Hispanics And Whites Communication Patterns

Communication is vital in today's society. Language and culture are referred to regularly on a day to day basis. America is the melting pot of the world and being able to recognize the significance cross-cultural dialogue is imperative to our growth as a civilization and in world diplomacy. "Learning a language without the cultural framework in which it exists is like cooking ethnic food without the spices of the region. You simply will remove all of the flavor from the language" (The Importance of Culture Language). When comparing mankind's encounter with another species to the personal interactions of different ethnicities and cultures shows how easily discussions can be misinterpreted, potentially leading to hostile

One’s culture is an important aspect to take into account when identifying why people communicate the way they do. “Culture means shared norms, values, and beliefs related to how people live and how people communicate” (Stewart, 2002, p. 25). People learn how to communicate from the people they are raised by and spend their time with, they adapt their ways of speaking, values, possibly even their attire. Specifically, “what it means to belong to a culture is to communicate in certain ways—to use certain expressions that members of other cultures don’t use, to prefer certain kinds of meetings, to honor certain styles of speaking, to maintain certain distances, to touch in certain ways, and so on” (Stewart,

Culture in the workplace can be a barrier that obstructs the good communication between people with different backgrounds. The main challenge that people face is language. This is because it is a very complex thing, and misuse of one word can change the meaning of the message. Also, hostile stereotypes can affect communication because the stereotypes only create a barrier of characteristics towards other people that prevents to have a good interaction. Behavior differences is also an obstacle to communication, this is because the cultures have guidelines of what is considered appropriate for their society. On the other hand, the demonstration of emotions is also considered a challenge, because what for some cultures is appropriate for others

A research study investigating the theory of communication accommodation might investigate how different culturals communicate with each other.

     Some employees at the law firm, understand that cross-cultural communication includes the ability to successfully form, foster, and improve relationships with members of a culture different from their own. It is based on knowledge of many factors, such as the other culture's values, perceptions, manners, social structure, and decision-making practices, and an

When I first learned my culture I was afraid that I would not be able to remember the guidelines and make mistakes. As I took notes on my new culture I realized that with practice it was easy to adapt to with the entire class learning it together and having instructions. When first going into the other culture(Alpha) I thought it would be easy, figuring they spoke English and spoke of men so highly. While I easily understood the main principles I lost focus on the small foundations of their culture and lost the value of what they believe in. When going into their culture another time the realization hit me that our communication was diverse in all matters. Communicating with the Alpha culture was difficult and I had to realize that what I thought was acceptable to talk about, was instead extremely rude. Such as talking about women was rude when speaking of men was important. Communicating with my own culture was easy and I did not offend them because I was “raised” on the values of the

Interpersonal communication held great prominence in daily human interactions, as it was a path to building a relationship and exchanging ideas and feelings. Although achieving a more effective communication would be the goal, there was no single answer to this pursue. A certain style of communication could be evaluated differently under various circumstances or in distinct cultures. Therefore, examining and reflecting on how one’s culture impacted each area that contribute to interpersonal communication was essential to gain a better understanding with cognitive complexity.

Through the use of technology and the expanding global marketplace, communication among different cultures occurs more often than ever. With the increasing cross-cultural communication, an understanding of cultural norms is essential to effective communication. Scholars disagree on the percentage of meaning derived from nonverbal communication, but they do agree that it carries substantial weight in the interpretation of messages (Burgoon, Guerrero, Floyd, 2010, pp. 2-3). Additionally, nonverbal behavior is strongly shaped by culture and co-culture, as different meanings are assigned to different behaviors varying by culture. “People rely heavily on nonverbal cues to express themselves and to interpret others’ communication. …when verbal messages contradict nonverbal ones, adults usually believe the nonverbal messages over the verbal ones and rely on nonverbal behavior to judge another’s attitudes and feelings” (Burgoon, Guerrero, Floyd, 2010, p. 3). With this knowledge, the importance of understanding sociocultural influences on nonverbal communication is central to effective communication when interacting among different cultures.

There are other ways miscommunication can happen while working with different cultures. A business company will not succeed working overseas is it does know about that certain culture. The effectiveness of nonverbal communication depends entirely on how it is interpreted and the user’s knowledge of cultural norms.

Businesses and business communication could be greatly impacted by cultural differences, especially when conducting business internationally or with people of various cultures. Understanding cultural differences is a key to succeed at communicating or conducting businesses since culture influences how people think, communicate and behave (Salacuse, 2005). Having a deep comprehension and adapting to a new culture become more significant when someone is traveling overseas to re-locate him or herself and work at a different country.

To study culture is to also study a people's means of communication—it is to investigate a group's way of life, to consider the thought processes behind the choices they make, and to realize the reasons and means by which they maintain their relationships. Communication and culture are inseparable due to the reality that one cannot exist without the other. This concept of acknowledging the connectedness of culture and communication is iterated in the Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication when William B. Gudykunst and Bella Mody use this quote by anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher Edward T. Hall, "Culture is communication and communication is culture" (Gudykunst & Mody, 2004, p.26).  The claim that communication and culture are invariably connected is supported by the universally understood truth that communication styles vary around the world due to differences in environmental contexts, the prevalence of regionally specific issues, and the value of relationships within a cultural group (Gudykunst & Mody, 2004). Examples of this phenomenon are the differences between the methods that people of the United States use to communicate with each other and the methods that people of other countries utilize to fulfill the same task. The discrepancies relating to verbal and nonverbal communication between different cultures prove that communication is cultural, and culture is built on communication.

Nowadays, it is found that the world is more connected and diverse in accordance with internalization and globalization which means that the world has become the one large village that everyone can communicate without regard to the time, location and cost even in business area. According to the rapid improvement of technologies and the change of time, many organizations have difficult task in relation to the importance of intercultural communication as each member of their organization have their own experiences, values, cultural backgrounds and languages throughout their life which lead them to see and perceive things in various ways. Misinterpretation of cultural differences and the lack of communication conflict

Different cultures shouldn’t come between the communications of people as everyone is equally the same. However everyone perceives things in different ways, especially when it comes to communicating. Many other cultures can misunderstand the context of a message they may receive, it could be perceived in a positive or a negative way. Some words and expressions we use in this country can have a very different meaning in another culture. This is where you need to be careful when communicating with cultural differences. It creates an impact on interpersonal communication because often some business deals between different cultures can effectively be lost due to the company/person not spending the time to get to know the culture of the

Intercultural communications are commonly displayed amongst cultures. Individual frequently identify themselves with certain ethnic groups. Typically, these identifications shape people actions within society. Therefore, to avoid conflict understanding other ethnic groups customs is imperative. Although individuals obtain different identifications that shape certain behaviors, learning other customs is necessary for intercultural communications.

Communication is unquestionably one of the most critical skills to refine. Communicating effectively and clearly in your own environment and comfort zone is challenging enough, and even more critical and challenging in an exponentially different culture. In this age of cultural diversity and Globalization is being able to communicate in the face of cultural diversity plays a more important than ever. Today in this essay I try to elucidate how cross cultural differences in communication can play havoc in our professional and personal life.