Overview of Intercultural Communication Theory - Coursework Example

Heading: Intercultural communication Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Group work Introduction Recently, we attended a community event known as Laura Dance and Music Festival in Laura, North Queensland. This is a cultural event held in the region after every two years to celebrate the indigenous communities of Australia. In this occasion, people celebrate and embrace their cultural roots and traditions. The event was attended largely by the country’s aboriginal communities, government dignitaries, tourists, and foreign indigenous representatives. Moreover, in attendance were different academic institutions in Queensland and Laura town. In fact, we noted the presence of some schools and college representatives from different regions in Australia. We interacted with some of the attendees and learnt that the event can be traced back to 1980s when the indigenous communities that lived in Cape York relived and celebrated their traditions and culture. They did these through dance, song, story, and music. Besides, different sporting activities and competitions take place in the festival. Overview of intercultural communication theory According to Bennett (2007, pp. 67-70), intercultural communication refers to global exchange of information. The theory is useful in the description of a variety of communication challenges that naturally occur in an organization that comprises of people from different ethnic, social, and religious, educational backgrounds (Gudykunst 2003, pp. 56-67). This theory can, at times be used in place of cross-cultural communication. The theory is beneficial in understanding of how people from different cultures and countries communicate, act, and perceive their world. It also explains how individuals for different cultural backgrounds interact. Besides, Charles (2003, pp. 12-20) note that the theory focuses on the individuals’ social attributes, customs and languages. In addition, it is significant in cultural studies, anthropology, psychology, linguistics, and communication studies. There are various theories that are used in order to better understand intercultural communication. These theories are categorized basing on their focal areas. That is they focus on effective outcomes, adaptation, or accommodation, management or negotiation, communication networks, adjustment and adjustment, and others that are not categorized. To begin with, cultural convergence theory focuses on effective results. The theory states that in a confined social system where the exchange of information among its members is unlimited, the system will converge with time towards a level of more cultural uniformity. Nevertheless, with the restriction of communication, the system will diverge towards diversity. On the other hand, those that address adaption or accommodation are communication accommodation and co-cultural theories (Hinchcliff-Pelias, M & Greer, NS 2004, pp. 10-20). The first one addresses linguistic strategies to increase and decrease communicative distances. Besides, intercultural adaptation theory explains how communicators get used to each other when there is a need to integrate cultural factors. Co-cultural theory focuses on ways by which co-cultural members communicate (Wilkins 2006, pp. 23-26). In addition, those theories that entail management or negotiation, identity management, cultural identity, identity negotiation, and double-swing model theories. Adjustment and acculturation theories include communication acculturation, uncertainty and anxiety management, and deviance, assimilation, and alienation states. According to Hunsinger (2006, pp.13-17) Communication acculturation shows an inter-cultural adaptation as a joint effort in which a stranger and the host are involved. Anxiety and uncertainty management explains what strangers and hosts experience when they encounter each other (Gudykunst 2003, pp. 56-60). Assimilation, alienation, and deviance states theory demonstrates adaptation and assimilation are temporary results of an encounter of immigrants and hosts (Jandt 2010, 56-63). Besides, it explains alienation and assimilation as a result of neglectful communication and deviant beautiful. Description of the event In addition, dances and sporting activities were a reminder of the people’s old way of life. Some of the dancers and performers wore costumes that represented the indigenous people’s dress code. For instance, there was a group that presented a dance while wearing white stripes of paint and orange fabrics wrapped on their bottoms. Besides, the group had orange thin pieces of cloth tied round their heads. Additionally, there was a group that presented a dance and a song while waving some pieces of leaves in their hands. The dance was a representation of the indigenous way of treating diseases and illnesses. The leaves in the performance represented the traditional medicine and herbs that the aboriginals used before adapting to the modern way of life. Despite the modern scientific medicine, it was clear that people still valued their tradition herbs and medicine men Another thing that was worth noting in the event was the dance moves that were shown by the dancers. One of the performing groups had some of its members dancing and jumping like a kangaroo. Representing a kangaroo in such an event shows that the aboriginal communities held their environment and wildlife with a lot of significance. We also noticed a musical instrument referred to as a didgeridoo, which was traditionally used in circumcision, sunset, and funeral ceremonies (Veronesi 2000, pp. 13-14). The seating arrangement in the event comprised of seats arranged in a semi-circle, with a podium in the middle. The front seats were occupied by government and foreign dignitaries. The rest of the spectators occupied the other seats. All around the arena, there were drawings of aboriginal artifacts, such as, musical instruments, weapons, farming equipment, houses, and dress code. In terms of punctuality, the ceremony started as it had been announced on the tickets. In fact, the tickets were sold at $12, for students, $20 for normal citizens, and $40 for foreigners. Furthermore, we noted some behaviors and values that the people displayed in the event. For instance, the master of ceremony was exciting and humorous in that the audience was kept enlivened throughout the event. Moreover, he was time-conscious because he managed to have all the items in the program handled at the specified time. The language used in occasion was quite informal as it was about celebrating cultural diversities in the country. Afterwards, there were traditional meals provided at the