Intercultural competences

Preface 3

Part 1 What is culture? 9
1 Dynamic definition of culture 11
1.1 Introduction 11
1.2 Culture is connected to a group 13
1.3 Culture has been taught 15
1.4 Culture is relative 16
1.5 Culture gives meaning 18
1.6 Meaning through context 22
1.7 Culture is a comfort zone 23
1.8 Outside the comfort zone: that’s not how it should be 25
Resume 29
Questions 30

2 Where does culture come from? 33
2.1 Introduction 33
2.2 Universal dilemmas and basic assumptions 35
2.3 The evolution of cultures 37
2.4 How does a culture arise from the universal dilemmas? 41
Resume 46
Questions 47

3 Cultural identity 49
3.1 Introduction 49
3.2 Cultural software for the brain 51
3.3 Subcultures 54
3.4 Country cultures 56
3.5 Stereotyping 58
Resume 63
Questions 64

PART 2 Acquiring knowledge: the science behind culture: models and theories 67
4 Measuring cultural differences 69
4.1 Introduction 69
4.2 History of intercultural communication 71
4.3 Why we want to measure cultural differences 73
4.4 To measure is to know 75
4.5 Model of Hall: six basic values of communication 77
4.6 Model of Kluckhohn 80
Resume 84
Questions 86

5 Working with the model of Geert Hofstede 89
5.1 Introduction 89
5.2 Cultural dimensions 91
5.3 Power distance index 92
5.4 Individual or collective? 96
5.5 Assertive or modest? Masculine and feminine countries 100
5.6 Uncertainty avoidance 104
5.7 Long-term or short-term orientation 109
5.8 Hedonism versus sobriety 111
5.9 Model of Hofstede applied to the Vietnam internship report 113
Resume 117
Questions 119

6 Working with the model of Richard Lewis 121
6.1 Introduction 121
6.2 Three cultural types 123
6.3 Linear-Active cultures 125
6.4 Multi-Active cultures 128
6.5 Reactive cultures 131
6.6 Points to note in the Lewis model 134
6.7 Online cultural assessment using the Lewis model 136
6.8 Lewis’ model applied to the internship report from Ecuador 138
Resume 141
Questions 142

PART 3 Learning competences: intercultural communication in practice 145
7 Cultural aspects of communication 147
7.1 Introduction 147
7.2 Communication: coding and decoding 149
7.3 Intercultural communication? 151
7.4 Culture shock 151
7.5 Intercultural sensitivity 157
7.6 DMIS Model of Bennett 158
Resume 166
Questions 167

8 Effective communication with other cultures 169
8.1 Introduction 169
8.2 Recognizing a culture shock 171
8.3 How to deal with the reflex reactions of a culture shock? 174
8.4 Increasing intercultural sensitivity 176
8.5 The fourth point to increase intercultural sensitivity: going through Bennett’s model 178
8.6 The fifth point to increase intercultural sensitivity: taking various perspectives 180
8.7 Golden rules of conduct from Lewis 184
Resume 186
Questions 188

9 Recognizing hidden cultural communication 191
9.1 Introduction 191
9.2 The cultural iceberg 193
9.3 Examples of hidden meanings 195
9.4 Hidden meanings of communication styles 200
9.5 Hidden power sources 206
Resume 209
Questions 211

10 Dealing with cultural conflicts 213
10.1 Introduction 213
10.2 Definition of conflict 215
10.3 Engaging in a cultural conflict 216
10.4 Let go of beliefs 218
10.5 Individual beliefs in a cultural conflict 221
10.6 Conduct the cultural dialogue 223
Resume 231
Questions 233

About the author 234
Literature 235
Acknowledgements 236
Register 238