These major variables offer a simple frame of reference for examining culture and understanding its major characteristics. Cultural variables are differences in behavior, outlook and values between people from different societies. Body language, styles of humor and attitudes toward family, authority figures, religion, gender roles and time can all be very different in different cultures. Cultural richness includes diversity in anything that has to do with how people live: music, art, recreation, religion or beliefs, languages, dress, traditions, stories and folklore, ways of organization, ways of interacting with the environment, and attitudes toward other groups of people.
When we interact in cross cultural situations, a lack of awareness can lead to bad or poor decisions. Cultural awareness helps us reduce the chances of making bad decisions and increases the chance of us making more insightful, considered decisions. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.
Skip to content Home Essay How does culture affect verbal communication? Ben Davis May 1, How does culture affect verbal communication? They may die out, or may become incorporated into the mainstream as part of this ongoing evolution of culture.
While there are specific differences to each culture, generally speaking, cultures share a number of traits, such as a shared language or linguistic marker, definition of proper and improper behaviour, a notion of kinship and social relationship i.
Culture and society, though similar, are different things. Cultures are defined by these learned behaviours and schemas. Societies at their simplest can be defined as groups of interacting individuals.
And thus we come back to the role of communication within culture. The idea of culture as something that is shared means that it is vital to understand culture and communication in relation to one another.
The relationship between culture and communication, in all its forms, is tightly interwoven and interlinked. We can see that communication enables the spread and reiteration of culture. Both communications and the media propagate the values and schemas of a culture through the repeated interaction and exchange enabled by the communications process.
Notice the emphasis on repeated there: it is not in single instances of communication that culture is made, but rather in the repeated exchange of information and the reinforcement of the ideals and values it embodies, all conveyed within a particular moment.
One way we can think about this complex interplay is by looking at du Gay, et al notion of the circuit of culture. The circuit of culture is a way of exploring a product of a culture as a complex object that is affected by and has an impact on a number of different aspects of that culture.
Representation — how is the meaning conveyed to the audience, user, or co-communicator? For example, what does the colour pink represent in your cultural context? In some cultures, personal bonds and informal agreements are far more binding than any formal contract. In others, the meticulous wording of legal documents is viewed as paramount. High-context cultures Mediterranean, Slav, Central European, Latin American, African, Arab, Asian, American-Indian leave much of the message unspecified — to be understood through context, nonverbal cues, and between-the-lines interpretation of what is actually said.
By contrast, low-context cultures most of the Germanic and English-speaking countries expect messages to be explicit and specific.
The former are looking for meaning and understanding in what is not said — in body language, in silences and pauses, and in relationships and empathy. The latter place emphasis on sending and receiving accurate messages directly, and by being precise with spoken or written words. One communication trap that U. In sequential cultures like North American, English, German, Swedish, and Dutch , businesspeople give full attention to one agenda item after another.
In many other parts of the world, professionals regularly do several things at the same time. To her, it was all business as usual. In synchronic cultures including South America, southern Europe and Asia the flow of time is viewed as a sort of circle — with the past, present, and future all inter-related. Orientation to the past, present, and future is another aspect of time in which cultures disagree. Americans believe that the individual can influence the future by personal effort, but since there are too many variables in the distant future, we favor a short-term view.
Synchronic cultures have an entirely different perspective. The past becomes a context in which to understand the present and prepare for the future. Any important relationship is a durable bond that goes back and forward in time, and it is often viewed as grossly disloyal not to favor friends and relatives in business dealings.
And calm down! We need to analyze this, not get sidetracked by emotional theatrics. In international business dealings, reason and emotion both play a role.
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