Module 4 – How to avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings in VET

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Cross-cultural misunderstandings may lead to an interruption of communication. In this module you will find some helpful content in order to overcome challenging cross-cultural encounters.By the end of the module you will know:

  • how to overcome the stumbling blocks in cross-cultural communication,
  • about different factors involved in an intercultural encounter,
  • how to judge the relevance of different factors involved in the intercultural encounter.

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It may be helpful to observe the following steps when challenges occur in cross-cultural relationships:

  • observe the situation actively,
  • describe the situation to yourself or somebody else,
  • remember that in another context, in another culture, what you experience can have a totally different meaning,
  • don’t judge what you see but try to find out what the disturbing behaviour really means in that culture,
  • listen actively, ask questions and be conscious of the fact that your cultural “map” will automatically lead you to filter and interpret what you hear,
  • try to understand the values, beliefs and attitudes of members of other cultures,
  • establish rapport by finding out commonalities,
  • save face – respect others and make yourself respected,
  • develop WIN-WIN solutions.

Applying these steps will help you to understand the other culture and to avoid coming to premature conclusions. As Alexander Thomas state “a certain degree of willingness and the ability to reflect on everyday encounters with dissimilar others is necessary for developing an awareness of intercultural learning and ultimately understanding the factors underlying appropriate and effective behavior in an intercultural encounter (applied intercultural ability). This constitutes intercultural competence” (Thomas 2010, 11).

[nextpage title=”Not all cross-cultural misunderstandings are a matter of culture”]

Give yourself a minute to reflect: If a teacher behaves in a domineering way – does this reflect his personality? If a participant in a training is smiling and friendly – does this reflect his culture? When a person is loud – is this behaviour only due to his personality?How we act and react is neither exclusively related to our personality nor to the situation we are experiencing nor is it only deducible from our cultural background. Our actions are a result of various concurrent elements:

  • individual disposition,
  • the situation and
  • cultural background.

(see for the attribution triangle: Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V., n.d.)

It is helpful to keep this in mind if we want to understand possible reasons why a misunderstanding with a person from another country has occurred.

When we try to understand why a misunderstanding with somebody from another country happened we should consider all three aspects by asking:

  • can I attribute the reason of the misunderstanding to the counterpart’s other culture?
  • Was the misunderstanding perhaps influenced by the situation?
  • Or was the misunderstanding rather due to the counterpart’s personality?

These questions help to determine and focus on each of the aspects (‘personality’ or ‘culture’ or ‘situation’) to better understand the aspect’s role in the whole intercultural encounter (https://www.ijab.de/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/PDFs/IKUS-Werkstatt/IKUS-CD_IMPULSE.pdf, see also Thomas (2005, 2010) on the importance of cultural aspects, perception of the situation as well as of the involved counterparts and the evaluation of the behaviour in cross-cultural encounters).

Example: Imagine a young participant from Syria in a training course. In Syria students are used to frontal teaching. A trainer gives all students the task to prepare role-play with role A and role B and asks them to perform it in their group. While all other students engage willingly in their task, the Syrian students accept only very reluctantly. One of the participants shows signs of severe stress during the acting.

To what aspects do you attribute the participants’ behaviour: cultural, individual or situational?

You might think that the behaviour is due to the participants’ cultural background. In some countries teaching can be very formal. So, indeed, their reluctance in engaging in a role play is probably due to their cultural learning habits. The signs of stress by one participant, however, may be explained by the participants introvert or apprehensive personality.

Preparing for the culturally diverse training room may require time and energy. It is helpful to exchange opinions, information and teaching methods with colleagues and with intercultural professionals. Trainers who take cultural complexities to heart will often become better trainers for BOTH culturally mixed and monocultural groups!

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Welcome to your M4_EN

Establishing rapport by finding out commonalities helps to overcome stumbling blocks in intercultural communication

Maintaining one’s own perspective helps to overcome stumbling blocks in intercultural communication

Being aware of the fact that we all have a ‘filter’ that leads us in our way of how we perceive the world helps to overcome stumbling blocks in intercultural communication

Sticking to the own interests helps to overcome stumbling blocks in intercultural communication

Observe a situation without interpreting it immediately helps to overcome stumbling blocks in intercultural communication

What can you do to overcome stumbling blocks in intercultural communication?

Choose strategies to overcome stumbling blocks in intercultural communication

What is necessary for developing an awareness of intercultural learning

How we act and react in intercultural encounters is

The attribution triangle helps to

[nextpage title=”References”]

Books and ArticlesBarna, L. M. (1991) ‘Stumbling blocks in Intercultural Communication’ in Samovar, A. and Porter, E. (eds.), Intercultural Communication. A Reader. 6st ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, pp. 345-353.

Thomas, A. (2005) ‘Kultur und Kulturstandards‘ in Thomas, A. and Kinast, E.-U. and Schroll-Machl, S. (eds)., Handbuch Interkulturelle Kommunikation Und Kooperation, 1, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, pp. 19-31.

Thomas, A. (2010) ‘Culture and cultural standards’ in Thomas, A. et al. (eds.), Handbook of Intercultural Communication And Cooperation, 2nd ed., Göttingen: Vanderhoek & Rupprecht, p. 22.

Links

Fachstelle für Internationale Jugendarbeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V. (n.d.) ed., Impulse aus der IKUS Werkstatt. [pdf] Bonn. Available at: https://www.ijab.de/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/PDFs/IKUS-Werkstatt/IKUS-CD_IMPULSE.pdf (Accessed 4.10.2018)