Рейтинг пользователей: / 22
ХудшийЛучший 

                                                               Novozhilova M.V., Loshkova I. G.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS A MEANS OF CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

M.Kh. Dulaty Taraz State University 

 

Introduction

In our time of globalization, we have more to be exposed to and share with than ever before in terms of culture- beliefs, worldviews, values, attitudes and ideologies- but at the same time much of them remains different and unshared, which is enhanced by raising people’s awareness of cultural, ethnic, and religious identities.

The Internet and modern technology have opened up new marketplaces, and allow us to promote our businesses to new geographic locations and cultures. And given that it can now be as easy to work with people remotely as it is to work face-to-face, cross-cultural communication is increasingly the new norm.

Today, we communicate beyond the national borders by e-mailing, chatting, blogging, webbrowsing besides speaking and writing. In these days of global networking, we are thrown into the society of deterritorialized, hybrid, changing and conflicting cultures, where we are expected to become pluricultural individuals. In the light of cross-cultural communication, the language policy and planning of the Council of Europe is a grand experiment based on plurilingualism and pluriculturalism.

Effective communication with people of different cultures is especially challenging. Cultures provide people with ways of thinking - ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting the world. Thus the same words can mean different things to people from different cultures, even when they talk the "same" language. When the languages are different, and translation has to be used to communicate, the potential for misunderstandings increases.

It is important to teach our students cross-cultural values and attitudes and their impact on how we communicate across cultures.

Our cultural milieu shapes our world view in such a way that reality is thought to be objectively perceived through our own cultural pattern, and a differing perception is seen as either false or ‘strange” and is thus oversimplified. If people recognize and understand differing world views, they will usually adopt a positive and open-minded attitude towards cross-cultural differences. A close-minded view of such differences often results in the maintenance of a stereotype – an oversimplification and blanket assumption. A stereotype assigns group characteristics to individuals purely on the basis of their cultural membership.[1]

The stereotype may be accurate in depicting the “typical” member of a culture, but it is inaccurate for describing a particular individual, simply because every person is unique and all of a person’s behavioral characteristics cannot be accurately predicted on the basis of overgeneralized median point along a continuum of cultural norms. To judge a single member of a culture by overall traits of the culture is both to prejudge and to misjudge that person. Worse, stereotypes have a way of potentially devaluing people from other cultures.

Sometimes our oversimplified concepts of members of another culture are downright false.

While stereotyping, or over generalizing, people from other cultures should be avoided, cross-cultural research has shown that there are indeed characteristics of culture that make one culture different from another.

Learners and teachers of a foreign language need to understand cultural differences, to recognize openly that people are not all the same beneath the skin. There are real differences between groups and cultures. We can learn to perceive those differences, appreciate them, and above all to respect and value the personhood of every human being.

Because learning a foreign language implies some degree of learning a foreign culture, it is important to understand what we mean by the process of cultural learning. Many students in foreign language classrooms learn the language with little or no sense of the depth of cultural norms and patterns of the people who speak the language. Another perspective was the notion that a foreign language curriculum could present culture as “a list of facts to be cognitively consumed” by the student, devoid of any significant interaction with the culture. Robinson-Stuart and Nocon , casting those perspectives aside as ineffective and misconceived, suggested that language learners undergo culture learning as a “process, that is, as a way of perceiving, interpreting, feeling, being in the world,… and relating to where one is and who one meets’.[2] Culture learning is a process of creating shared meaning between cultural representatives. It is experiential, a process that continues over years of language learning, and penetrates deeply into one’s patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Second language learning involves the acquisition of a second identity. This creation of a new identity is at the heart of culture learning, or what some might call acculturation.

Stella Ting-Toomey describes three ways in which culture interferes with effective cross-cultural understanding. [3]

First is what she calls "cognitive constraints." These are the frames of reference or world views that provide a backdrop that all new information is compared to or inserted into.

Second are "behavior constraints." Each culture has its own rules about proper behavior which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether one looks the other person in the eye-or not; whether one says what one means overtly or talks around the issue; how close the people stand to each other when they are talking--all of these and many more are rules of politeness which differ from culture to culture.

