Impact of Communication on Cultural Diversity Essay Example
Introduction
Culture is commonly described as a people’s way of life and the customary beliefs that guide a group of people [REF]. Overtime I have seen other varieties or descriptions of culture. The Longman Dictionary defines culture as the “Language & Applied Linguistics of a set of people, attitudes, customs, behavior of a group in a social habit” [REF]. Culture can also be described as the origin of language, understood as the human capacity of complex symbolic communication, and the origin of complex culture is often thought to stem from the same evolutionary process in early man [REF]
Culture is beyond mere beliefs of people and must be recognized as an integrated set of norms or standards through which human behaviors and beliefs are organized. It is important that culture should be viewed as a form of knowledge, skill, beha
...vior and attitude, as well as material objects which are produced by people within the same society and transmitted from one generation to another. This confirms that culture and language are inseparable by nature. This means that people should always assume that every word have a specific meaning to which they are structured around. That is why cultural sensitivity makes it possible to share things with the same meaning without misperceptions. Even though, there has not been a perfect answer to explain why some cultures assign certain meanings and worth to a given set of event or act, while others don’t. However, it is always important that we cultivate an attitude of respect and appreciation for cultural diversity. Hence, this will help in promoting belief, strengthen the development of competencies, and facilitate the educational equity in the worth
of an individual (Pai, 1990).
Cultural diversity makes communication difficult since each individual has a different mindset. People has different cultures and that is why they will always have a unique language, different signs and symbols. With this uniqueness, comes a barrier to the meaning attached to their behavior, words and gestures. Culture also gives a room for biases, ethnocentrism and all manner of opinion. The difference between languages does not only entail differences in pronunciation or vocabulary, but also the difference in cultures of speaking. For example, other languages may use different styles of communication to address people of different genders including infants and children while this may not be the same for other cultures.
Cultural Diversity and Communication
Culture and communication are derived from different concepts but can also be linked together. Communication can be seen as the ability to share one another’s ideas and feelings, while culture can be absorbed and conveyed through giving quality communication [REF]. It is also inevitable to live in a society and maintain one’s culture without quality communication. Most times, cultures are developed when communicating with people from the same group; that is, communication is a channel of human interaction through which cultural characteristics are developed and shared [REF]. It is not surprising that individuals create cultures when they interact with one another in the same group or society, this shows that cultures are reproduced through social interaction. In that sense, culture has proven to be a product of social communication. Without communication and the channels through which communication is passed, it would be impossible to preserve and pass on any cultural characteristics between individuals from the same group. Therefore,
one can bodily say that culture is learned, shaped and transmitted through communication. The reverse is also the case; in the sense that; communication practices are largely developed and transmitted by culture.
[REF]. According to Shachaf, culture is a multidimensional concept that can be learned on several levels both internationally and nationally and through business communications. Individuals are likely to be influenced by a wide range of cultural factors which are: people’s ethnicity, organizational level, and national factors. This is why cultural diversity include is often associated with organizational, racial, sexual, professional, and national heterogeneity. Therefore, cultural diversity can be defined as heterogeneity of national cultures of team members which can be considered to come from various countries of residence.
Impact of Culture Diversity in Communication
Purposeful communication leads to learning new languages. This involves learning how to use the language words, and knowing the rules pertaining to that specific language and how it is supposed to be used [REF]. Applying this concept to cultural diversity makes it easy for one to recognize a language and understand how it is embedded in social practice (Kramsch, 1994). The diversity in communication and culture increases an awareness to show different ways through which cultures are intertwined with language whenever it is used (Kohler, 2003).
Cultural theories created on the basis of social anthropology, shows that languages are often perceived as a complex system and they reflect the meaning which are usually attached to human behaviors’ and how they are used. Therefore, for communication to flow swiftly, it is necessary to develop interest in knowing people’s cultural behaviors. People who intend to learn about different languages must recognize the need to learn
and understand the culture as well. In other words, striving to be interculturally competent involves more than just knowing about the other language, instead, it comprises learning to gain an understanding on how people’s culture shapes their views and perception and how it helps in forming people’s relationship with others. Therefore, learners need to familiarize themselves with how they can engage with others on the concept of linguistic and cultural diversity (Scarino and Liddicoat, 2009).
Cultural Diversity with Different Communities
According to some reports, most Americans seem to lay more emphasis on one’s self instead of group association. They tend to focus more on their self-image, self-awareness, self-esteem, self-expression, and self-actualization (Javidi and Javidi 1994). Thus, Americans seem to be influenced by languages only when it is designed to relate to one’s self. The same is not the case in other countries. For example, in most Eastern cultures, they are more influenced by languages as a group and not as an individualized concept (Yum 1994). There is a significant difference between the East Asian and the North American viewpoints on communication. The conflicting aspect of their social relationship solely lies on individualism. This has developed a diverse mindset towards their language choices and social choices in communication. When emphasis are laid on the concept of one’s self, more focus will be placed on personal interests and independence, but if the emphasis is laid on social relationships or collectivity, (Scollon, 1995 and Brown, 1994), the emphasis will be laid more on group values and interests of groups (Fenimore, 1997).
In Western culture/individualistic culture, people are more heterogeneous, which means that they are more diverse in terms of norms and
values, while in the Eastern culture, people are more homogeneous, which shows equality and unity. Therefore, developing a relationship, within these two cultures would have a unique approach since they are demanded to either conform to cultural norms and values as individuals or as a group. Cultural diversity also has a role to play in our styles or system of writing. For example, the Chinese system of writing is usually described as logographic, which means a system of writing in which each graphic symbol or character stands for a concept or a word (Geoffrey, 1994). For every Chinese character or logograph, it represents one single unit of meaning (morpheme) and a single piece of speech. This description can only match in the Chinese system of writing better than it would fit into a modern-day writing system. The modern-day writing system is described as morph syllabic, this is because a character generally represents a morpheme and a syllable unlike the Chinese system of writing. Also, the same character system can be used to signify the majority of dialects in Chinese language. While in English language, it is geared more towards the spelling system. This means that all the English words are merged from twenty-six letters, and there is a major link between all the words and how they are pronounced. On the other hand, every character is created from one method of six groups of the Chinese characters adding a little connection between every word and the way it is pronounced. The ability to communicate and share each other’s ideas and feelings poses the basis of all human contact. Therefore, cultures are easily maintained through healthy
communication. The major difference between culture and the language structure of Chinese and American are uniquely different not just because of their geographical distances but also because of their ethical roots.
Conclusion
In conclusion, cultural diversity encompasses dressing and having different languages, it also comprises different ways of thinking, our communication style and ways we manage situations. The concept of diversity may include discrimination, our various experiences with languages, parental status and geographic location.
Among several notions within the purview of diversity, we can also relate to diversity as learning from others, giving assistance and showing respect to people both with similar or different experiences. It is also critical to explain that being in a position where you would have to learn other people’s culture does not necessarily imply that one has to adopt the norms and practices of that other culture. Learning cultural diversity only offers us a medium which can help us learn how to manage any difficulties with cross-cultural clashes
