INTERVIEW 2 PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO CULTURAL GROUPS OTHER THAN
YOUR OWN SO THT YOU REFLECT ON AND ANLAYZE YOUR INTERCULTRUAL
COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE AS WELL AS THE IMPORTANCE OF
CULTRUAL DIVERSITY AWARENESS. AS PART OF YORU ANALYSIS , SYOU
SHOULD APPLY CONCEPTS FROM YOUR STUDIES SPECIFICALLY SHOULD
DRAW ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF FIVE DIMENSIONS OF CULUTRE AS
PRESENTED BY ENGLEBERG AND WYNN (2015) AND HOW THEY AFFECT
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION, AS PRESENTED IN THE
COMMUNICATION AND DIVERSITY LESSON
CRITERIA
INFO FROM 2 PEOPLE FORM CULTURE OTHER THAN CAUSCASION AMERICAN
ARE PRESENTED IN THE ESSAY
THE IMPORTANC EO FONES SSEOF-CONCEPT TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNIC
ATION IS THOUGHTFULLY CONSIDERED
THEORIES AND CONCEPTS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION ARE APPLIED
EFFECTIVELY
PRINCIPLES SPEDIFIC TO EFFECTIVE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
AREAPPLIED EFFECTIVELY
THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY SEINSITIVITY IS ADDRESSED
PROPERL APA FORMAT USED AND SCHOLARLY SOURCES ARE
APPROPRIEATELY CITED AND SOURCED
PAPERE DEMONSTRATES EFFECTIVE WRITTEN COMMUNICATION WITH
REGARD TO : CONTENT, ORIGNIZATION, DEVELOPMENT, GRAMMAR AND
MECHANIICS
Intercultural Interview Paper
It has been fascinating to analyze my perception of intercultural communication as a
distinctive Caucasian American. It has been interesting to familiarizing myself with two other
cultures. According to Dr. Hardiman, people just like fish in an aquatic setting, so do people
encircled by Whiteness. It is simple to contemplate in reality instead of identifying a specific
culture of a certain group (Engleberg & Wynn, 2016). The Whites are only aware of their culture
when they interact or get to understand the culture of a different color, just like the fish becomes
aware of water when it gets out of it. Hardiman’s perception sheds some light on the way
Americans, like I am, stagnate in cultural perceptions. The rationale of the assignment is to
broaden the focal point and break the barriers of intercultural communication through an
examination of the main societal variations of two different cultures.
My first interviewee is Michael Joseph (Joseph, 2020). Joseph is a university professor
living in San Roque and his late thirties of age. San Roque is a British Territory overseas situated
in the Iberian Peninsula towards the southern end. Joseph described himself as having some
Latin influence but a British. Laban Blair is the second interviewee in his later sixties, lives in
Iceland, and works as a software developer (Blair, 2020). Blair is a Caucasian that associates
himself with the traditions and cultures of Icelandic. I will evaluate the way different cultural
dimensions affect intercultural communication based on the five cultural dimensions by Dr.
Hofstede.
Collectivism and individualism is a representation of the extent through which culture
depends on and the allegiance to a group or self (Engleberg & Wynn, 2016). The concept has
been the most influential concerning intercultural communication. Individuals build how they
perceive and think of the world grounded on their perception of relationships. Joseph and Blair
were asked, “What is the meaning of life to you?” Blair responded that majority of the Icelanders
trace their origin to the Viking Era, and most of them regard their more than forty generations
back as their family descendants and ancestors. The close family members include the nephews,
nieces, uncles, and aunts. Joseph considers a family as being constituted of the extended and
nuclear family. Joseph went ahead to indicate that friends are as well grouped as family. The
finding was interesting because of the societal inspirations of Great Britain in San Roque.
Power distance is another communication barrier in various cultures. Power often
depends on factors like socioeconomic class, especially the ones with high power distance. For
instance, a person from a culture with high power distance like Malaysia is likely to
communicate differently compared to another person from a high power distance nation such as
Austria. Nonetheless, Blair reveals that he was brought up with a heightened perception of
equality that considers women and men as being equal and revealed that he was not familiar with
status. On the other hand, the Icelandic state differs from America and contains a collaborative
setting.
