Intercultural/International Communication

Intercultural and international communication includes the study of both personal and nation-to-nation communication. In this section of our blog, we will look at international events and how they are shaped by communication. We will also discuss the barriers that make intercultural communication challenging, compare different cultures’ written, verbal and body cues, and analyze how communication can shape both international and domestic policies. By understanding how certain forms of communication transcend borders–and how certain types of communication can separate us–we can get a better understanding of other cultures. We can also build policy and interpersonal skills that are more appropriate for a multicultural society, which will be increasingly important in an increasingly multicultural world bridged by the Internet, smart phones and other new media.

Don’t Export Your American Hand Gestures [Infographic]

March 8, 2012 coms 0

As powerful as gestures are, however, their meanings are not always universal. Gestures often remain the same across cultures but carry dramatically different meanings and connotations. Use the following infographic to learn more about common American hand gestures and their meanings in different parts of the world.

Pass the Milk: Is That a Question or an Order?

February 22, 2012 coms 0

A new study from the University of Portsmouth in Great Britain provides insight into the differences between the ways in which native English speakers and native Polish speakers use language during day-to-day interactions with family. The researchers hope their findings will lead to a greater understanding between members of the two groups and reduce misunderstandings based on cultural differences.

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Ability to Gauge Emotion is Independent of Language, Study Says

December 28, 2011 coms 0

It has long been theorized that concepts could not be fully understood by a members of a culture unless that culture had a word for them. However, according to new research published in the American Psychological Association journal Emotion, it appears that people do not need to be able to name an emotion in order to understand it.

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How Cultures Interpret Facial Expressions Differently [Study]

November 15, 2011 coms 2

Facial expressions are one of the most powerful languages, especially in terms of communicating emotion. Culture plays a large role in how people interpret facial expressions. Because of this, researcher Rachael E. Jack, PhD, of the University of Glasgow set out to document how different cultures interpret facial expressions. The study, which was also Jack’s thesis, was published in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Journal of Experimental Psychology.

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Social Networking and the World [Infographic]

July 22, 2011 coms 1

The internet can be accessed from all over the world, but that does not mean that users in different countries are accessing the internet in exactly the same way. Even under the extremely broad umbrella of social media, different users participate in a variety of activities.

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Accents Shape Our Perceptions Of People

January 18, 2011 coms 1

The accent someone talks in plays a crucial role in the way we judge this person, psychologists of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) found out recently. “The accent is much more important than the way a person looks”, Dr. Tamara Rakic sums up one of the key findings of the study, which has just been published in the online edition of the “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology”.