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Cultural Barriers In Communication Essay

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Communication is the process of conveying meaning to others. The purpose of communication is to exchange ideas, develop or dissolve relationships and conduct business. Figure 1 illustrates the communication cycle when the sender encodes the message and make use of various channels to bring the message across to reach out to the receiver. The receiver will then decodes and interpret the message. After the message was decoded, the receiver will respond by triggering a feedback to the sender through the channels of communication which eventually decoded by the sender. The desired communication cycle occurs when the meaning of sender 's message is in sync with the meaning of message decoded by the receiver. However, in transition of transmitting the meaning to others, there are various factors which act as the barriers in communication (Buzzle, 2013). When communicating across different cultures, misunderstandings and disagreements may arise due to the factors such as languages, communication styles and expectations. For example, showing "O" sign with the thumb and index finger means okay in United States. However, it represents …show more content…

Whereas in Hong Kong, as mentioned in determinants, English and Chinese are the official language in Hong Kong. About 88% of their citizens speak Cantonese and Mandarin (Hong Kong Tourism Board, 2015). When doing business in Hong Kong, managers have to localize and required to speak in the dominant language. For example, if the manager often interacts with the locals in Hong Kong, it will be beneficial to know Cantonese. Likewise, if the manager interacts with Chinese in mainland China, it will be advisable to know Mandarin. The Mandarin Chinese used in Hong Kong is sophisticated. A Chinese word character can have more than 3 different meanings. Hence, the Chinese will use non-verbal mode of communication to increase the clarity of the

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These include verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual communication:various types of comminucation Verbal communication This is the most generic form of communication and involves communicating through speech. It is important to use clear and concise language when communicating verbally, and to make sure that you are speaking at a pace that the other person can understand. Non-verbal communication This includes communication that is not verbal, such as body language, facial expressions, and gestures. It is important to be aware of your own non-verbal communication, as well as the non-verbal communication of others, to effectively

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These messages enclose information, and the senders of these messages intend particular meanings to reach the receiver of the message, who will then attribute a meaning to the message. The intended meaning may be varying from the meaning attribute to the message by the receiver. This is not only due to the words was used but also by the non-verbal messages that are also sent (Fielding, 1995). Heath (1997) stated that communication occurs in various ways and at diverse levels of awareness. Barber (1993, cited in Heath, 1997) states that communication is that sharing understandings and involves openness to the enquiry of another person, having attention, perception, receptivity and empathy towards that person.

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Within different cultures, members follow a set of strict rules that must be carried out properly when interacting with one another although they are not aware of these unspoken rules. One can become more aware of these actions when he steps out of the procedures set by his culture and behave opposite of what is expected in his culture. The act of behaving in an unexpected manner that is opposite of the norm to elicit a response is known as “Garfinkeling”, named after Harold Garfinkel (Agar, 1994, p.169). By Garfinkeling, I was able to demonstrate how eye contact and the lack of it can disrupt the sign that it carries of paying attention and also interrupt the symbolic system that takes place when asking for assistance. When Michael Agar (1994) speaks of a “sign”, he explains that it is made up of two parts, the “signifier” and the “signified”.

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For Chin community’s children, many people came to the United States at a young age that they barely know anything about their culture. It was hard for them to live in a mix-cultures because they are comfortable with the American culture, yet they also acquire to live with their parents’ culture. However, inside of their household, their parents taught them their culture’s tradition and show them certain part of the tradition. Those lessons make kids know about their own culture and be able to understand in many ways including language barrier that they have. Thous, a few children who did not learn their native culture also bear a hard time dealing with all these native-new-cultures things.

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Your organization as of late declared a "communicate in English-just" arrangement, and your manager has let you know not to ever communicate in Cantonese to your associates while at work. Second example is that if another client benefit position opens in your organization. You apply for the activity since it pays a higher pay and more customary work hours. Even though you are familiar with English, you are told by the chief that you can't be considered for the position since you talk with a Spanish articulation. Another representative who talks with a British articulation is met for the position.

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, this showcases the great importance of understanding this topic in order to have a clear communication process, since these can distort the meaning of the message. Although non-verbal expressions are present in every culture, their individual meanings and relevance are going to change from one to another, this is why it is important to not only recognize the overall value of this topic, but to study the different patterns of nonverbal communication from different cultures as well. Since we are studying to become international negotiators we have to be prepared to work in a multicultural environment, since it is very likely we will be working with people from other parts of the world. Understanding how others communicate and how we do it too and not to take everything at face value is primordial for us, since this will help us to minimize

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9. Communication PRESEMESTER KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING Describe your communication style? My communication style is direct and to the point yet respectful and open. I want to let others know exactly what I feel or think while being mindful of other opinions and open to suggestions and feedback. How are other people affected by how you communicate?

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