Iceland possesses a multi-party system meaning that the government has a coalition.
Therefore, individuals should find a compromise and have to work. Joseph demonstrated the
same perception of equality and felt that his culture often aims to reduce societal inequalities. It
is clear that the cultures of San Roque and Icelandic ranks low concerning power distance.
Additionally, the interviewees emphasized the benefit of comradery. There is a notable variation
between Malaysian classes and the Australian one (Engleberg & Wynn, 2016). The context of
things deemed appropriate is very different despite the same environment. The power distance of
our culture plays an integral role in the way we communicate with our superiors and peers.
Gender expectation is a dimension that aims to identify essential gender expectations and
role behaviors. Until this far, both Blair and Joseph have expressed almost the same views.
However, the cultural standards were different about the cultural perceptions of gender
expectations. Joseph indicated that he belongs to a culture characterized by masculine qualities
because he associates his culture with the influence of Great Britain. Joseph also demonstrated
the benefit of success, especially from the father, which now mirrors that of the entire family.
The emphasis in San Roque is not necessarily on happiness but on how well a person attains
status.
On the contrary, Blair perceives gender expectations to assume a feministic viewpoint.
Blair says that he was brought up in a family that has a strong feeling of equality where women
and men are equal and nothing like status in the family. There is a perception from the website in
UAE on visiting a Muslim nation. On shaking hands, women are supposed to wait until the men
spread their hand, but Muslim men (Pious) are prevented from shaking hands with the women
(Engleberg & Wynn, 2016). The practice is seen as a primary communication barrier between
the interviews based on the gender expectation variations.
The interviewees maintained the same opinion in terms of the orientation dimension. For
instance, the culture of Blair is almost similar to that of America and grouped as a normative
culture. Blair reveals that time is valuable, where people are not supposed to be late for a
meeting regardless of the size. Blair also explains the benefit of traditions in the entire culture.
He says that Christmas is considered as a vital holiday event in their Icelandic culture. The time
daylight lasts for four hours because of its location, therefore, the Christmas lights mean
differently during the dark winter period. The Christmas tree is always decorated on 23 rd
December and the celebrations often beings at six o’clock in the evening of 24 th December.
Joseph responded to the issue of time orientation with a somehow lax perspective
compared to Blair. Ideally, Joseph’s culture offers room for interpretation in reference to
timeliness and never seen as disrespectful for being late apart from formal events. I have a
feeling that it is good to be punctual to any appointment or event irrespective of importance.
However, it would be hard for me to admit Joseph’s perception of time in another circumstance.
I believe that the cultural dimension based on Hofstede allowed me to learn the reason culture
perceives time variably. It is essential to learn that societies that are neither long-term nor short-
term are right, but instead, they are different.
The low-high context is a dimension that the interview sought to establish between the
two cultures. The dimension indicates the way a particular culture should express its opinion.
Joseph and Blair were accustomed to the concept of low and high by Hofstede, and both fall in
the low-context group. American culture is a low-context group, therefore, I can relate to the
viewpoints concerning this dimension. In essence, they both expressed the benefit of verbalizing
an idea and not leaving anything for interpretation. The two cultures seem to be pragmatic and
define rules clearly compared to a society that is a high-context group. Most American, like me,
applies explicit verbalization without interpreting high-context communication. In my view, the
dimension evaluates a prevalent communication barrier in various cultures.
In conclusion, I have learned of various variables that impact communication in various
cultures, including collectivism and Individualism, power distance, gender expectations, time
orientation, and low-high context. Individuals of different cultures surround people. People
should embrace their culture to appreciate that of others. Mindfulness offers a person the
motivation and chance to adapt, respect, and understand others. A strong self-concept deepens
the understanding of intercultural communication.
References
Blair, L. (2020). Intercultural Interview [In person]. New York.
Engleberg, I., & Wynn, D. (2016). THINK Communication eBook (3rd ed.). P. Ed Custom
Books.
Joseph, M. (2020). Intercultural Interview [In person]. New York.