Cultural communication

Cultural relativism is the view that cultures are merely different, not deficient, and each culture’s norms and practices should be assessed only from the perspective of the culture itself, not by standards embraced by another culture. It is the idea that one cannot make judgments about a culture just because they are not a part of one's own. Outsiders should be able to see the cultural from a neutral perspective and not judge the culture before understanding it. Each culture should be viewed with respect and as an equal because no one culture is better than any other. They should be allowed to practice their own beliefs, what a cultures believes to be true, and values, a shared view about what is right. Cultural relativism emphasizes that ethnocentrism, which is the belief that one’s culture is superior to everyone else’s, should not be forced upon cultures, and cultures should remain unprejudiced toward each other. Cultural relativism is the moral and ethical way to look at different cultures.

Intracultural miscommunication draws on the fact that all humans subconsciously reflect their cultural backgrounds in day to day communication. Culture does not just lie in the way one eats or dresses, but in the manner in which people present themselves as an entity to the outside world. Language is a huge proponent of communication, as well as a large representation of one's cultural background. Cultural miscommunication often stems from different and conflicting styles of speech and messages. A perfectly normal intonation pattern for a native German speaker may seem angry and aggressive to a foreign listener. Connotations of words, as well as meanings of slang phrases, vary greatly across cultural lines, and a lack of tolerance and understanding of this fact often results in misinterpretations.

Non-verbal communication greatly varies across cultural lines. One must take the time to study different cultures so as to fully understand messages being transmitted. There are many aspects of non-verbal communication, such as gesture, facial expression and inter-personal space, that affect the way a message is construed.

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Wikipedia