Is communication between people of different cultures really different from communication between people of the same culture?
In one sense, yes. People who share the same culture can usually understand each other much better than people who are from different cultures, so the “gap of understanding” is usually much greater in intercultural communication. This makes it especially important for people to be careful in how they communicate. On the other hand, however, even two people from the same culture never understand each other completely. They have different personalities, experiences, knowledge, and viewpoints, and they still have at least some “gap of understanding” – often a rather large one. So, the same rules that make someone a good intercultural communicator also apply to communication between any two people. VI. Teaching Ideas The Perspective Exercise: This activity is based on some aspect of Western culture that students find difficult to understand or accept. The goal is to help them build the habit of trying to look at an issue from someone else’s perspective. Procedure: Choose an issue, some asp