Ting-Toomey's third factor is "emotional constraints." Different cultures regulate the display of emotion differently. Some cultures get very emotional when they are debating an issue.  They yell, they cry, they exhibit their anger, fear, frustration, and other feelings openly. Other cultures try to keep their emotions hidden, exhibiting or sharing only the "rational" or factual aspects of the situation.

All of these differences tend to lead to communication problems. If the people involved are not aware of the potential for such problems, they are even more likely to fall victim to them, although it takes more than awareness to overcome these problems and communicate effectively across cultures.

  The key to effective cross-cultural communication is knowledge. First, it is essential that people understand the potential problems of cross-cultural communication, and make a conscious effort to overcome these problems. Second, it is important to assume that one’s efforts will not always be successful, and adjust one’s behavior appropriately.

We communicate so much information nonverbally in conversations that often the verbal aspect of the conversation is negligible. This is particularly true for interactive language functions in which social contact is of key importance and in which it is not what you say that counts but how you say it—what you convey with body language, gestures, eye contact, physical distance, and other nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication, however, is so subtle and subconscious in a native speaker that verbal language seems, by comparison, quite mechanical and systematic. Language becomes distinctly human through its nonverbal dimension, or what Edward Hall   called the "silent language." The expression of culture is so bound up in nonverbal communication that the barriers to culture learning are more nonverbal than verbal. Verbal language requires the use of only one of the five sensory modalities: hearing. But there remain in our communicative repertoire three other senses by which we communicate every day, if we for the moment rule out taste as falling within а сcommunicative category (though messages are indeed sent and received through the taste modality). We will examine each of these.

Kinesics

Every culture and language uses body language, or kinesics, in unique but clearly interpretable ways. "There was speech in their dumbness, language in their very gesture," wrote Shakespeare in The Winter's Tale. All cultures throughout the history of humankind have relied on kinesics for conveying important messages. Books like Dresser's Multicultural Manners join a long string of manuals offering light-hearted but provocative insights on the use of kinesics in North American and other cultures. Today, virtually every book on communication explains how you communicate—and miscommunicate—when you fold your arms, cross your legs, stand, walk, move your eyes and mouth, and so on.

But as universal as kinesic communication is, there is tremendous variation cross-culturally and cross-linguistically in the specific interpretations of gestures. Human beings all move their heads, blink their eyes, move their arms and hands, but the significance of these movements varies from society to society. Consider the following categories and how you would express them in American culture.

Agreement, "yes"

"No!"

"Come here"

Lack of interest, "I don't know"

Flirting signals, sexual signals

Insults, obscene gestures

There are conventionalized gestural signals to convey these semantic cate­gories. Are those signals the same in another language and culture? Sometimes they are not. And sometimes a gesture that is appropriate in one culture is obscene or insulting in another. Nodding the head, for example, means "yes" among most European language speakers. But among the Ainu of Japan, "yes" is expressed by bringing the arms to the chest and waving them. The pygmy Negritos of interior

Malaya indicate "yes" by thrusting the head sharply forward, and people from the Punjab of India throw their heads sharply backward. The Ceylonese curve their chins gracefully downward in an arc to the left shoulder, whereas Bengalis rock their heads rapidly from one shoulder to the other.

Contact

Is eye contact appropriate between two participants in a conversation? When is it permissible not to maintain eye contact? What does eye contact or the absence thereof signal? Cultures differ widely in this particular visual modality of nonverbal communication. In American culture it is permis­sible, for example, for two participants of unequal status to maintain pro­longed eye contact. In fact, an American might interpret lack of eye contact as discourteous lack of attention, while in Japanese culture eye contact might be considered rude. Intercultural interference in this nonverbal cat­egory can lead to misunderstanding.

Not only is eye contact itself an important category, but the gestures, as it were, of the eyes are in some instances keys to communication. Eyes can signal interest, boredom, empathy, hostility, attraction, understanding, misunderstanding, and other messages. The nonverbal language of each culture has different ways of signaling such messages. An important aspect of unfettered and unambiguous conversation in a second language is the acquisition of conventions for conveying messages by means of eye signals.

