Hunan Cross Cultural Education

Glossary of Cross-Cultural Communication Terminology | Part Two

• Endogamy — a sociological rule requiring a person to select a mate from within a culturally defined group of which both are members
• Eskimo kinship system — a bilateral, linear kinship system
• Ethnocentrism — the practice of interpreting and evaluating behavior and objects by reference to the standards of one’s own culture rather than those of the culture to which they belong
• Ethnography — the descriptive study of human societies
• Ethnohistory — the cultural history of a people
• Ethnology — comparative ethnography
• Ethnoscience — a linguistic approach to the study of nonverbal culture
• Ethnotheology — a discipline concerned with the deculturalization and contextualization of theology
• Exogamy — a sociological rule requiring that potential mates come from different culturally defined groups
• Experimental design — a methodology used to control various factors in an experimental study
• Extended family — a living arrangement in which two or more related nuclear families share a household
• Family of orientation — the family one is born into
• Family of procreation — the family one forms by marriage
• Fictive ties — socio-legal kinship relationships
• Folkways — low-level norms such as customs and manners
• Foraging — food acquisition by gathering naturally growing foodstuffs
• Formal government — an independent system or social institution set up for the purpose of governing
• Fraternal polyandry — a marriage arrangement in which a woman marries a man and his brothers
• Functional equivalent — something in one culture that performs the same function as something else in another culture
• Government — a society’s mechanisms and structures for the maintenance of order and communal decision making
• Group — a unit of two or more people involved in communication and interrelationship and having “unit awareness”
• Hawaiian kinship system — a bilateral, generational kinship system
• Horizontal status — a status on the same level or having the same rank as another
• Horticulture — intensive types of agriculture involving killing certain plant growth and planing other plant growth with higher food value
• Hunting — the catching and killing of wildlife for food
• Hypothesis — a statement to be tested by a scientific methodology
• Idiolect — an individual usage of a language
• Incest taboo — the prohibition against mating with or marrying kinsman
• Inclusive groups — groups in which membership in one group means inclusion in another group
• Independent variable — a factor that is varied in an experimental study
• Informal government — a governmental system based on an already-existing system such as the kinship system
• Iroquois kinship system — a unilateral, linear kinship system
• Kinesic communication — the transmission of messages by body movements
• Kinship — a network of family relationships
• Kin term — a specific term in a specific language used to refer to a kin type
• Kin type — an abstract concept of a relationship that can be described in every culture

Ways of Interacting: The Social Structures

Every message is “encoded” and “decoded” around seven main areas of human experience. Let’s look at “The Social Structures” which are the ways that people interact socially.

People function with rules which govern who talks to whom, when, and how.

This element is compounded by the issues of primitive, transitional, or urban settings and how each of these affect the cultural cohesion of a given society.

For example, in Malaysia two candidates for a political office ran very different campaigns: one was Western in his approach and “took the message to the people.” The other candidate did little public campaigning and focused on influencing the cultural leaders or opinion makers. The latter candidate won.

Feel free to comment on this post with any points / counter-points, questions, or illustrations.

Glossary of Cross-Cultural Communication Terminology | Part One

• Acculturation — the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge and skills that enable them to more or less function in a second culture
• Achieved statue — a status obtained through choice and achievement
• Adjudication — the process involving delegating decisions to others
• Affinal ties — kinship relationships by marriage
• Animism — the religion of primitive people based on a belief in a spirit world
• Anthropology — the study of man as a biological, psychological, and sociological culture bearing being
• Archaeology — the study of the artifacts of prehistoric societies
• Artifact — any portion of the material environment deliberately used or modified for use by man
• Ascribed status — a status that society assigns to an individual, usually based on characteristics of birth such as race and sex
• Assimilation — the total adaptation to a new culture
• Avunculocal residence — a living arrangement by which a married couple live with the brother of the wife’s mother
• Behavioral sciences — those sciences that study human behavior, including anthropology, psychology, and sociology
• Bilateral descent — descent traced through both parents
• Clan — a consanguinely related group, patrilineal or matrilineal, believing in a common descent
• Clinical design — the application of anthropology to a social problem
• Cognitive anthropology — the study of the organizing principles underlying behavior
• Community — a corporate body sharing sociopolitical identity and a geographic area
• Compartmentalization — a psychological process by which a person boxes off conflicting things from each other
• Consanguine ties — kinship relationships based on biological relationships
• Container — a tool used to sore matter or energy for a length of time while preserving it from loss or contamination
• Converter — a tool that changes one kind or form of matter or energy into another
• Cross cousin — the child of one’s parent’s sibling of the opposite sex
• Cultural anthropology — the branch of anthropology concerned with the study of existing human cultures
• Cultural determinism — the approach to human behavior that sees culture as the determining factor of behavior
• Cultural relativism — the approach to an interpretation and evaluation of behavior and objects by reference to the normative and value standards of the culture to which the behavior or objects belong.
• Culture — the learned and shared attitudes, values, and ways of behaving of a people; also the artifacts of the people
• Culture complex — a cluster of related culture traits seen as a single unit
• Culture shock — the reaction experienced by an individual who comes to live in a new and different culture
• Culture trait — the smallest unit of culture; individual acts characteristically done by members of a culture
• Dependent variable — the observed factor in an experimental study
• Deviance — behavior that violates normative rules
• Dialect — a variation of a language
• Economics — the production, distribution, purchase, and consumption of goods and services
• Educational anthropology — the comparative study of socialization and enculturation processes
• Enculturation — the process by which individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values that enable them to become more or less functioning members of their society.

