9/23/2014

FHHM1022
Effective Communication Skills

Lecture 4
Interpersonal Communication
(Part 1)

Topics to be covered today:

What is Interpersonal Communication?

Intercultural Communication

Dominant Cultures & Co-Cultures

Barriers to Effective Intercultural Communication

- Intercultural Communication

What is Interpersonal Communication?

What is Interpersonal
Communication

- Level 2 of communication
- Interaction between 2 people
- Usually, the 2 people are
located at the same place
Example: 2 friends talking at the
restaurant while having lunch

- Can also occur even if physically

separated, as long as only 2 people
are involved
Examples:
* 2 friends chatting through Skype,
* a son talking to his mother on the handphone,
* writing a letter to a friend who is overseas

What is
Intercultural Communication?

Intercultural
Communication

Interactions that occur between

2 individuals whose cultures*
are different

What is Culture?
Culture: values, attitudes, beliefs, lifestyles,
family background and upbringing
prevalent among people in a society.

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When 2 individuals whose cultures are different

communicate with each other, communication
between them becomes difficult and the
communication between them is altered.
When cultures are very different, they clash and
often results in culture shock* and
misunderstandings.

Dominant Cultures &

CoCo-Cultures

culture shock: the psychological discomfort of

adjusting to a new cultural situation

Dominant cultures (macro culture)

attitudes, values, beliefs and customs
that a majority of people have in common
Eg. Malaysia: going to mamak stall, pasar malam

Co-cultures (micro culture / sub-culture)

cultural groups whose attitudes, values,
beliefs and customs differ from the
dominant culture

Major contributors to CoCo-Cultures include:include: Race

Ethnicity
Religion
Gender
Sexual orientation
Social class
Age

Eg. Malays, Chinese, Indians, Punjabis, Kadazans,

Baba-Nyonyas, Orang Asli, etc.

Communication between co-cultures (especially in

Malaysia) can also be difficult because co-cultures
can be very different from each other
Eg. Chinese Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, etc.
Indian Tamil, Telugu, Malayalee, etc. + cast

Barriers to Effective
Intercultural Communication

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Barriers to Effective
Intercultural Communication
Anxiety
discomfort or apprehension being in a different
culture
most people experience fear, dislike and distrust
when first interacting with someone from a different
culture

Stereotypes and prejudice

Stereotype: certain characteristics being
ascribed to a certain group of people that cover
up their individual differences
Prejudice: a rigid attitude based on group
membership that make us to think, feel or act in a
negative way toward another person or group

Assuming similarity or difference

people often assume that norms, values and
traditions in the new cultural environment will be the
same as their own
some also assume that norms, values and traditions
in the new cultural environment will be different from
their own

Ethnocentrism
the belief that ones own culture is superior to others

Incompatible norms and values

failure to understand / recognise other cultures
norms and rules that are different from our own

Incompatible communication codes

misunderstanding of language used and
communication styles among different cultures

Reference
Verdeber, K. S., Verdeber, R. F. & Sellnow, D. D.
(2010). Communicate. (International Student
13th ed.) Belmont: Wadsworth.
(pg. 112 116, 123 127).

~ to be continued ~