Proxemics

Physical proximity, or proxemics, is also a meaningful communicative category. Cultures vary widely in acceptable distances for conversation. Edward Hall  calculated acceptable distances for public, social-consultative, personal, and intimate discourse. He noted, for example, that Americans feel that a certain personal space "bubble" has been violated if a stranger stands closer than twenty to twenty-four inches away unless space is restricted, such as in a subway or an elevator. However, a typical member of  a Latin American culture would feel that such a physical distance would be too great. The interesting thing is that neither party is specifically aware of what is wrong when the distance is not right. They merely have vague feelings of discomfort or anxiety.

Sometimes objects—desks, counters, other furniture—serve to maintain certain physical distances. Such objects tend to establish both the overall register and relationship of participants. Thus, a counter between two people maintains a consultative mood. Similarly, the presence of a desk or a computer monitor will set the tone of a conversation. Again, however, different cultures interpret different messages in such objects. In some cultures, objects might enhance the communicative process, but in  other cases they impede it.

Artifacts

The nonverbal messages of clothing and ornamentation are also important aspects of communication. Clothes often signal a person's sense of self- esteem, socioeconomic class, and general character. Jewelry also conveys certain messages. In a multicultural conversation group, such artifacts, along with other nonverbal signals, can be a significant factor in lifting barriers, identifying certain personality characteristics, and setting a general mood.

Kinesthetics

Touching, sometimes referred to as kinesthetics, is another culturally loaded aspect of nonverbal communication. How we touch others and where we touch them is sometimes the most misunderstood aspect of nonverbal communication. Touching in some cultures signals a very personal or intimate register, while in other cultures extensive touching is commonplace. Knowing the limits and conventions is important for clear and unambiguous communication.

Olfactory Dimensions

Our noses also receive sensory nonverbal messages. The olfactory modality is of course an important one for the animal kingdom, but for the human race, too, different cultures have established different dimensions of olfac­tory communication. The twentieth century has created in most techno­logical societies a penchant for perfumes, lotions, creams, and powders as acceptable and even necessary; natural human odors, especially perspira­tion, are thought to be undesirable. In some societies, of course, the smell of human perspiration is quite acceptable and even attractive. Second lan­guage and especially second culture learners need to be aware of the accepted mores of other cultures in the olfactory modality.

We cannot underestimate the importance of nonverbal communica­tion in second language learning and in conversational analysis.

Communicative competence includes nonverbal compe­tence—knowledge of all the varying nonverbal semantics of the second cul­ture, and an ability both to send and receive nonverbal signals unambiguously.

The language teacher and researcher, in dialog with each other, can be a part of that creative event by fashioning an integrated and cohesive understanding of how learners acquire the ability to communicate clearly and effectively in a second language.

We asked our students to compare their culture nonverbal communication norms (in our classes we have Kazakhs, Tatars, Uzbeks, Koreans, etc) with that of Americans.

Eye contact – in Muslim culture everything depends on a sex (male, female). A woman doesn’t maintain eye contact speaking to a man. Speaking to boss, they don’t maintain eye contact either.

Americans consider eye contact to be important in a conversation.

As for proxemics, when a woman speaks to a woman, the distance is closer than when she speaks to a man. Proxemics is also important in American culture.

Artifacts – the length of a dress is important for girls, though most of them keep to European style now. As for jewelry, it is up to their taste. Silver, they believe, protects from an “evil eye”.

Kinesthetics: Touching signals very personal register. But men sometimes embrace each other while greeting.

Olfactory dimensions – though it can seem strange, girls don’t use perfume as much as men.

To demonstrate our students how nonverbal communication is important, we organize a short-term project Cross-Cultural Encounters. The aim of the project is to make students experience and explore some cultural differences. The students work in small groups, then half-class, and in the end – whole class. It does not take a long time – about 40 minutes.

Procedure:  Divide the class into two groups and designate them Group A and Group B. Separate the groups, using different rooms if possible. Give each student a copy of his group's work sheet to read.