corners of the arena. Here, we noticed that people patiently stood in long queues as they waited for their turns. These people displayed core values of unity, patience, peace and love. Generally, the event was very organized as no major problems occurred in the process. Nevertheless, to the culture outside, it was difficult to comprehend the meaning of the dances and songs that were performed on stage. Individual work Analysis In my opinion, Laura Dance and Music festival was an exclusionary event. This is because it was organized in order to cater only for the indigenous communities in Australia. In the country, aboriginal groups form a small section of the Australian population because they are about 400,000 people (Martinez, 2006, pp. 12-15). Studies show that many of them died during the colonization period form cold-related sicknesses. Further, the event was exclusionary because most of the performances presented to the audience were based on the aborigine’s cultures and traditions. For instance, the dances, songs, poems, music and sporting activities just reflected the aboriginal way of life at the expense of other cultures represented in the audience. Another notable difference between my culture and the one I witnessed in the festival is in terms of food. In china, we use chopsticks and flat spoons when eating food, but we used bare hands at festival. In fact, the food menu was totally different from the Chinese. Moreover, the festival was quite different from the ones that are usually held in my country, China. For example, in terms of the decorations used at the arena, I found them rather plain and inadequate to bring out the ceremony they way it is expected. In our own culture, decorations are one of the major elements of the festivals. This is because Chinese love decorations, particularly the ones done in multiple bright colors. In fact, the most dominating color used in our cultural festivals is red, as it signifies dignity, prosperity, freshness, mystery and purity. Although, decorations were used in the Laura festival, they did not match any of the Chinese festivals. What is more, I realized culture forms part of the aboriginal communities’ integral part in life. This was evident in the manner in which these groups organized for the event, and came from different parts of the region to celebrate their culture. From the performances and speeches in the event, I noticed that aborigines are part of a few communities in the world that still uphold their cultural heritage. In my opinion, the festival had some similarities with the Chinese festivals, such as, the use of dances, music, and poems. However, they content and styles used in their performances was quite different. Chinese dances are performed with the hand and feet movements in such a way that the heavenly spirits are venerated. The Laura dance mainly depicted the aborigine’s relationship with animals, as evident in the Kangaroo dance. In addition, Laura dancers had instruments that are absent in our culture. The values displayed by the participants in the event also reflected the aborigines’ ways of life. Patience, commitment, unity, love, and punctuality were among these values. It was educational in that the younger generation of the spectators learnt a lot of cultural information about the aboriginal communities in their country. In my opinion, culture can be passed from one generation to another one, as long as the perpetuators are willing to do so. Notably, the Australian aboriginals hold their cultures with a lot of significance, the same way it is done in China. Therefore, culture preservation and perpetuation is very so significant that every community should do. I also found that the event was beneficial in that it aided in the community development through fostering intercultural communication. Spectators were from various cultural backgrounds but they managed to follow what was happening in the event. Through it, other communities got access to the aborigines’ cultures and traditions and managed to relate them to their own ways of life. Group work Conclusion The report is about Laura dance and Festival, which is one of those of communal events that portray cultures and traditions of the aboriginal communities in Australia. Through it, the community members relive and celebrate their cultures and traditions through songs, dance, music, poems and sporting activities. Besides, in the report, various theories of intercultural communication are addressed. Some of the theories include management or negotiation, identity management, cultural identity, identity negotiation, and double-swing model theories. Others are adaptation, or accommodation, management or negotiation, communication networks, adjustment and adjustment theories. From the event, it is explicit that communities uphold their cultures and traditions. References Bennett, MJ 2007, Basic concepts of intercultural communication: selected readings Intercultural Press, Boston. Pp. 67-70. Charles, M 2003, ‘Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, Second Edition. The Journal of Business Communication’, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 12-20. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002650668 Hinchcliff-Pelias, M & Greer, NS 2004, ‘The Importance of Intercultural Communication in International Education’, International Education, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 10-20. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5044921863 Hunsinger, RP 2006, ‘Culture and Cultural Identity in Intercultural Technical Communication’, Technical Communication Quarterly, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 13-17. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5037689630 Gudykunst, WB 2003, Cross-cultural and intercultural communication Sage Publ., Thousand Oaks. Pp. 56-67. Jandt, FE 2010, An introduction to intercultural communication: identities in a global community, SAGE, Los Angeles. Pp. 56-78. Martinez, JM 2006, Semiotic Phenomenology and Intercultural Communication Scholarship: Meeting the Challenge of Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Difference’, Journal of culture, vol. 70, no.6, pp. 12-15. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5019010258 Veronesi, D 2000, Intercultural Communication in Plurilingual Areas: Some Examples of Italian/German Verbal Interactions in South Tyrol’, Italian Culture, vol. 18, no.7, pp. 13- 14. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002381376 Wilkins, RJ 2006, Cultural Terms for Communication: Sources of Intercultural Asynchrony in ESL Settings in Finland’, no.5. pp. 23-26. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5018186766 Read More