Communication- Cultural Influences Essay Example
Write an essay about the social context of communication and how cultural influences shape how people communicate with each other
In today’s 21st Century society through our day-to-day lives we encounter many different people from many different cultural backgrounds. It is almost inevitable that we will have to communicate with at least one other person on any given day. Whether this is at work, at school, while out shopping, or even when talking on the telephone, communication is vital in order to ensure that our wants and needs can be met and also to voice an opinion. As “different cultures have different approaches to communication” (Thompson, 2003 pg. 29), there will often be times when our interpretations of something communicated will differ from the intended message.
This essay attempts to explore the social context of communication by looking at what communication is, how people use communication, and also how cultural influences shape how people communicate with each other. This essay will point out that culture and communication are closely related if not inseparable; as illustrated by Hall (1977, cited by Samovar, Porter, and Stefani, 1998, pg 34), “Culture is communication and communication is culture”
In order to be able to explore communication’s social context it is firstly important to define what is meant by communication.
“It is difficult to find a single definition of human communication” (Samovar et al, 1998, pg 22).
This is mostly due to the fact that “communication is a complex process” (Veterans Affairs Canada, 2003). In any human conversation there are many elements and processes involved for communication to be successful. Physiologically it involves the brain sending signals to the mouth and vocal muscles in order to convey a message, and the receivers ears converting the soundwaves into electrical impulses to be interpreted by the brain; both of which require thousands of components to be working simultaneously.
Effective human
In today’s 21st Century society through our day-to-day lives we encounter many different people from many different cultural backgrounds. It is almost inevitable that we will have to communicate with at least one other person on any given day. Whether this is at work, at school, while out shopping, or even when talking on the telephone, communication is vital in order to ensure that our wants and needs can be met and also to voice an opinion. As “different cultures have different approaches to communication” (Thompson, 2003 pg. 29), there will often be times when our interpretations of something communicated will differ from the intended message.
This essay attempts to explore the social context of communication by looking at what communication is, how people use communication, and also how cultural influences shape how people communicate with each other. This essay will point out that culture and communication are closely related if not inseparable; as illustrated by Hall (1977, cited by Samovar, Porter, and Stefani, 1998, pg 34), “Culture is communication and communication is culture”
In order to be able to explore communication’s social context it is firstly important to define what is meant by communication.
“It is difficult to find a single definition of human communication” (Samovar et al, 1998, pg 22).
This is mostly due to the fact that “communication is a complex process” (Veterans Affairs Canada, 2003). In any human conversation there are many elements and processes involved for communication to be successful. Physiologically it involves the brain sending signals to the mouth and vocal muscles in order to convey a message, and the receivers ears converting the soundwaves into electrical impulses to be interpreted by the brain; both of which require thousands of components to be working simultaneously.
Effective human