Barriers of Intercultural Communication

 

Communication has widely expanded its range. Nowadays, people with different cultures are able to talk to one another with cultural sensitivity. With globalization as a catalyst, it is possible that everyone on this planet can communicate with one another. However, despite the ability to do so, there are still various hindrances that can affect intercultural communication. These are called the ‘barriers of intercultural communication’ where communication might fail maybe because of ethnocentrism, prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. With this blog entry, we will investigate these barriers and learn what causes these barriers to show up.

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Ethnocentrism. It is the thought or feeling that one’s culture is superior to that of others. People who are ethnocentric uses their own culture as a point of reference as they judge other culture’s practices, tradition, and language. The picture above depicts ethnocentrism. Why you ask? It is because this picture shows that they view each other as to what they perceive is right in accordance with their own culture. 

                                                          https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2015/extreme-prejudice

            Prejudice. It is a preconceived idea or feeling against a certain group that is not backed up by personal experience. This might be caused by how media portrays the group of people in the public creating the reason of their preconceived ideas. In this picture, a Muslim girl receives unsolicited gazes making her uncomfortable. News about bombings and terrorist attacks are being associated with Muslims that is why she is receiving this unfair treatment. People are afraid to talk to her because of this reason when in fact, they have not known her fully.

https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2018/03/16/gender-stereotypes-in-bangladeshi-indonesian-malaysian-and-pakistani-textbooks/

Stereotyping. It is an overrated belief of a certain group of people. The most known one is the gender stereotypes wherein people will fit into a group with how the way you acted, communicated and lived. The reason above is an example of stereotyping is that women are only seen at home, doing home chores, and other related stuff. Men on the other hand is viewed to be the one looking for jobs, doing logical and masculine things. Then this will be inside a person making them limited only to the things the society wants them to do when in fact they can do more. Women can do what men do and men, in terms of their emotions, can also show their feelings.

 

        

https://www.voicesofyouth.org/covid-19-your-voices-against-stigma                    https://www.consolelaw.com/race-discrimination-in-the-workplace/         
-and-discrimination                 

Discrimination. It is the combination of prejudice and stereotyping now with the combination action that harms that specific group of people. With Covid-19 rising which started in China, Chinese people are being discriminated against like how the first picture on the left showed. The right picture, on the other hand, shows another example of racial discrimination at work. Wherein white people are being treated specially while the last person who was black was disregard and even kicked out from his opportunity to work.

Yet, despite the efforts to have flawless communication, there are times where we experienced a miscommunication with people who have a different culture from ourselves. I even experience it myself. During my Grade 11 year, I met new people and it was new to me. Since I came from Samal, apparently, they knew about the “mamikpikays” in Samal. During a club meeting, we were getting to know one another and suddenly, they told me whether I am also a “mamikpikay”. Mamikpikays are residents in Samal who are known for their ability to pass their curse through tapping to other people. When I heard this, I got offended because first, it's not true, and second, they just jumped to conclusions about whether I am a part of it. It does not mean I’m from Samal, I am one of them nor do I have the ability. They already created a stereotype for people from Samal and after that, I did not want to talk with them again. In situations like this, I realized that it is important to remove the barriers to successfully relay the message and avoid conflict with the other side.