challenges many of the established views on relationships by considering how different cultures view different relationships (love, marriage, friendship, the family, sexual relations). By discussing fundamental differences in values between cultures, alongside other key influences such as social class and education, he explores why these differences occur, and how different political and historical events have challenged existing patterns of relationships. Finally, drawing on research from all parts of the world, he considers how we can use this knowledge to help different communities across the globe cope with their most pressing relational challenges. Dr Robin Goodwin is Reader in Psychology in the Department of Human Sciences at Brunel University, London. He publishes widely on relationships and culture, and lectures about his work across the world.

Deepening our understanding of the social context of interpersonal interaction, this book examines the communication practices through which members of a particular culture construct and maintain their relationships. The author presents an ethnographic case study of urban, largely middle-class Colombians, taking a close look at interactional practices and speech patterns in a range of everyday settings--from schools, workplaces, and social service agencies, to gatherings of family and friends. In focusing on a context outside of North America and Europe, the book sheds light on cultural assumptions about personhood, relationships, and communication that often remain unexamined in the literature. A compelling epilogue offers a more personal glimpse of Colombian culture and probes both the rewards and the limitations of the ethnographic approach.

This guide offers skills to understand and overcome communication difficulties, whether they are based on nationality, ethnicity, gender, age, social class and level of (dis)ability. The discussions help to recognize the values, attitudes, expectations and concerns encountered in the workplace.

If you are a manager anywhere in the world, you are almost certainly dealing with people of nationalities and cultures different from your own. In multinational business environments, communicating effectively with people who have languages, customs, and expectations different from yours is a necessary skill. If you are a manager anywhere in the world, you are almost certainly facing this kind of multicultural situation. This guidebook explains how to become aware of cultural differences, how to recognize when cultural differences pose a leadership challenge, and how to adapt your communication style to enhance your effectiveness as a manager.

This book has the chapters from the Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, Second Edition relating to the structure and growth of cross-cultural and intercultural communication. With an expanded forward by William Gudykunst it is an invaluable resource for students and lecturers of communications studies

Robin Goodwin draws together research from across the world to explore how fundamental differences in cultural values influence the ways in which we form romantic relationships, raise our children, and communicate with our wider social networks.