Podzygun o. Using Wikipedia as a research tool

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Solska Tetiana

Comprehension of Some Fundamental Variables and Cross-cultural Communication

All communication is cultural, each speaker entering a conversation is a representative of a certain cultural community, bearer of values, norms and principles of behaviour of a certain society, social group. Furthermore, communicants with various cultural backgrounds may have quite different ways of perceiving and comprehending the world and such fundamental variables as time, fate and destiny.

In Western cultures time tends to be seen as quantitative, logical and present-focused and often associated with money, here there is a great degree of reverence for efficiency and success. This approach to time is called monochronic and favors focus on one event or interaction at a time. In the Eastern, polychronous approach to time, the latter feels like it has no strict boundaries, therefore allows for several conversations in a moment with people speaking simultaneously [Michelle LeBaron,2003]. Thus, differences over time may lead to misunderstandings between communicants from Western and Eastern cultures, since their strategies of proceeding in negotiations vary. In addition, distinct approaches to time presuppose different organization of turn-taking (with one person speaking at a time in the monochronic approach and with overlapping turns as the norm in the polychronous approach), which may make communication challenging.

Another important variable, affecting cross-cultural communication is fate and personal responsibility, which refer to the degree one sees himself the master of his life versus the degree to which one feels subject to things outside his control. In the process of interaction the communicant with an emphasis on personal responsibility is likely to expect action and accountability, whereas the communicant with more emphasis on destiny’s role in human life may expect respect for the natural order of things.

Thus, cultural asymmetries in the comprehension of some fundamental variables may lead to deviations in cross-cultural dialogue and demand greater cultural fluency – awareness of the ways cultures operate in communication and conflict, and the ability to respond effectively to these differences [Michelle LeBaron, 2003] – for the communicants to avoid or move successfully through conflict.

Stepanova Irina