Migration Theme
Intercultural Communication

When it comes to intercultural communication, Samavar and Porter write that there are three important nonverbal categories:

1.  Bodily Behavior

   • Body behavior is facial expressions, eye contact, touch

2. Time

   • Various cultures react differently to effective use of time and to punctuality.

     • In Mexico, a slower pace is preferred , be it in eating meals or conducting business

     • In Africa, it is said that “people who rush are suspected of trying to cheat (Rich, 1989)

     • The Germans and Swiss are more   conscious  of punctuality and all must be on time, from train schedules to meals

     • With Westerners, our schedules  and lists often dominate our lives

     • Native American languages do not even have words for second.

3. Space

   •  If you go to colder climates, distances are usually greater.

      If you go to warmer climates, people then to prefer closer distances

     • For example, Arabs and Latins  interact more closely  than do North Americans (pp. 15 and 16)

        

        

      

Quotations from book

 Two quotes that I particularly enjoy in his book are:

   All the past is here. Thoreau
   As are families, so is society. William Thayer

The theme of Samavar and Porter's book is that each culture must pass on its heritage and messages for the culture to be passed on.  A common way of doing so has been folk tales and folklore.

Information from this page comes primarily from Samavar and Porter's Intercultural Communication.