When the stu­dents have finished reading, give them five minutes to discuss and practice the rules and behaviors indicated on their sheets. If the class is large, Groups A and В may be subdivided for this step. If both groups are in the same room, this discussion and practice should be done in such a way that members of the two groups do not hear and see each other.

Next, explain to the class that they will each receive two cards. Designate one color the Haves and the other the Needs. Hand out the cards in such a way that the Haves of one group match the Needs of the other.

The students will then walk around the class and talk to people in order to locate those whose Have cards match their Need card.

The teacher may want to demonstrate this part of the activity.

In searching for the cards, the students must follow the cul­tural rules and behaviors they have just read and discussed.

Give them five to ten minutes to try to locate the cards. Then send the stu­dents back to their original groups.

Ask them to discuss how they felt about the people from the other culture and to make a list of the rules that they thought the people from the other culture were following.

Finally, have the groups report back to the whole class. Discuss the observations and feelings resulting from the exercise.

Writing Output:

 1. Describe your feelings while you were playing the game and explain why you think you felt that way.

2. Compare the two cultures described in the game.

3. Compare your culture and American culture on the issue of touching. Interview one or two Americans to check when they feel they can or can't touch someone.

Cross-Cultural-Encounter Work Sheets

Work Sheet A

1. Time is very important in your culture. When you are talking to someone you must get to the point quickly. Otherwise, they will think you are wasting time.

2.  In your culture it is important to look directly into the yes of the people you are talking to. If you do not, the people you are talking to may get the idea that you are not being completely honest with them.

3. When you are talking to someone in a friendly way, you stand close enough to them to feel their breath.

4. In your culture it is impolite to talk about another person’s belongings – clothes, furniture, etc.

Work Sheet B

1. Politeness is very important in your culture. When you meet people, you must show an interest in them and their family. This is particularly important if you have a request to make of them, as they must be convinced that you like them for themselves – not for anything they can do for you.

2.  In your culture when you are talking to people, it is polite to look down except when you have a problem understanding what they are saying.

3. When you are speaking, you should stand several feet away from the person you are talking to. This is so you will not breathe on them and spread germs.

4. To say thank you politely, you put your hands together and bow your head without speaking.

To make our students understand the importance of understanding and valuing other country customs and traditions we ask them to do a culture quiz. After this, the students read the text to see if they were right. Then we organize a discussion and ask our students if Kazakhs have any traditions that may surprise the representatives of other cultures. As we teach Business English and English for Economists, our examples are taken mostly from the business world.

There are many different traditions in addressing people in the world. In some cultures people use each other’s first names immediately, in other cultures, the first name is only used by the close friends and family. And in some cultures the first name is the family name and the second name is the given name.[4]

As the example, we use the text  “A Singaporean – American Encounter”

A partner in one of New York’s leading private banking firms went to Singapore to meet one of his clients. In Singapore there are three different cultural traditions: Chinese, Malaysian and English. His clients were ethnic Chinese.

The banker wanted to do everything correctly, so on his way to Singapore he memorized the names of three representatives he would meet. In the first meeting with the representatives and some business contacts, he began by addressing the top man, Lo Win Hao, as Mr. Hao. As the meeting continued, he made sure to address each representative by name. After a while, one of his contacts passed a note to the American banker. The note said, “Too friendly, too soon”.

After reading the text, the students discuss the following questions:

1. What did the note mean?

2. Why is it important to know about the traditions for addressing your foreign business partner?

3. Have you ever been called by the wrong name or was your name pronounced incorrectly? How did you feel? What did you do? Did you correct a person or correct the mistake?

Using this text as a starting point, we organize a short-term project, in which students compare ways of addressing people in Kazakhstani culture, Turkish, and American cultures. The final product of such a project is students’ short presentations.

 

You

Turkey

In America

1. How do people address classmates?

 

 

By first name or nickname

2. How do people address their business colleagues?

 

 

By first name or nickname

3. What different titles are used for women?

 

 

Miss or Ms for unmarried women and Mrs. Or Ms for married women

4. How do people address a person at their business social level if they have just first met?

 

 

Usually by first name

5. How do people address a boss or supervisor?

 

 

Usually by first name. If there is a large difference in power they may use Mr. or Ms.

