A final way to enhance your intercultural communication competence is to adjust your interpersonal communication to mesh with the behaviors of people from other cultures. According to Communication Accommodation Theory, people are especially motivated to adapt their communication when they seek social approval, when they wish to establish relationships with others, and when they view others’ language usage as appropriate (Giles, Coupland, & Coupland, 1991). In contrast, people tend to accentuate differences between their communication and others’ when they wish to convey emotional distance and disassociate themselves from others. Research suggests that people who use communication accommodation are perceived as more competent (Coupland, Giles, & Wiemann, 1991; Giles et al., 1991).
Research suggests that people who use communication accommodation are perceived as more competent.
How does this work in practice? Try adapting to other people’s communication preferences (Bianconi, 2002). During interactions, notice how long a turn people take when speaking, how quickly they speak, how direct they are, and how much they appear to want to talk compared to you. You may also need to learn and practice cultural norms for nonverbal behaviors, including eye contact, head touching, and hand shaking, such as those Sue taught Walt in Gran Torino.
For an overview of ways to create intercultural communication competence, see Table 5.1.
Table 5.1 Creating Intercultural Communication Competence
| 1. Understand the many factors that create people’s cultural and co-cultural identities. |
| 2. Be aware of the different cultural influences on communication: individualism and collectivism, high- and low-context, uncertainty avoidance, emotional displays, power distance, masculinity and femininity, and views on time. |
| 3. Embrace world-mindedness to genuinely accept and respect others’ cultures. |
| 4. Acknowledge attributional complexity to consider the possible cultural influences on your and others’ communication. |
| 5. Use communication accommodation when building and maintaining relationships with people from different cultural backgrounds. |
LearningCurve
Chapter 5
We began this chapter with a Latina CEO and a cake bigger than a cup. When Helen Torres’ mother misinterpreted a request from another parent, a chain of events was set in motion that led Helen to study interpersonal communication, earn undergraduate and graduate degrees, and eventually create one of the most powerful Latina leadership organizations on the West Coast. Helen’s interpersonal communication education, coupled with her real-world experiences interacting with diverse others, has provided her with the knowledge and skills necessary to collaborate with powerful people on behalf of individuals in need.
What challenges have you faced in communicating across cultures? How might those challenges have been surmounted? Armed with interpersonal communication knowledge and skills, you need never again view cultural differences as barriers to connection, but instead as opportunities to build bridges with others who are as unique as you are.