How does verbal language influence intercultural communication?

Introduction

Communication is a day-to-day aspect of the human being. People need to communicate in order to share thoughts, opinions or coordinate activities. Technological advancement, advancement in means of transport and communication, and globalization have allowed more intercultural interactions. Intercultural communication is essential as people interact in colleges, businesses, workplaces or tourism activities.

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Despite cultural differences, people need to share information and opinions, negotiate, discuss or chat for leisure. Of all other forms of communication, verbal and non-verbal communication remains the most important even in intercultural communication. People from different cultures need to use oral communication and watch unspoken signs during communication. Verbal and non-verbal communication has a very important role in intercultural communication.

Verbal and Non-verbal Communication and intercultural communication

Verbal communication is the most common and natural form of communication. Communication mainly takes place by sharing information or thoughts using word of mouth. On the other hand, it is estimated that about 75% of information is sent through body language (Hopkins, 2010, par 5). Although other forms of communication such as written communication are used, verbal communication remains the most natural and widely used. Modern forms of communication such as the use of emails are important but cannot completely substitute verbal communication. Despite innovations in other forms of communication many people often opt for conventional methods such as one-to-one communication and the use of telephones.

Verbal and non-verbal communication is very important in communication between individuals of different cultures. Although other forms of communication such as written communication can be used, they cannot be able to have the same effect as verbal and non-verbal communication.

For example, verbal communication allows for direct feedback that may not be possible in other forms of communication. On the other hand, nonverbal communication allows subtle messages that cannot be expressed verbally to be communicated. Some contexts necessitate the use of verbal communication. In a class or lecture room, educators and lecturers have to use verbal communication to explain concepts. Effect intercultural verbal and non-verbal communication is, thus, necessary to ensure communication in a diverse cultured learning environment.

Effective verbal and nonverbal communication is a major determinant of success in a global business environment (Gupta, 1998, p. 107). In business negotiations, businesspersons from different cultural backgrounds have to use verbal and nonverbal skills. In some cases, negotiators have to use interpreters to facilitate intercultural communication. Apart from using verbal means, interpretation of body language is important in intercultural business negotiations. Interpretation of communicated verbal messages separate from body signs that accompany them may lead to miscommunication (Novinger, 2001, p. 64).

Apart from business negotiations, most workplaces are increasingly becoming multicultural. Effective verbal and non-verbal communication is essential for diverse workers to work together. Written communication such as the use of emails or memos and, other forms of communication cannot be effective in communications where immediate response or clarification is required.

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Verbal and non-verbal communication experience various challenges in intercultural communication. People from different cultural backgrounds usually have different frames of reference in communication. Apart from different frames of reference, language barriers become a major challenge in intercultural communication. Communication is usually defined as the exchange of information, ideas or opinion between two or more parties. For effective communication, there must be consistency between sent and received message. The receiver must be able to decode the message and be able to make the right interpretation (Liamputtong, 2010, 78).

Although effective communication is not guaranteed even in a common culture, it is compromised by cultural differences. Individuals from different cultures may have different ways of verbal and nonverbal communication. The difference in how different cultures send and interpret verbal and nonverbal messages makes effective intercultural communication not easy to achieve.

Verbal communication is highly cultured. Individuals from different cultural backgrounds may exhibit differences in language, jargon or accents. They may produce different sounds when speaking or use words differently. Through culture, individuals have assigned different meanings to some words. It is possible for a word to have a completely different meaning depending on the people using it (Wierzbicka, 2010, p. 13).

Culture also influences the way in which individuals choose words for sentences. Even when using a common language such as English, individuals from the different cultural backgrounds will construct their sentences differently. The meaning of the word may also differ depending on the culture. Words such as yes and no may be assigned different meanings depending on the culture of an individual. Pace, tone and usage of silence are also used differently depending on cultural background. While some cultures may encourage silence as a form of communication, others may view it as a sign of weakness.

Differences in tone and pace in verbal communication may lead to miscommunication in intercultural communication. The use of direct or indirect approaches in verbal communication differs with culture. For example, people Chinese and Korean cultures tend to use implied messages (Balsmeier, & Heck, 1994, p. 124).

Differences in the usage of body language lead to miscommunication in intercultural communication. Different cultures have varying meanings to body language. Differences in the use of facial expression, eye gaze, gestures, use of distance and posture may hinder communication (LeBaron, 2003, par 4). For example, there is a great difference in the use of gestures between people from Asian countries and those in the west. Misinterpretation of gestures while interacting may lead to miscommunication. The use of contacts and space is highly influenced by cultures. 75% of the message in interpersonal communication is delivered through body languages. Understanding the usage of non-verbal communication in people of different cultures can promote effective intercultural communication.

