Essay on Intercultural Communication

Today, we live in a culturally diverse society due to globalization. As our world grows, expands and become increasingly more interconnected, the need for effective interpersonal communication among differing cultures has become apparent. When people from different cultures interact with one another there is intercultural communication because different cultures create different interpretation and expectations about what is seen as competent behaviors that will enable the construction of shared meanings.
There are numerous definitions of culture but I will use the definition of the interpretive approach and Clifford Geertz’s, which defines culture as a meaning system which members use to interpret the world around them. Culture basically affects and influences our way of communicating with one another because culture and communication are interdependent. The way we act and the things we say determine the culture we belong to and on the other hand culture determines how we act and communicate. As Geertz puts it; every specific act, every utterance, every thought must be understood within a much larger, much broader context. Cultural awareness is therefore apparent. An understanding of effective intercultural communication is relevant since many cultural groups around the world have different patterns of behavior, belief, values and norms which can create communication barriers (Inger Askehave). More than ever before we need to acquire the necessary knowledge to understand, communicate, and cooperate with people who are different in order to benefit from a diverse society. In this essay I will discuss the barriers to intercultural communication for interaction with the ‘Other’ and how to overcome these barriers. There are issues surrounding the problem of intercultural communication and I have chosen to include culture, ethnocentrism, categorization, stereotyping, prejudice and the representation of the ” Other” in my analysis.

Interpersonal communication