Examining Barriers to Cross Cultural Communication
Introduction
The increase in globalization and internationalization has seen a rise in the movement of students across borders. In particular, students from China, India, and South Korea are making their way to countries such as the United States. These students enhance the amount of diversity present in classrooms and campuses and widen the understanding as well as an appreciation of the differences that exist. However for the vast majority of international students, getting entry into universities and colleges in the United States can present significant life as well as cultural barriers. These challenges include difficulties with the language, trouble adjusting to the school culture, constant …show more content…
However, this learning and processes of testing are limited to memorizing words and how to use grammar and not to daily situations where they will face vernacular language. Chinese students, therefore, find it difficult to carry out aspects such as how to begin a conversation, which topics to speak on and how to talk in an informal manner (Russell et al., 2010). These students come to learn that even though they might be good at a particular language, it does not enable them to deal with some problems of culture, which create misunderstandings effectively. These individuals often find themselves using words and phrases that do not align with a certain context, creating the challenges that prevent them from developing any friendships or strong links with domestic students (Terui, 2011). As my own experiences, the first month I came to New York, I found that I can follow the professor during the class and I can order the food, I can buy the drinks or some other things. But it was so hard to catch up what local students are saying. Cause I do not understand some phrases and humor. That is why I found it difficult to develop the friendships with them. But I am still trying and I believe I will break the barriers in the …show more content…
There are also significant differences that occur across numerous cultures in the manner and the extent to which people make their communication based on context. According to Hall, meaning and context are linked to each other and contends that to have a firm understanding of communication, one needs to examine the meaning as will as the context (Birnbaum et al., 2012). Chinese culture is often high in context, and therefore students from this culture find Americans who are low context as abrupt in the manner in which they communicate. In most instances, American students will speak directly using all their words to convey what they mean the purpose of their words being to come to a conclusion. On the other hand, coming from a low context culture means that Chinese carry out a majority of their conversations with the aim of leaving some conclusion to the future, and therefore need to take part in more discussions to come to a decision. This has the potential of creating a challenge in communication especially since Chinese students are not taught to be direct (Beamer and Varner,
Introduction
The increase in globalization and internationalization has seen a rise in the movement of students across borders. In particular, students from China, India, and South Korea are making their way to countries such as the United States. These students enhance the amount of diversity present in classrooms and campuses and widen the understanding as well as an appreciation of the differences that exist. However for the vast majority of international students, getting entry into universities and colleges in the United States can present significant life as well as cultural barriers. These challenges include difficulties with the language, trouble adjusting to the school culture, constant …show more content…
However, this learning and processes of testing are limited to memorizing words and how to use grammar and not to daily situations where they will face vernacular language. Chinese students, therefore, find it difficult to carry out aspects such as how to begin a conversation, which topics to speak on and how to talk in an informal manner (Russell et al., 2010). These students come to learn that even though they might be good at a particular language, it does not enable them to deal with some problems of culture, which create misunderstandings effectively. These individuals often find themselves using words and phrases that do not align with a certain context, creating the challenges that prevent them from developing any friendships or strong links with domestic students (Terui, 2011). As my own experiences, the first month I came to New York, I found that I can follow the professor during the class and I can order the food, I can buy the drinks or some other things. But it was so hard to catch up what local students are saying. Cause I do not understand some phrases and humor. That is why I found it difficult to develop the friendships with them. But I am still trying and I believe I will break the barriers in the …show more content…
There are also significant differences that occur across numerous cultures in the manner and the extent to which people make their communication based on context. According to Hall, meaning and context are linked to each other and contends that to have a firm understanding of communication, one needs to examine the meaning as will as the context (Birnbaum et al., 2012). Chinese culture is often high in context, and therefore students from this culture find Americans who are low context as abrupt in the manner in which they communicate. In most instances, American students will speak directly using all their words to convey what they mean the purpose of their words being to come to a conclusion. On the other hand, coming from a low context culture means that Chinese carry out a majority of their conversations with the aim of leaving some conclusion to the future, and therefore need to take part in more discussions to come to a decision. This has the potential of creating a challenge in communication especially since Chinese students are not taught to be direct (Beamer and Varner,