„‚ CONDITIONS THAT HINDER EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Awareness in Situations Within the United States
Although the focus thus far has been on the American/non-American dimensions of
intercultural communication, much of what has been said applies equally well to
interracial and intergroup communication within the United States. Recent studies
indicate that the oculesic and proxemic norms between whites and blacks in the United
States differ to the extent that real miscommunication often occurs.
These concepts and specific training techniques have also been used successfully
with groups who work in multicultural situations in the U.S. The emphasis on awareness
works best when the trainee group itself is multicultural. This allows the group
members’ different reactions to the changed norms to validate the existence of
nonverbal differences.
People with extensive intercultural experience benefit greatly from this approach, as
they already have had prolonged contact with cross-cultural differences.
The useful technique of heightening the awareness of cultural differences should
alert many people to attend more closely to an often-neglected part of the intercultural
encounter—nonverbal communication.
REFERENCES
Hall, E.T. (1966a). The hidden dimension. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Hall, E.T. (1966b). The silent language. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Schefler, A.E. (1972). Body language and the social order. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
The Pfeiffer Library Volume 6, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer ❚❘ 59