6. How do people address a secretary or receptionist?

 

 

By first name

7. Are there social titles in a company depending on their positions or their education?

 

 

In a company they do not use different titles for different positions. Education and other professionals sometimes use their titles but usually in business cards and letters

 

Students can understand the importance of culture awareness doing this simple task: Read about the problems companies had in selling their goods. What went wrong?

1. Western companies had problems selling refrigerators in Japan until they changed the design to make them quieter.

2.  In Saudi Arabia newspaper adverts for an airline showed an attractive hostess serving champagne to happy passengers. A lot of passengers cancelled their flight reservations.

3.  In airline company called itself Emu, after the Australian bird. But Australians didn’t want to use the airline.

4.  A TV commercial for a cleaning product showed a little girl cleaning up the mess her brother made. The commercial caused problems to Canada.

5. Several European and American firms couldn’t sell their product in Dubai when they run advertising campaign in Arabic.

6.  A soap powder ad had a picture of dirty clothes on the left, a box of soup in the middle and clean clothes on the right. The soap didn’t sell well in the Middle East.

7.  A company had problems when it tried to introduce instant coffee to the French market.

8.  A toothpaste manufacturer couldn’t sell its products in parts of South East Asia.

9. An American golf ball manufacturer launched its products in Japan packed in boxes of four. It had to change the pack size.

10.  A ladies’ electric shaver was sold well throughout Europe but not in Italy.

Here are the reasons of the problems, but they are in the wrong order. Number them from 1 to 10. How many you get right?

  1. In Japanese word for “four” sounds like the word “death”. Things don’t sell well four-packed.
  2. People thought the commercial too sexist and reinforced old male/female stereotypes.
  3. Unveiled women don’t walk with men in Saudi Arabia and alcohol is illegal.
  4. 90% of the population came from Pakistan, India, Iran and Arabic was the wrong language.
  5. It seems Italian men prefer ladies’ legs unshaven.
  6. The advertisers forgot that in this part of the world people usually read from right to left.
  7. The Emu can’t fly.
  8. The people in this area didn’t want white teeth they thought drake-strained teeth were beautiful and they tried to blacken them.
  9. Japanese houses were small and sometimes walls were made of paper. It was impossible for the refrigerators to be quiet.
  10. Making “real” coffee was an important part of French way of life. Instant coffee was too casual.

Case study is often used by us to present cultural differences and how they can affect negotiations and business.

Whom should we send?

A US- based computer software company has recently heard from a Nigerian manufacturing company. The Nigerian company has expressed interest in one of software programs. The Nigerian company has invited the US Company to Nigeria to demonstrate the software.

The US Company has been very successful domestically, but this will be the first time it has ever ventured into the international business world. The company would like to expand and begin to build status in the international community. Being successful with the negotiations would help the company very much.

The top managers have come together to plan a business strategy for the Nigerian business trip. They must also decide who the most appropriate person to send to Nigeria to represent the company is. The person chosen must be a highly competent negotiator, able to persuade the Nigerians that the company’s software is the best in the market and exactly what the Nigerian company needs. Therefore, they must think very carefully about the qualities of the person they send.

After comprehension checking questions, we ask students to decide in groups which qualities can affect the negotiations. The students rank them in an order of importance.

1 Very important.                                   2 Not important

1. Educational background (degrees, universities, attendant)

2. Sex (male, female)

3. Age.

4. Technical knowledge of the company’s product.

5. Seniority and experience in the company.

6.  Personal connections.

7.  Social competence, good social skills. Social status in the community.

8. Power and authority position within the company (power to make decisions).

9. Symbolic position of authority within the company (no power to make decisions).

10. Respect for authorities and rules.

After the students discussed the qualities, they read descriptions of three possible people of the company could send to Nigeria. One of the representatives is a woman. The students decide in groups who their final choice is and why.

They should take into the consideration the following:

Which of negotiator qualities of the chart their choices have?

