Intercultural Communication to an Ordinary

Intercultural Communication

To an ordinary observer, intercultural communication, at hindsight, can simply be interpreted as a process of communication transpiring between, or even amongst, people of different cultural backgrounds. Samovar and Porter puts more depth on this as they describe intercultural communication or cross-cultural communication as a process which happens when message production is being done by a person from one culture -- of which the direct consumer would be a person form another culture, with the aim of having the message understood. Given the differences in terms of cultural backgrounds, misunderstandings are very likely to happen and so, to be able to reduce misunderstandings from happening -- the utility of intercultural communication is being highlighted (10).

Durga: A Foreign Student Classmate

In one of my classes during the freshman year, I've had the great fortune of meeting this tall, slender, olive-complexioned girl with really beautiful eyes. Her name is Durga and she hails from the Southern part of Asia -- New Delhi, India. She has been a constant seatmate of mine. During the first few sessions of the class, we talked about topics during our classroom discussion, projects, assignments and schedules but as time went on, we were able to discuss things more freely and openly. She'd tell me about India, about some differences she noted between India and the United States, about her people and culture, as I share to her my very own origin. During those conversations and the moments we hung-out together and with our other classmates have I noticed that this girl is a good multicultural communicator.

Sensitivity to Nonverbal Behavior

I observed how sensitive Durga is to both verbal and non-verbal communication. She once asked me if there is indeed sarcasm she sensed from a classmate's voice when answering to the teacher or is it simply attributable to the frank nature of Americans. But I observed that she is more observant when it comes to nonverbal behavior. Once, we were discussing about religion and how polytheistic her religion (which is Hinduism) actually is. She was narrating the nature of their religion when another classmate of ours (who was a self-proclaimed purist when it comes to her Christian faith) started discussing about why people should only worship one God etc. Instead of debunking, Durga silently listened and did not forget to mention that she respects our classmate's Christian faith no matter how different it is from hers. I asked her why she did not argue about her Hindu faith, of which she responded that she already sensed in our classmate's tone as well as hand gestures (this classmate kept on pointing to emphasize her arguments and even had a close fist) how passionate and sensitive that classmate is on the topic of religion. This particular instance also demonstrates Durga's clear understanding of diversity of personality and lifestyles. She told me that the moment she stepped here in America, she knew that things might be different from what she's been accustomed to. And she actually expected it, knowing that she'll learn a lot from it. She told me that even in India, people have different personalities, what she prepared herself more for, is the difference in terms of lifestyle such as religion, perspectives and attitudes towards life among others. She takes these differences very positively. She said that differences are meant not to invoke culture clash. Instead, differences are meant to educate people of the diversity of the world around us and to be more respectful and considerate of each other. Indeed I have learnt a lot of things from her.

On to nonverbal communication, I have also observed that Durga would look intently in my eye whenever we talk which somehow tells me how much of a sincere person she actually is. During conversations, when we'd talk about American culture, she never fails to give a comforting nod -- one which somehow tells me it is okay to talk about our culture, our liberal views, about areas in our culture which I know is distinctly different from hers. I also observed how she always keeps her tone in a mild, courteous manner regardless of who she talks to -- may it be a professor or simply a classmate.

Cultural Sensitivity

At this point, I wish to integrate Hall's proxemics, particularly the four distances people keep during social situations -- intimate, personal, social, and public (Hall in Matsumoto 6-7). When we'd walk in the campus, I observed the public distance Durga maintains. Durga also keeps social distance whenever she speaks to our professors or to classmates who are not part of our inner circle (those we don't regularly talk to/hang-out with) while I sense the personal distance she gives whenever our group hangs-out. We'd all sit near each other as we laugh together and Durga has no problem joining in.