Ways of Channeling Communication: The Media

Every message is “encoded” and “decoded” around seven main areas of human experience. Let’s look at “The Media” which is how communication is channeled or is carried between the transmitter and the receiver.

A medium of communication is “the means by which messages in the forms of verbal and non-verbal codes are conveyed to respondents.”

Simple media are things like diagrams, models, mimes, conversation, speeches, gestures, etc.

Syndetic media refer to books, films, radio, video, TV, drama, the Internet, etc. because these require “multiple communication skills and combine simple media, usually with the objective of effectively conveying a message to a wider audience.”

Cross-Cultural communicators must divest themselves of the notion that reception of the information is the same everywhere irrespective of the medium used to relay the message. The medium does affect perception of the message and must be chosen carefully.

Technological tools (hardware) for conveying the message are not neutral. They also affect the way the message is received.

Feel free to comment on this post with any points / counter-points, questions, or illustrations.

Ways of Acting: The Behavioral Patterns

Every message is “encoded” and “decoded” around seven main areas of human experience. Let’s look at “The Behavioral Patterns” which are the ways that people conduct themselves.

Non-verbal communication through action (and/or body language) augments verbal communication and either enhances the encoding/decoding process or confuses it.

For example, Americans often insult Thai friends by sitting in such a way as to show the bottom of one’s shoe to the respondent. The sole of a shoe is dirty and insulting to many.

Feel free to comment on this post with any points / counter-points, questions, or illustrations.

Ways of Expressing Ideas: The Linguistic Form

Every message is “encoded” and “decoded” around seven main areas of human experience. Let’s look at “The Linguistic Form” which is the way people express ideas.

Linguistic structures tend to reflect what is significant in a given culture.

For example, European cultures tend to be very time oriented and have complex verb structures. Many African tribal languages reflect less emphasis on time in their verbal patterns (and even a lack of future tense in some).

Learning a language goes far beyond one-to-one word associations - - it involves cultural meanings and value systems as well.

Feel free to comment on this post with any points / counter-points, questions, or illustrations.

Ways of Thinking: The Cognitive Process

Every message is “encoded” and “decoded” around seven main areas of human experience. Let’s look at “The Cognitive Process” which is the way people think.

Three major thinking patterns;

• Conceptual = postulate thinking; abstract; inclined toward inductive logic (linear)
• Psychical (psychological) = intuitive; instinctual; emotive; inclined toward being alogical.
• Concrete relational = object oriented; applicative; inclined toward deductive logic (cyclical).

Feel free to comment on this post with any points / counter-points, questions, or illustrations.

Ways of Perceiving the World: The World view

Every message is “encoded” and “decoded” around seven main areas of human experience. Let’s look at “The World View” which is how people perceive the world around them.

The complex of ideas and assumptions that explain the way things actually are in relation to human experience. This explanation provides the “story fabric” for functioning in life in a productive manner.

An example of how “world view” can play into communication would be the collective (Asian) vs. individualistic consciousness (American). American’s commonly think and process information in a very independent, individualistic manner. However, Asians typically are more collective in their decision making. When faced with a decision, Asians are more likely to involve family, friends, classmates and colleagues in their decision making.

The student of cross-cultural communication must be aware of his own world view and that it’s components may be shared only in part or not at all with his audience’s.

Feel free to comment on this post with any points / counter-points, questions, or illustrations.

I’ll be traveling to Hong Kong for a few days.  I always appreciate any trip I make to Hong Kong because it is such a ripe location to observe cross-cultural interactions.   On top of that, Hong Kong is a city that never sleeps - there is always something going on there.  That is great for night owls like me!

Not much traffic here at this blog - maybe that will change one day?!Now in Changsha, they know traffic!