Intercultural Communication competence

1. Anxiety and Uncertainty management (AUM) Theory

Communication effectiveness with strangers requires that anxiety and uncertainty are situated under the maximum but above the minimum thresholds

Cultural adaptation for migrants v Intercultural competence: 4 areas

1. Personality strength: Effective communicators must know themselves well 2. Communication skills: message skills, behavioural flexibility, interaction management, and social skills. 3. Psychological adjustment: be able to acclimate to new environments 4. Cultural awareness: to understand the social customs and social system of the host culture.

Cultural adaptation perspectives

What are the difficulties, challenges and processes that individuals face when they interact with a larger culture? v Sojourners: stay abroad for a limited period of time i.e. travellers, business people, international students v Migrants: they move permanently (starting with more than 5 years) i.e. expatriates, immigrants, refugees,

Cultural shock for sojourners

v A cultural shock is a relatively short-term feeling of disorientation and discomfort due to the lack of familiar cues in the environment. v It is caused by a lack of understanding of the verbal and non-verbal communication, the customs and the value systems of the host culture. o Honeymoon stage: excitement or initial euphoria o Crisis or disenchantment: excitement has turned to disappointment as you encounter more and more differences o you encounter more and more differences. • recovery stage: you begin to accept the new culture o Integration or adjustment phase: you feel at home in the new culture, you've learned the language and the customs o Re-entry shock or reverse culture shock: can be as traumatic as the initial adjustment to a new culture. o Re-socialization: adjustment back to the home country

Communication and strategy perspectives

v Anxiety and Uncertainty management (AUM) Theory v Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT)

Cultural adaptation for migrants

v Intercultural transformation: result of interactions that helps us adapt v Intercultural competence

2. Communication Accommodation Theory (Howard Giles)

v When we talk with other people, we will tend to subconsciously change our style of speech (accent, rate, types of words, etc.) towards the style used by the listener. We also tend to match non- verbal behaviours. v The reverse also happens: people deliberately assert their identity by speaking and acting differently from the other person. Accommodation: use of similar speech patterns and non-verbal behaviours to another person (convergence) or Non-accommodation: use of differing verbal and nonverbal patterns (divergence) v Is based on socio-historical context and prior interpersonal interactions v During interaction we decide our affective and cognitive motivations and make behavioural choices that reflect these motivations

These areas can be divided into eight different skills

v self-awareness: using knowledge about yourself to deal with difficult situations v self-respect: confidence in what you think, feel, and do v Interaction: how effectively you communicate with people v Empathy: being able to see and feel things from other people's points of view v Adaptability: how fast you can adjust to new situations and norms v Certainty: the ability to do things opposite to what you feel v Initiative: being open to new situations v Acceptance: being tolerant or accepting of unfamiliar things