Would they consider sending a second person? Why or why not?

Do they think they should consider the characteristics of the other country’s negotiator’s when deciding whom to send? Why or why not?

Then Group A reads Nigerian cultural information, Group И – the US cultural information. They try to find the answers to the following questions:

1. If you are seriously interested in doing business, what qualities are most important in the negotiators you send? Why?

2. How important is age?

3. What gives a person respect in a company?

4. What other qualities are important in a negotiator? What qualities are not important?

5. What is the role of women in business?

6. What is more common, negotiating in groups or alone?

Meeting as a whole class the students discuss;

1. Which cultural differences could cause the most serious problems between the Nigerian and the U.S. negotiators?

2. Based on your notes, what person or people do you think would be most appropriate to send to Nigeria? Does your choice differ from your group initial choice?

3. Who would be the least appropriate person to send? Why?

Next case study is connected with training of the international executive.

Many companies are now helping their employees build their cross-cultural communication skills. These companies offer cultural training workshops and seminars. Each year more and more companies are offering this type of training. They realize the importance of preparing their employees for very different and challenging international business world.

Imagine that you and your group mates are salespeople for a sports clothes manufacturer which has been very successful domestically, but has never had any success internationally. The president of your company would like to try the international market again. This time she would try exporting products to Turkey.

She would like to set up a training program for the sales team (you and your group mates). She has asked you to arrange a meeting to discuss what type of oversea training you should receive. She has given you the following list of possible topics to be converted in training program. The program is designed to help you prepare for both living and working in Turkey. Unfortunately your company can afford only five workshops due to money problems.

Possible training programs to be offered:

History of Turkey social practices;

Turkish language;

Turkish domestic management styles (management within Turkish companies).

Turkish economy;

Turkish distribution practices (distribution of goods in Turkey).

Turkish negotiation styles.

Turkish politics.

Turkish cultures.

Legal aspects of Turkish business;

Organization of Turkish business;

Culture shock.

Which of the topics are most important for an overseas training program? On your own decide which five topics are the most important and rank those five topics in order of importance. 1 = most important. Than share your decisions in small groups. As a group, create one final list of five topics.

Teaching Business English we usually ask our students to prepare country presentation.

Country Presentation

Imagine that someone is going to Kazakhstan to do business and that you must train them before they go. To do this, you will prepare an oral presentation, focusing on business practices in your country and on culture values behind these practices. You can also choose a country that interests you, research the country and prepare a presentation focusing on the same aspects.

The students are given presentation guidelines.

Presentation Guidelines

1. You must give your group mate all the important information they will need to be more comfortable and successful on their business trip.

2. Introduce information about the business culture as well as the country’s basic data and information (e.g.: size of the country, economy, major exports and imports)

3. Be sure your presentation to be well referenced by doing one or more of the following:

a) contacting one of the information centers;

b) talking to actual business people from your country;

c) reading articles from magazines or books about the country;

d) surfing the Internet.

A successful international businessperson must have many personal qualities that reflect his or her commitment to cultural awareness and understanding. How exactly can be the qualities listed below help an international businessperson in relationships and experiences with people from other countries?

Adaptability: being at ease and comfortable in different environments.

Flexibility: being able and willing to change your ideas or plans even on very short notice.

Tolerance for ambiguity: being able to work in a situation where you feel information is not always complete and clear.

Internationalism: having a commitment to learning about and exploring other cultures.

For student’s independent work (SIW) we ask them to write an essay (250 words) discussing the importance of each of the qualities and give an example of a business situation where relevant.

With globalisation on the rise, more international educational exchange and cross-cultural interacions are being encouraged. This has led to cross-cultural training to become a discipline in recent times. Traditionally, multinational corporations used to concentrate their training efforts solely on expatriate managers. This resulted in assumptions of how business should be carried out internationally.

For an instance, multinational corporations felt that replicating the exsiting staff in foreign lands, including the same perspectives and technical knowledge would keep the company going smoothly. That business culture had a typical top-down management structure whereby major decisions were made at headquarters level. Line-managers were supposed to manage the daily operations by abiding with the rules of the firm without involving in matters pertaining to cross-cultural issues.

