Cultural Encounters and Intercultural Communication Ville Jakkula LUC Language Centre

Culture  Definitions  Dominant culture  Subcultures, co-cultures +Ethnocentrism

Culture: Definitions “Collective programming of the mind.” – Geert Hofstede

Culture: Definitions “The learned and shared values, behaviors and beliefs of a group of interacting people.” – Milton J. Bennett 1998

Culture: Definitions “A negotiated set of shared symbolic systems that guide individuals’ behaviors and incline them to function as a group.” – Chen & Starosta 1997

Approaching IC 1 Stereotypes 2 Pieces of information 3 Dimensions 4 Concepts and models 5 Theories

Stereotypes Simple auto-stereotype Projected auto-stereotype Projected hetero-stereotype Simple hetero-stereotype

Stereotypes 1 Simple auto-stereotype ”All Finns are honest and trustworthy.” 2 Projected auto-stereotype 3 Simple hetero-stereotype 4 Projected hetero-stereotype

Stereotypes 1 Simple auto-stereotype 2 Projected auto-stereotype “Spaniards consider us to be silent and shy” 3 Simple hetero-stereotype 4 Projected hetero-stereotype

Stereotypes 1 Simple auto-stereotype 2 Projected auto-stereotype 3 Simple hetero-stereotype “All Germans are punctual and scrupulous.” 4 Projected hetero-stereotype

Stereotypes 1 Simple auto-stereotype 2 Projected auto-stereotype 3 Simple hetero-stereotype 4 Projected hetero-stereotype “Brits see themselves as restrained and cultivated.”

Finnish stereotypes?

Dimensions I: Edward T. Hall HIGH LOW MONOCHRONIC POLYCHRONIC CONTEXT TIME

Dimensions II: Geert Hofstede INDIVIDUALISM VS. COLLECTIVISM POWER DISTANCE FEMININITY VS. MASCULINITY UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

Dimensions III: other approaches Grondona Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck Weaver

Cultural Adaptation: the U-curve Recovery stage Critical stage Conflict stage Honeymoon stage (Lysgaard, 1955)

Acculturation (Bennett) Denial Defence Minimalization Acceptance Integration Adaptation personal growth Bennett 1986

Intercultural Communication Competence

Surviving with a Foreign Language Avoid complex language Remember culture-bound meanings Repeat your message Ask & clarify Use familiar and concrete expressions Use multiple channels (NVC) Remember: misinterpretations are inevitable (Samovar et al.)