Improving verbal and nonverbal communication is very important in enabling effective intercultural communication. One of the best ways of improving intercultural verbal and non-verbal communication is intercultural training (Knott, 2009, p. 76). Miscommunication in cross-cultural verbal and nonverbal communication results from the inability to interpret messages from individuals of different cultures. Intercultural training provides individuals with information about cultures and enables easier interaction. Through intercultural training, individuals can be able to communicate or interpret messages in the context of the other individual(s).

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Through intercultural training individuals from different cultures can be able to use and interpret non-verbal communication in a way that promotes communication. Learning language is paramount in ensuring effective verbal and nonverbal communication. With knowledge of the language, interpreters will not be required. The use of interpreters as intermediaries disrupts communication and may distort the meaning of a message.

Conclusion

Globalization has increased interactions between people of different cultures. Effective verbal and nonverbal communication is necessary for communication between individuals of different cultures. Verbal and non-verbal communication has roles that cannot be substituted by other forms of communication. Immediate feedback and ability to get clarification to make verbal communication appropriate for discussion and negotiations. A cross-cultured environment requires effective intercultural verbal and nonverbal communication. Although effective intercultural communication is not completely possible to achieve, it can be improved through intercultural training and learning language.

Reference List

Balsmeier, P. & Heck, A. 1994. Cross-cultural communication. Cross Cultural MaCross-cultural 2.

Gupta, N. 1998. Cross cultural communication: global perspective. Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi.

Hopkins, L. 2010. Non-verbal communication-An overview. Web.

Knott, C. 2009. Improving Non-verbal Communication with Cross-cultural cultural exercises. Web.

LeBaron, M. 2003. Cross-cultural communication. Web.

Liamputtong, P. 2010. Performing Qualitative Cross-cultural Research. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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Novinger, T. 2001. Intercultural communication: a practical guide. University of Texas Press, Austin.

Wierzbicka, A. 2010. Cross-cultural communication and miscommunication: The role of cultural keywords. Intercultural Pragmatics. Vol. 7 No.1 pp. 1-23.

Appendix Essay Plan

Introduction

The introductory part of the essay gives a short description that asserts that communication is a daily activity for people all over the world. People communicate in order to exchange their thoughts, ideas, and in order to pass messages and information from one person to the other. Communication is essential for accomplishing everyday activities like enabling learning processes to go on smoothly in schools and other informal learning setups and facilitating various business activities. Both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication are also widely used in starting and sustaining social relationships.

Many social relationships like friendship and marriages begin with some form of communication and the possibility of such a relationship remaining stable largely depends on the nature of communicators between the parties involved.

People also use different means to communicate, this means includes speech (verbal communication) and symbolic communication (non-verbal communication) which involves the use of signals and interpretation of people’s behavior. The introductory part goes ahead to explain that in the past twenty years or so, there has been increased contact between people of different cultures due to increased international travel for purposes like business, education and even tourism activities. The introduction ends with the thesis statement of the essay, which states that intercultural communication has become an important area of focus by communication theorists and that communication will remain an important tool in enabling effective intercultural communication.

Communication and cross-cultural communication (Body)

In this part, the paper discusses the difficulties of verbal and nonverbal communication in an intercultural context. The main aim of cross-cultural communication is to create understanding and minimize miscommunication between people of different cultures.

The main challenges encountered when using verbal communication in intercultural communication range from different interpretations of words, the inability to understand the language being used for communication, the different ways in which people combine words to create different meanings, different pronunciations and accents. All these aspects are influenced by the person’s culture which makes it likely that they will judge their communication with other people based on their cultural background.

The paper proceeds to discuss how nonverbal communication influences the way people from different cultural backgrounds react and communicate. There is a particular reference on how nonverbal communication differs in high contact cultures and low contact cultures as well. The body of the paper ends by asserting that more emphasis should be directed to helping people to understand the nonverbal aspects of different cultures since most of the communication between people occurs through this means and has a greater impact compared to verbal communication.

Conclusion (end)

The paper concludes that globalization has led to an increase in the intensity and frequency of contact between people from different cultures across the world. The paper also concludes that effective intercultural communication can be achieved if people who come into contact with foreign cultures like tourists, businessmen and international students strive to build their cultural competence. One of the best ways of becoming culturally competent is to learn a lot about the verbal and nonverbal communication aspects of different cultures so that it becomes easy to make correct interpretations of the different communication norms and styles.

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