That was then. Today, the international business environment is different. With aggressive competition going all around, multinational corporations around the globe has identified the increasing need for international managers to be equipped with skills on working hand in hand with people from various cultural backgrounds. It is also becoming of increasing importance to train all possible employees so that highly proficient staff are available upon demand.

While many companies now offer training in the different cultures where the company conducts business, it is important that employees communicating across cultures practice patience and work to increase their knowledge and understanding of these cultures. This requires the ability to see that a person's own behaviors and reactions are oftentimes culturally driven and that while they may not match are own, they are culturally appropriate.

If a leader or manager of a team that is working across cultures or incorporates individuals who speak different languages, practice different religions, or are members of a society that requires a new understanding, he or she needs to work to convey this.

Consider any special needs the individuals on your team may have. For instance, they may observe different holidays, or even have different hours of operation. Be mindful of time zone differences and work to keep everyone involved aware and respectful of such differences.

Generally speaking, patience, courtesy and a bit of curiosity go a long way. And, if you are unsure of any differences that may exist, simply ask team members. Again, this may best be done in a one-on-one setting so that no one feels "put on the spot" or self-conscious, perhaps even embarrassed, about discussing their own needs or differences or needs.

Demand Tolerance

Next, cultivate and demand understanding and tolerance. In doing this, a little education will usually do the trick. Explain to team members that the part of the team that works out of the Australia office, for example, will be working in a different time zone, so electronic communications and/or return phone calls will experience a delay. And, members of the India office will also observe different holidays (such as Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday).

Most people will appreciate the information and will work hard to understand different needs and different means used to reach common goals. However, when this is not the case, lead by example and make it clear that you expect to be followed down a path of open-mindedness, acceptance and tolerance.

When dealing with people in a different culture, courtesy and goodwill can also go a long way in ensuring successful communication. Again, this should be insisted on.

If your starting point in solving problems is to assume that communication has failed, you'll find that many problems are quickly resolved.

Keep It Simple

When you communicate, keep in mind that even though English is considered the international language of business, it is a mistake to assume that every businessperson speaks good English. In fact, only about half of the 800 million people who speak English learned it as a first language. And, those who speak it as a second language are often more limited than native speakers.

When you communicate cross-culturally, make particular efforts to keeping your communication clear, simple and unambiguous.

And (sadly) avoid humor until you know that the person you're communicating with "gets it" and isn't offended by it. Humor is notoriously culture-specific: Many things that pass for humor in one culture can be seen as grossly offensive in another.

Conclusion

Second language learning involves the acquisition of the second identity. This creation of a new identity is at the heart of culture learning.

Сulture learning is a process of creating shared meaning between cultural representatives. It is experiential, a process that continues over years of language learning, and penetrates deeply into one’s patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Though there are stereotypes which describe the standards and the values that guide the behavior of representatives of different cultures, the teachers should teach their students not to blindly follow the stereotypes because each person within this or that culture is unique.

  The language teacher and researcher, in dialog with each other, can be a part of a creative event by fashioning an integrated and cohesive understanding of how learners acquire the ability to communicate clearly and effectively in a second language, taking into consideration peculiarities of different cultures communication norms.

Such kinds of activities as problem-solving, discussions, case study, projects connected with culture study are designed by the teachers to help learners to improve cross-cultural communication skills that include:

- Verbal and non-verbal cross-cultural communication styles;

-  Cross-cultural working styles and expectations;

-  Language issues in a cross-cultural context;

-  Tips and strategies for a better cross-cultural communication.

 

Literature

1. Brown, H. Douglas. 2000. Principles of language learning and teaching. NY: Longman.

2. Robinson-Stuart, Gail and Nicon, Honorine. 1996. Second culture acquisition: Ethnography in the foreign language classroom. Modern Language Journal 80: p. 432

3. Ting Toomey, Stella. 1999. Communicating across cultures. Guilford Publications

4. Laura M., Lynn S. 1995. Business across Cultures. London: Longman.