Text C The Era of Intercultural Communication

On April 8, 1960, the world entered a new era. On this date, the first attempt was made to communicate with extraterrestrial life as part of Project Ozma, organized by Frank Drake of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. Pioneer 10—launched on March 3,1973—included a six-by-nine inch gold-plated aluminum plaque with a message for any extraterrestrial being coming across it. The plaque on Pioneer 10 was designed by the astronomer Carl Sagan. The left side of the plaque contained a representation of the periods of pulsars to indicate the solar system of origin, while across the bottom the planets of the solar system were drawn with an indication that Pioneer 10 originated on the third planet. The right side of the plaque contained drawings of unclothed male and female figures, the man having his right arm raised with the palm extending outward. Pictures of the plaque appeared in newspapers around the world when Pioneer 10 was launched.

What does the plaque on Pioneer 10 have to do with intercultural communication? Think about it for a moment. Does the plaque have anything in common with your attempts to communicate with people from other cultures? The plaque illustrates what often happens when two people who do not share a common language try to communicate: they try to get their ideas across nonverbally. Reactions to the plaque when it appeared in newspapers around the world further illustrate what can happen when we use this method in our everyday encounters with people from other cultures. People in some cultures interpreted the man's gesture to be a universal gesture of friendliness, while people in other cultures interpreted it as one of hostility. The point is that gestures used by people in one culture often do not mean the same thing in another culture. Trying to communicate through nonverbal means as well as through verbal means may, therefore, lead to misunderstandings.

In order to minimize misunderstandings when we communicate with people from other cultures, we need to understand the process of intercultural communication, and we need to understand people of other cultures and their patterns of communication. This is important not only to decrease misunderstandings but also to make the world a safer place for all of us to live.

In the past most human beings were born, lived, and died within a limited geographical area, never encountering people of other cultural backgrounds. Such an existence, however, no longer prevails in the world. The international and domestic changes in the past few decades have brought us into direct and indirect contact with people who, because of their cultural diversity, often behave in ways that we do not understand. It is no longer difficult to find social and professional situations in which members of once isolated groups of people communicate with members of other cultural groups. Now these people may live thousands of miles away or right next door to each other.

McLuhan characterized today's world as a“global village”because of the rapid expansion of worldwide transportation and communication networks. We can now board a plane and fly anywhere in the world in a matter of hours. Communication satellites, sophisticated television transmission equipment, and the World Wide Web now allow people throughout the world to share information and ideas at the same time. It is now possible for a person in one country to communicate with a person in another country within seconds.

In a world of international interdependence, the ability to understand and communicate effectively with people from other cultures takes on extreme urgency. However, we may find intercultural communication different from communication within our own cultural group. Even if we overcome the natural barriers of language difference, we may fail to understand and to be understood. Misunderstanding may even become the rule rather than the exception. And, if we are unaware of the significant role culture plays in communication, we may place the blame for communication failure on those other people. This is unfortunate because our problem is really culture and the difficulty of communicating across cultural boundaries.

It is recognized widely that one of the characteristics separating humans from other animals is our development of culture. The development of human culture is made possible through communication, and it is through communication that culture is transmitted from one generation to another. Culture and communication are intertwined so closely that Hall maintains that“culture is communication”and“communication is culture. ”In other words, we communicate the way we do because we are raised in a particular culture and learn its language, rules, and norms. Because we learn the language, rules, and norms of our culture by a very early age, however, we generally are unaware of how culture influences our behavior in general and our communication in particular.

When we communicate with people from other cultures, we often are confronted with languages, rules, and norms different from our own. Confronting these differences can be a source of insight into the rules and norms of our own culture, as well as being a source of frustration or gratification. Therefore, what we have to learn is to understand culture, communication, how culture influences communication, and the process of communication between people from different cultures. Such knowledge is extremely important. In fact, it is necessary if we are to comprehend fully the daily events of today's multicultural world. It will help us not only analyze our intercultural encounters in order to determine where misunderstandings occur, but also determine how these misunderstandings can be minimized in future interactions.

(Excerpted from W. B. Gudykunst &Y. Y. Kim's Communication with Strangers, Introduction)

Questions for Discussion or Reflection

1. In what way is the plaque on Pioneer 10 related to intercultural communication?

2. How does intercultural communication differ from communication within the same culture?

3. Why does Hall maintain that“culture is communication”and“communication is culture”? Can you give some examples to illustrate this?

4. For what reasons is intercultural communication important to people living in the global village?

For Fun

1. McLuhan, H. M. (1911—1980): Herbert Marshall McLuhan, Canadian scholar and literary critic, theorist of literature, media and communication.

2. Hall, E. (1914—): Edward T. Hall, a respected American anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher.