Barriers to intercultural communication assignment

This is due to the different levels of attitude they possessed in their jobs. The Japanese tend to show more commitment to their jobs as compared to the locals. However, when one has no information about a new culture, it might make sense to assume that there are no differences and to behave like how he behaves in his home country. Nonetheless, each culture is different and unique to a certain extent (Sagepub 2003). Therefore, it is always better to ask than to assume. The third barrier is ethnocentrism. It can also be defined as judging another culture by one’s own culture’s standards.

When a person makes ethnocentric judgements, he believes that his culture is better than those of others and strongly believes in the superiority of his own culture. Everything in a culture makes sense if one understands it. In contrast, the extreme can take place if individuals were to experience “ culture shock” (Sagepub 2003). This means that when they are exposed to a new culture, they may go through a stage where they consider the new culture to be worse than their own culture and hence cannot agree or conform to it.

The sixth barrier is language. Although, in a business context, the English language dominates, this barrier is common in many workplaces. The three main components of language are slang, dialects and accents. A Chinese nationale may not comprehend what his western boss says and vice versa. This creates language barriers as the employee may only have limited literacy in English while the employer could not speak Mandarin to convey the message he wishes to bring across to her.

Even within the same language, there are different usages of certain words in diverse countries. Finally, the last barrier is the introduction of modern technology, especially the Internet. This easier access and cheaper choice of communication has not only provided convenience to people worldwide but also help speed up globalisation. However, the pervasive use of Short Message Service (SMS) and emails among individuals can also bring about cultural catastrophe.