Critical Incidents for Intercultural Communication - NorQuest College

Facilitator and Activity GuideFacilitator and Activity GuideThe concept of “face”As people grow up, they adopt certain claims about theircharacteristics and traits and make these claims implicitlyor sometimes explicitly. Thus, in every situation, everyoneis putting forward a certain “face.” At times this “face” iscalled into question explicitly (e.g. calling someone a liar)or implicitly (e.g. talking down to someone, questioning hiscompetence) (Ting-Toomey, 1999).Non-verbal communicationCommunicating without words has many components.These include how we look, how we move, how we sound,how we smell, eye contact, the use of time and space, toneof voice, loudness, speed, facial expression, body posture,touching, and smiling (Samovar & Porter, 2004).Some non-verbal communication is general to all cultures:anger, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, and disgust.There are rules for displaying emotion that are culturallygrounded and also context-sensitive.Some non-verbal communication is culture-specific. Forexample, in some cultures, people shake their heads to indicate“yes,” while in other cultures people indicate “yes” bymoving their heads from side to side like a pendulum.What are some of the pitfalls of non-verbalcommunication?• Misattribution• Sending the wrong signal• Missing the signal• Getting the wrong contextStrategies for successful non-verbal behaviour acrosscultures include the following:Page 40Critical Incidents for Intercultural CommunicationCritical Incidents for Intercultural Communication Page 41