This document discusses intercultural communication and provides information on socio-cultural aspects that influence communication across cultures, such as cultural identity, gender roles, age identity, social class, and religious identity. It also lists characteristics of competent intercultural communicators and strategies for communicating across cultures, including developing cultural understanding, choosing words and actions that are culturally acceptable, avoiding stereotypes, and being polite and respectful of differences in social class and religion. The document provides examples of statements that display bias related to age, stereotypes, social class, and religion. It includes directions for creating a fictional country and discussing its citizens using guide questions about the country name, location, tourist attractions, and traits they are known for.

1. INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

2. Intercultural communication
pertains to communication
among people from different
nationalities.

3. Intercultural communication
happens when individuals
interact, negotiate, and create
meanings while bringing in
their varied cultural
backgrounds.

4. 1. Cultural Identity
2. Gender Role
3. Age Identity
4. Social Class
5. Religious Identity
Socio-Cultural Aspects of
Communication

5. 1. Cultural identity – refers to
the membership and acceptance
into a larger cultural group that
share a system of tradition, norms
and values. It involves the
people’s standards of appropriate
and inappropriate behaviour.

6. 2. Gender Role – is not
necessarily limited to male and
female. In some culture, dresses
and skirts are proudly worn by
men. While women, in another
culture, are not only seen nursing
children but they also run a
country or lead a nation.

7. 3. Age identity– refers to how
people feel and think about
themselves as they age. Not all
children are innocent and
childish, even adults are not all
matured and responsible.

8. 4. Social class– is the rank
assigned by the society to its members
according to their income, titles,
possessions, etc. peoples’ perception
of another’s social class affects the
way they communicate. Generally
speaking, the higher classes enjoy
more privileged roles, and the lower
classes are assigned manual labour.

9. 5. Religious identity– refers to
the active or inactive members of
various religious groups. Either way,
their religious beliefs, values and
world views are associated with their
way of life.

10. CHARACTERISTICSOFACOMPETENTINTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATORS
1.flexibilityandtheabilitytotoleratehighlevelsof
uncertainty
2.reflectivenessormindfulness
3.open-mindedness
4.sensitivity
5.adaptability
6.abilitytoengageindivergentthinking andsystems-
levelthinking
7.politeness

11. STRATEGIESINCOMMUNICATINGACROSS
CULTURES
1. Mindfulinterculturalcommunicatorsmust
developunderstandingofthevaluable
differencesandconsistentlyrecognizethe
similaritiestheyshare withthem.
2.Interculturalcommunicatorsmustmindfully
choosethesuitablewordsandactionsthat
areculturallyacceptabletoothers.

12. STRATEGIESINCOMMUNICATINGACROSS
CULTURES
3.Donottalkdownonyoungerpeopleandthe
elderly.
4.Besensitivetothereligiouspracticesofothers.
5.Avoidstereotypesorgeneralizationsabouta
certain group.
6.Bepoliteatalltimes;donotbelittlepeopleyou
perceivetobeonalowersocialclassthan
you.

13. STRATEGIESINCOMMUNICATINGACROSS
CULTURES
3.Donottalkdownonyoungerpeopleandthe
elderly.
4.Besensitivetothereligiouspracticesofothers.
5.Avoidstereotypesorgeneralizationsabouta
certain group.
6.Bepoliteatalltimes;donotbelittlepeopleyou
perceivetobeonalowersocialclassthan
you.

14. Directions:Readeachstatement.Ifitdisplaysbias,write
thesocio-culturalaspectbeingrepresented.
1. Youwon’tunderstandifIexplain;you’retooyoung.
2. Japanesepeoplearesorigidandstoic.
3. Don’tbuythoseshades;onlylow-classpeoplewear
those.
4. Mybeliefistheabsolutetruth.Otherreligionssimply
gotitwrong.
5. Manang,let’sgo,I’lltreatyou.Ibetyouhaven’teaten
sushiinyourentirelife.

15. 6.Allstaffmembershavetosubmittheirleave
requestsbeforethedayends.
7.Mybeliefistheabsolutetruth.Otherreligions
simplygotitwrong.
8.Manang,let’sgo,I’lltreatyou.Ibetyou haven’t
eatensushiinyourentirelife.
9.Catholicsandprotestantsdohavebig differences,
butwemustrespecteach other’sbeliefs.
10.You’retheyoungestpersoninthefamily,butI
trustthatyoucanhandlethesituationwell.

16. Createafictionalcountry. Discusswithyour
groupthegeneraldescriptionofyourcountryusing
thefollowingguidequestions:
1.Whatisthenameofthecountry?Whatareits citizens
called?
2.Isitanislandorisitland-locked?
3. Whatisitstouristattraction?
4.Whatisyourcountryfamousfor?
Whatarecitizensknown for?
5.Basedonthesegeneraltraits,createalistof5Dosand
Don’tswhichyourfictionalcitizensadhere.

17. Describethewaythesecitizensuselanguage,as
wellastheirgeneraltraits.Makesuretohavea
descriptionforthefollowing:
a.Behavior(Aretheyreserved?Loud?Generally
humorous?Do theysmilealot?)
b.Languageuse(Aretheytalkative?Soft-spoken?
Dotheyrarelyusepolitewords?
c.Nonverbalcues(Dotheythinkshakinghandsis
distasteful?)