intercultural communication
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
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•
•
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To understand the intercultural nature of business communication
To appreciate intercultural communication as communication shaped not only by national cultures, but also by other cultural dimensions such as ethnicity, gender and social class
To heighten your awareness of differences in communication styles across cultures
To develop positive attitudes towards people from different cultural groups
The Roseto Story
Roseto is a small community in Pennsylvania in the United States known for its closely-knit Italian immigrant families. Idyllic and similar to many other small towns in the United States, Roseto nevertheless is distinguished for the well-documented lifestyle of its people. In the mid 1960’s, medical and anthropological researchers were drawn to Roseto because it seemed to have been resistant to one of the most common causes of death in the United
States: heart attacks. This was the period between 1955-1965. If textbooks were to be believed, people from Roseto would have died early: many drank and smoked, and worked under laborious conditions. Roseto became a mystery: the people defied medical logic by living longer than others in the rest of the United States.
What researchers found intrigued and caught them by surprise.
Roseto, it was known, had three-generational families that ate together and engaged in social activities together. Families formed strong emotional bonds, thus establishing trust not only within them but, more importantly, within the Roseto community itself. This could explain why crime rate was zero and there was no case of individuals seeking welfare support from the government because they helped each other out. In other words, the “overall atmosphere of the town was one of mutual support and understanding, and unfailing sustenance in time of trouble” (Wolf, Grace, Bruhn, & Stout, p. 101).
Unfortunately, Roseto experienced dramatic changes in
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
•
•
•
•
To understand the intercultural nature of business communication
To appreciate intercultural communication as communication shaped not only by national cultures, but also by other cultural dimensions such as ethnicity, gender and social class
To heighten your awareness of differences in communication styles across cultures
To develop positive attitudes towards people from different cultural groups
The Roseto Story
Roseto is a small community in Pennsylvania in the United States known for its closely-knit Italian immigrant families. Idyllic and similar to many other small towns in the United States, Roseto nevertheless is distinguished for the well-documented lifestyle of its people. In the mid 1960’s, medical and anthropological researchers were drawn to Roseto because it seemed to have been resistant to one of the most common causes of death in the United
States: heart attacks. This was the period between 1955-1965. If textbooks were to be believed, people from Roseto would have died early: many drank and smoked, and worked under laborious conditions. Roseto became a mystery: the people defied medical logic by living longer than others in the rest of the United States.
What researchers found intrigued and caught them by surprise.
Roseto, it was known, had three-generational families that ate together and engaged in social activities together. Families formed strong emotional bonds, thus establishing trust not only within them but, more importantly, within the Roseto community itself. This could explain why crime rate was zero and there was no case of individuals seeking welfare support from the government because they helped each other out. In other words, the “overall atmosphere of the town was one of mutual support and understanding, and unfailing sustenance in time of trouble” (Wolf, Grace, Bruhn, & Stout, p. 101).
Unfortunately, Roseto experienced dramatic changes in
Bibliography: Egolf, B., Lasker, J., Wolf, S., & Potvin, L. (1992). The Roseto effect: A 50-year comparison of mortality rates Foster, D. (2000). The global etiquette guide to Asia. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Goodman, M. (1995). Working in a global environment. New York: IEEE. Hall, E. (1992). An anthropology of everyday life. New York: Doubleday/Anchor Books. Hall, E. (1983). The dance of time: The other dimension of time (1st ed.). Garden City, N. Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday. Hall, E. (1959). The silent language. New York: Double Day. Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations. London: Harper Collins. Jones, R. K. (2003). Miscommunication between pilots and air traffic control. Language Problems & Language Planning , 23 (3), 233-248. Rogers, E., Hart, W., & Maiike, Y. (2002). Edward T. Hall and the history of intercultural communication: The United States and Japan Varner, I., & Beamer, L. (1995). Intercultural communication in the global workplace. USA: Richard D.