Walkup's Way Home  Migration Theme
Intercultural Competence

Individuals who are able to communicate an awareness of another person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences are regarded as more competent in intercultural interactions. Lustig and Koester
 
  Lustig and Koester's compelling book, Intercultural Competence is insightful in terms of understanding and interacting with individuals from other cultures.  Below are three points from the book which I found interesting and wish to share with you.

 

 

 

Basic  Dimensions of Intercultural Competence

 

Respect

The ability to show respect and positive regard for another person

Empathy

The capacity to behave as though you understand the world as others do

Interactive management

Skill in regulating conversations

 

 

Interactive Posture

The ability to respond to others in descriptive, non-evaluative and non-judgemental ways

 Orientation to Knowledge

 The terms people use to explain themselves and the world around them

 Tolerance for ambiguity

 The ability to react to new and ambiguous situations with little visible discomfort  (page 72)

 

 

 

 

Proxemics: 

Proxekics is a term coined by Edward Hall which relates to the personal space, the bubble that envelops and protects us.

Hall's book, The Hidden Dimension (1966) refers to four distance zones:

 

 

The Four Distance Zones per Edward Hall
1 Intimate   0 to 1 ½ feet loving, comforting, minimal conversation
2 Personal 1 ½ to 4 feet conversations with intimates & friends
3 Social   4 -12 feet social gatherings
4 Public 12 feet and up class lectures, concerts, plays

 

These distances  above refer to US    distances. 
 If you go to colder climates, distances are usually greater.

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

 

 

Touch

 

Middle easterners, Latin Americans & Europeans touch each other more than do Asians and Europeans.

Even within a culture, there are some that are allowed to do more touching than others.    For example,  high status CEOs are more like to touch  subordinates than to have a subordinates touch them  (page 191)

 

 

 

 

Something to think about

 

How would you feel if you walked into a doctor’s office and he was sitting back comfortably on a chair, with feet up, on a desk, and you are looking at the soles of his shoes?   

 

The nonverbal expression of displaying the sole of shoes/feet is considered to be very offensive  in Arab countries.  Arab countries (Middle East and Asia) believe that the
feet are the lowest part of the body, both psychically and metaphysically;
therefore, it is considered impolite to point them at someone.
  

As an American in the USA, you might be insulted.

 

 As an African in Africa, this might be comforting.

 

 

The above information is from Intercultural Competence by Lustig and Koester.
It is a combination of paraphrase and quotations

 

 

 

 Immigration Theme web pages are for class use

These were created for my First Year Experience students