Communication
1. Defining Communication 2. Characteristics of Communication
Defining Communication
It is difficult to find a single definition of human communication. Dance and Larson: 126.
Some cultures believe that they share a common pool of history and many similar experiences, they do indeed know what their partners are feeling and thinking. Yet in Western cultures, the lack of direct access to another’s mind places great demands on such communication behaviors as asking questions, engaging in self-disclosure, and over-verbalizing.
1. No direct mind-to-mind contact
The earth is a beehive; we all enter by the same door but live in a different cells. --------African proverb
Although the inability to have mind-to-mind contact is universal, the methods used to adjust to this limitation are culturally based.
Chapter 3 Communication
Communication is symbolic.
Symbols are central to the communication process because they represent the shared meanings that are communicated. Symbols are vehicle by which the thoughts and ideas of one person can be communicated to anther person.
2. Intentional and unintentional behavior
Two schools of thought
The first one describes communication as the process whereby one person deliberately attempts to convey meaning to another. Communication is systematic and planed. The second one believes communication takes place whenever people attach meaning to behavior, even if the sender of the message does not expect his or her actions to be communicated. We claim that when you engage in intercultural
Chapter 3 Communication
Source
Encoding
Channel Message
Decoding
Receiver
F
ba eed
context
Resp onse
ck
Noise
Chapter 3 Communication
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
Characteristics of Communication
be retracted.
Third, the word dynamic also testifies to the idea that all the elements of communication constantly interact with each other. Fourth, because inattention pervades communication behavior.
猫（mao）(Chinese) Neiko (Japanese) Koska (Russian) Gato (Spanish) Katze (German) Chat (French)
Although all cultures use symbols, they usually assign their own meanings for symbols. Culture also uses these symbols for different purposes.
Location (or place)——Church
墨西哥圣胡安大教堂
吉奥瓦尼· 多斯· 桑托斯· 拉米雷斯
伊朗伊玛目清真寺
Occasion——wedding
Time
Numbers of participants( or people)
Attribution of Meaning
The novelist Paves wrote, “We do not remember days, we remember moments.” In this sense, meaning is relative to each of us because we all have had unique moments. Communication happens whenever meaning is attributed to behavior. When someone observes the behavior and gives meaning to it, communication has taken place.
Communication becomes even more complex when we add cultural dimensions.
Most scholars concentrate on those aspects that are germane to their special interests. Our views and descriptions are concerned primarily with those elements that most influence communication when members of two different cultures come together in an interpersonal setting.
Communication is a dynamic process.
First, and perhaps most important, it means that communication is an ongoing activity. It is not fixed. Second, because once a word or action is employed, it cannot
communication, it is important to know your actions have the potential to convey many meanings.
Components of communication
Definition: Communication is a dynamic, systematic process in which meanings are created and reflected in human interaction with symbols.
Intercultural Communication 跨文化交际
Chapter 1
Communication and culture
Communication
Some anthropologists (as well as the authors of this book) believe communication and culture are virtually synonymous.
The human are symbol-making creatures. We employ symbols to share our internal states, but none of other animals has our unique communication capabilities.
We separate them here for purposes of our discussion.
We begin by examining communication because to understand intercultural interaction, you must first recognize the role of communication in that process. Later, we discuss culture. We open our study of intercultural communication with an analysis of human communication so that you will be better able to improve your own communication behavior and more fully appreciate that of others.