Intercultural Communication Ch. 2

Front 1

Afrocentricity

Back 1

An orientation toward African or African American cultural standards, including beliefs and values, as the criteria for interpreting behaviors and attitudes

Front 2

Anxiety Uncertainty Management Theory

Back 2

The view that the reduction of anxiety and uncertainty plays and important role in successful intercultural communication, particularly when experiencing new cultures

Front 3

Collectivistic

Back 3

The tendency to focus on the goals, needs, and views of the ingroup rather than individual goals, needs, and views

Front 4

Communication Accommodation Theory

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The view that individuals adjust their verbal communication to facilitate understanding

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Converstional Constraints Theory

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The view that cultural groups vary in their fundamental concerns regarding how conversational messages should be constructed

Front 6

Critical Approach

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A metatheoretical approach that includes many assumptions of the interpretive approach but that focuses more on macrocontexts, such as the political and social structures that influence communication

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Cross-Cultural training

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Training people to become familiar with other cultural norms and to improve their interactions with people of different domestic and international cultures

Front 8

Distance Zones

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The area, defined by physical space, within which people interact, according to Edward Halls theory of proxemics. The four distance zones for individuals are intimate, personal, social, and public

Front 9

Diversity Training

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The training meant to facilitate intercultural communication among various gender, ethnic, and racial groups in the United States

Front 10

Emic

Back 10

A term stemming from phonemic. The emic way of inquiry focuses on understanding communication patterns from inside a particular cultural community or context

Front 11

Ethnography

Back 11

A discipline that examines the patterned interactions and significant symbols of specific cultural groups to identify the cultural norms that guide their behaviors, usually based on field studies

Front 12

Etic

Back 12

A term stemming from Phonetic. The etic inquiry searches for universal generalizations across cultures from a distance

Front 13

Social Science Approach

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A study of intercultural communication, also called functionalist approach.
(1) There is a describable, external reality, (2)human behaviors are predictable, and (3) culture is a variable that can be measured

Front 14

Hybrid Identity

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An identity that is consciously a mixture of different cultural identities and cultural traditions

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Individualistic

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The tendency to emphasize individual identities, beliefs, needs, goals, and views rather than those of the group

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Intercultural competence

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The ability to behave effectively and appropriately in interacting across cultures

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Interpretive Approach

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An approach to intercultural communication that aims to understand and describe human behavior within specific cultural groups based on the assumptions that (1) human experience is subjective, (2) human behavior is creative rather than determined or easily predicted, and (3) culture is created and maintained through communication

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Macrocontexts

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The political, social, and historical situations, backgrounds, and environments that influence communication

Front 19

Paradigm

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A framework that serves as the worldview of researchers. Different paradigms assume different interpretations of reality, human behavior, culture, and communication

Front 20

Postcolonialism

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An intellectual, political, and cultural movement that calls for the independence of colonialized states and also liberation from colonialist ways of thinking

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Proxemics

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The study of how people use personal space

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Qualitative Methods

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Research methods that attempt to capture people's own meanings for their everyday behavior in specific contexts. These methods use participant obsrvation and field studies

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Quantitative Methods

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Reasreach methods that use numerical indicators to capture and ascertain the relationships among variables. These methods use survey and observation

Front 24

Textual Analysis

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Examination of cultural texts such as media, television, movies, journalistic essays, and so on