Nonverbal Communication as a Barrier of Intercultural Communication
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION AS A BARRIER OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
NAME : M DHONI PERDANA CLASS : PBI-3C NIM : 09202241054
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
2011
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND
Culture is a complex concept. There are various definitions of culture, ranging from broad to narrow. Moreover, the concept of culture changes as society develops. Presently, many definitions of culture indicate the close relationship between culture and communication. With the continuous development of society, communication between different nations becomes increasingly significant. It is a dynamic process characterized by continuous information exchange between people of different cultural backgrounds. During the process of communication, cultural diversity may become barriers to communication and may result in misunderstanding, embarrassment, or even conflicts among people with different cultures. They try to solve these problems by probing into barriers to intercultural communication.
Many cultural differences take the form of nonverbal communications. The nonverbal area is relatively new and still is being studied and developed; however, most of us have had enough experience to be aware of its existence and importance. One must be careful to keep this area in perspective and to consider nonverbal elements as only a part of the total communication effort—while the nonverbal may be important, it is not always the whole story. If a person frowns while listening to you speak, it may indicate doubt or disagreement; on the other hand, the person may have a headache or the light may be bothersome. It is important for you to remain alert to nonverbal signals, but it is also essential that you decode them accurately.
There are many examples to illustrate that cultural differences may become barriers to nonverbal communication respectively. For example, in USA, the V sign with “the two fingers and the palm face out” means victory, but in Indonesia,
NAME : M DHONI PERDANA CLASS : PBI-3C NIM : 09202241054
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
YOGYAKARTA STATE UNIVERSITY
2011
CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND
Culture is a complex concept. There are various definitions of culture, ranging from broad to narrow. Moreover, the concept of culture changes as society develops. Presently, many definitions of culture indicate the close relationship between culture and communication. With the continuous development of society, communication between different nations becomes increasingly significant. It is a dynamic process characterized by continuous information exchange between people of different cultural backgrounds. During the process of communication, cultural diversity may become barriers to communication and may result in misunderstanding, embarrassment, or even conflicts among people with different cultures. They try to solve these problems by probing into barriers to intercultural communication.
Many cultural differences take the form of nonverbal communications. The nonverbal area is relatively new and still is being studied and developed; however, most of us have had enough experience to be aware of its existence and importance. One must be careful to keep this area in perspective and to consider nonverbal elements as only a part of the total communication effort—while the nonverbal may be important, it is not always the whole story. If a person frowns while listening to you speak, it may indicate doubt or disagreement; on the other hand, the person may have a headache or the light may be bothersome. It is important for you to remain alert to nonverbal signals, but it is also essential that you decode them accurately.
There are many examples to illustrate that cultural differences may become barriers to nonverbal communication respectively. For example, in USA, the V sign with “the two fingers and the palm face out” means victory, but in Indonesia,
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