Reason for cross‐cultural communication training

Abstract

According to Ribeau, Baldwin, and Hecht, communication is an interactive event during which persons assign meaning to messages and jointly create identities and social reality. In communications between co-cultures, the assignment of meaning to symbols requires the interpretation of those messages and adapting to the social aspect of each individual co-culture. A number of problems can occur because of ethno-cultural factors such as those that reflect values, beliefs, and norms and symbolic meaning.One way to describe effective communication is that which is productive and satisfying to both the communicator and communicatee. It is appropriate that we follow rules and expectations of each participant in the communication. Due to cultural differences, however, the rules and expectations of the participants may differ.Effective communication is compromised when problems or misinterpretations exist between the co-culture and the majority culture in the USA which is European American. Effective communication between co-cultures is an increasingly significant concern due to changes in the demographics of the US population, and consequently its workforce and consumer market. In this article, we examine the demographic changes in the US population and look at communication and culture to make crosscultural communications more effective by resolving the problems that occur when communicating between co-cultures. Demographic changesThe demographics of the US population have changed. According to the 2000 census, African Americans account for 12.3 percent of the population, a 15.6 percent increase from 1990. Asian-Americans account for 3.6 percent of the population, a 48.3 percent increase from 1990. And Hispanic Americans account for 12.5 percent of the population, an increase of 57.9 percent from 1990. Even greater change in the population is expected in the years to come. The 1999 census data published by the US Census Bureau projected the white, non-Hispanic population to decline from 71 percent to just over 60 percent over the next 20 years. Of the new entrants into the US workforce, 85 percent will be minorities, women, and immigrants.

Effective use of Language by Managers in Diverse Workforce

“…An emphasis has been laid on the need for training programs where organizations host employees from various cultural backgrounds. A guideline for training programs has been provided by Nixon and Dawson (2002) based on their study of three major co-cultures in the United States. They propose that for communication to be effective, it is essential to consider the problems that might arise while communicating between the various co-cultures.…”

The impact of cross-cultural communication on collective efficacy in NCAA basketball teams

“…Cross-cultural communication occurs both cross-nationally and intra-nationally. It thus refers to communication between individuals from different countries, or it may refer to communication between individuals from the same country but from different ‘co-cultures’, with different ethnic identities and traditions (Nixon and Dawson, 2002).…”

The Influence of National Culture on Effectiveness of Safety Trainings During Postdisaster Reconstruction

“…Another problem is the literacy levels of recently arrived foreign-born Hispanic workers: a significant portion of these workers are illiterate even in their own language-rendering written manuals less successful. There is ample evidence that the typical training in a host country may not be effective in training workers from another country and culture (Albert, 1996;Grieshop, Stiles, & Villanueva, 1996;Nixon & Dawson, 2002;Taylor, Serrano, Anderson, & Kendall, 2000). Furthermore, there are multiple variations in Spanish-language patterns across Hispanic/Latino construction workers' varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds.…”