Intercultural Communication In Contexts Ch. 2

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worldview

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Underlying assumptions about the nature of reality and human behavior.

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proxemics

Back 2

The study of how people us epersonal space.

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distance zones

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

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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.

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diversity training

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The training meant to facilitate intercultural communication among various gender, ethnic, and racial groups in the U.S.

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Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

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The assumption that language shapes our ideas and guides our view of social reality. This hypothesis was proposed by Edward Sapir, a linguist, and his student, Benjamin Whorf, and represents the relativist view of language and perception.

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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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interdisciplinary

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Integrating knowledge from different disciplines in conducting research and constructing theory.

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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.

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perception

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the process by which individuals select organize, and interpret external and internal stimuli to create their view of the world.

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social science/functionalist approach

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A study of intercultural communication, also called the social science approach, based on the assumptions that
1) there is a describable external reality
2) human behaviors are predictable and
3) culture is a variable that can be measured.
This approach aims to ID and explain cultural variations in comm. & to predict future comm.

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quantitative methods

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

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variable

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A concept that varies by existing in different types or different amounts and that can be operationalized and measured.

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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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collectivistic

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The tendency to focus on the goals, needs, and views of the ingroup rather than individuals' own goals, needs, and views.

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anxiety uncertainty management theory

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

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face negotiation theory

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The view that cultural groups vary in preferences for conflict styles and face-saving strategies.

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conversational constraints theory

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

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communication accommodation theory

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The view that individuals adjust their verbal communication to facilitate understanding.

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diffusion of innovations theory

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The view that communication and relationships play important roles in how new ideas are adopted (or not) by individuals and groups

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translation equivalence

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The linguistic sameness that is gained after tanslating and back-translating research materials several times using different translators.

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conceptual equivalence

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The similarity of linguistic terms and meanings 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 grops 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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ethnography

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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.

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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 participants observation and field studies.

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participant observation

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A research method where investigators interact extensively with the cultural group being studied.

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rhetorical approach

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A research method, dating back to ancient Greece, in which scholars try to interpret the meanings or persuasion used in texts or oral discourses in the contexts in which they occur.

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etic

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

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emic

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

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Afrocentricity

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

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critical approach

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

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macrocontexts

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

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textual analysis

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

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postcolonialism

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

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hyprid identity

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

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social reproduction

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The process of perpetuating cultural patterns.

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dialectical approach

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An approach to intercultural communication that integrates three approaches - functionalist (or social science), interpretive, and critical - in understanding culture and communication. It recognizes and accepts that the three approaches and interconnected and sometimes contradictory.

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processual

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Refers to how interacting happens rather that to the outcome

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dialectic

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1) A method of logic based on the principle that an idea generates its opposite, leading to a reconciliation of the opposites;
2) the complex and paradoxical relationship between two opposite qualities or entities, each of which may also be referred to as a dialectic.