Communication Barriers

Eliminating Barriers to Cross-Cultural Communication through Curricular Interventions

By

David Dankwa-Apawu (Lecturer) Ghana Institute of Journalism P.O. Box GP 667 Accra, Ghana [phone] [phone]

[e-mail]

1

ABSTRACT With the world fast becoming a global village, communicating across cultures has become an inevitable reality. On one hand, cross-cultural communication or intercultural communication presents a fine opportunity to foster global peace and prosperity as we mine the potential value of cultural diversity. On the other hand, it can present unpleasant consequences if not well managed. The latter seems more prevalent in our world today as a result of the barriers cultural diversity imposes on intercultural communication. Intercultural or cross-cultural

communication barriers such as anxiety, uncertainty, stereotyping, and ethnocentrism are caused by inadequate cultural knowledge and the lack of intercultural communicative skills. Eliminating these barriers will require adequate training in intercultural communication and exposure to cultures outside ours. The school provides the best motivation, structures, and resources for training or socializing our younger generation therefore this paper proposes a number of curricular interventions the school can implement to equip learners to overcome intercultural communication barriers. These interventions include the adoption of multicultural education in our schools, the introduction of literature and cultural studies as subjects, the use of communicative language teaching approach in teaching language, and the use of the new media in the classroom. The justification (for these interventions) presented in this paper is drawn mainly from published accounts and exploratory ethnographic studies.

INTRODUCTION Intercultural communication or cross-cultural communication is a relatively new field of study, yet it has generated a lot of interest. Research in this area has been

References: Albert, R.D. (1994). Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Training in Multinational Organizations. In Wiseman, R.L. and Shuter, R. (eds.) Communicating in Multinational Organizations. International and Intercultural Communication Annual. Vol xviii (153165). London: Sage Publications. Barnett, G.A. and Lee, M.(2002). Issues in Intercultural Communication Research. In Gudykunst, W.B. and Mody B. (eds.) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (pp 275-290). London: Sage Publications. DeVito J.A. (2002). Messages: Building Interpersonal Communication Skills. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Dzameshie, A.K. (1997). Towards a Communicative Approach to Teaching English as a Second Language in Ghana. In Dakubu, M.E.K. (ed.) English in Ghana (pp 173-194). Accra: Ghana English Studies Association. Griffin, E. (2000). A First Look at Communication Theory. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Gudykunst, W.B. (2002). Intercultural Communication Theories. In Gudykunst, W.B. and Mody B. (eds.) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (pp 183-205). London: Sage Publications. 20 Gudykunst, W.B. and Lee, C.M.(2002). Cross-Cultural Communication Theories. In Gudykunst, W.B. and Mody B. (eds.) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (pp 25-50). London: Sage Publications. Gudykunst, W.B. and Mody, B. (2002). Foreword. In Gudykunst, W.B. and Mody B. (eds.) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (pp 25-50). London: Sage Publications. Huck, C.S.; Helper, S.; Hickman, J.; and Kiefer, B.Z. (2001). Children’s Literature in the Elementary School. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Kachru, B. (1990). World Englishes and Applied Linguistics. World Englishes 9 (1): 3-20. Kramsch, C. (2001) Intercultural Communication. In Carter, R. And Nunan, D. (eds.) The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (pp 201-206). Cambridge: CUP Norrish, J. (1978). Liberalisation of views on non-standard forms of English. In The British Council. ELT documents: English as an international language. London: The British Council, English Teaching Information Centre, pp. 34-39. Ornstein, A.C. (1990). Strategies for Effective Teaching. Madison: Brown and Benchmark Publishers. Pang, V.O. (2001). Multicultural Education: A Caring-Centred, Reflective Approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Rogers, E.M. and Hart, W.B. (2002). The Histories of Intercultural, International, and Development Communication. In Gudykunst, W.B. and Mody B. (eds.) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (pp 1-18). London: Sage Publications. Richards, J.C. and Rogers, T.S. (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching: A Description and Analysis. Cambridge: CUP 21 Richards, J.C. and Sukwiwat, M. (1983). Language Transfer and Conversational Competence. Applied Linguistics 4 (2): 113-125. Sadker, D.M and Sadker M.P. (2003). Teachers, Schools and Society. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Spring, J. (2002). American Education. Boston: the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Stephan, C.W. and Stephan, W.G. (2002). Cognition and Affect in Cross-Cultural Relations. In Gudykunst, W.B. and Mody B. (eds.) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication (pp 127-142). London: Sage Publications. Tozer, S.E.; Violas, P.C., and Senese, G. (2002). School and Society. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Tubbs, S.L. and Moss, S. (1994). Human Communication. Boston: McGraw-Hill. 22