The Stumbling Blocks of International Communication

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  Have you ever tried to find the words, but they dont come out right?  Have you ever? This sentence hit my heart every time, when I heard it. It was very hard to try to communicate and interpret my willingness to let someone know my intention. Sometimes it succeeds, but many times it was a failure. Of course, my problem is the communication and the confidence to communicate, especially international communication across culture. 

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 The Stumbling Blocks of Communication

Have you ever heard this song “Have you ever” by Brandy (1998)? Since I came to the United States, It is one of my favorite songs that I usually repeat again and again, because one sentence of this song is “… Have you ever tried to find the words, but they don’t come out right?  Have you ever? ” This sentence hit my heart every time, when I heard it. It was very hard to try to communicate and interpret my willingness to let someone know my intention. Sometimes it succeeds, but many times it was a failure. Of course, my problem is the communication and the confidence to communicate, especially international communication across culture. And I am sure that all of International students, who came from the different countries, different cultures, and different languages, have the same problem with me. It has many factors that affect the failure of Intercultural communication that I am attempting to decrease it as well as I can.

 “Intercultural Communication Stumbling Block” written by LaRay M. Barna, writer was researched and published in Kentucky Speech Arts Journal, which is a scholarly journal professional in the field of communication. The author showed the problems of miscommunication of international students are the general problem, which happened with especially new coming international students. The author also mentioned the major reasons that are the cause of miscommunication which are language, nonverbal signs, preconceptions and stereotypes, the tendency to evaluate, and high anxiety. These are the stumbling blocks for many international students, who have to adept themselves to the different environments and deal with the problems of communication with people, and it also is my obstacle to communicate by using the second language too.

The Stumbling Block

Language

The First factor of miscommunication is Language. The lack of vocabulary, indirect meaning of idioms, unfamiliar slang, difficulty dialects, and misinterpretation are my first major stumbling blocks that are obstacles for me to speak or have any conversation with another group of people. Not only me, who has to cope with finding the words or sentences to tell my intent, but I believe that all of international student also have the same problem. “A worse language problem is the tenacity with which someone will cling to ‘the’ meaning of a word or phrase in the new language once he has grasped one regardless of connotation or context.”(Barna  69)

Unfortunately many native speakers like to use different vocabularies or phrases to reveal their communication ability. But it affects an international student like me, who digs myself down to the black hole or transforms to be the innocent child, who does not understand the adult’s conversation at all. The good example of this case is some of the English phases and idioms that are usually used in ordinary life. But it confuses me every time whenever I hear.  For instance, “Be my guest”, “Can you do me a favor?”, “Cat got your tongue?”, “Get in someone’s hair.” These phrases made me confused many times, and the worst was I had to double interpret them or rethink again and again until I got a headache with it. This stumbling block is the biggest stone that is hard to kick out, so if we try to study and use it often, we will become familiar with it.

Nonverbal Signs and symbols

            Body language, signals, and symbols are the second stumbling block, which could cause failed communication. Because of this, it never comforts any international student, who comes from the different culture. Since I came to the United States, I had to deal with much body language and many signals of the American people and another nation in my school too. The same as some symbols have different meanings to another nation “People from different cultures inhabit different nonverbal sensory worlds” (Barna 69). Even though students, who come from the same area, but are from different countries, they also have different body language and different reactions too.

            The unforgettable body language that I have learned is hugging. In Thailand, we have personal space and avoid entering other personal spaces too. It was totally different with the American culture that hugging shows close intimate relationships and friendships. I felt uncomfortable every time my friends tried to hug me. When I tried to avoid it, I saw my friends felt upset because of my reaction. Another clear example of body language is shaking the head. In Thailand and the United States, the shaking head has common meaning which is “No”. However, for Indian people, it converts the meaning to “Yes”. From both of examples, we could not judge the meaning until we understand the difference of intercultural behavior.

Preconception and Stereotypes

            In order to succeed to communicate in the intercultural society, we cannot predict or judge the behavior of people and the way they do things by our knowledge, or the experiences we have had with some people that we ever met. It also is not necessary that all people from the same country will have the same reaction or the same behavior. So, do not let the preconceptions and stereotypes are stumbling blocks for us to connect with people. As Barna mentioned “Indeed, this is one of the basic functions of culture: to lay out a predictable world in which the individual is firmly oriented” (70).  She also mentioned this obstacle was created by the foreigners’ objective viewing of stimuli that is the boundary of communication or the third stumbling block (Barna 70).

            My experiences with my Chinese friends are good examples of this stumbling block. Before I came to the United States, I did not like when Chinese people were talking. It sounds like they are angry and mad which stimulates me to have a strong feeling about them. But when I had to attend the same class with them, I tried to be opening minded and participated with them. They were friendly, gentle and kind. It is just the sound of their language that caused me to have the strong feeling. The reason is Thai language sounds more soft and gentle. So, we should not let our surface knowledge judge the way they do things.

The Tendency to Evaluate

            Another stumbling block that locks many international students with not succeeding to communicate in the intercultural society is the tendency to evaluate. It means do not use your attitude, your own value, and your bias to judge people. “A person’s commitment to his religion, politics, values of his family and his stand on the virtue of his way of life are ingredients in his self-picture- intimately felt and cherished” (Sherif C., Sherif M., and Nebergall vi). But whenever the international students immerse themselves to another environment, they should receive the new culture and adept they fit with the new environment too.

            For example, the tendency to evaluate could cause a miscommunication and indirect pain behind the scene. This happened in the one chapter of “The school days of an Indian girl”, which was written by Zitkala-Sa. The author revealed the connecting meaning of faith and long hair, than how the cutting of her long hair hurt her heart and it seemed to cut her from her mother and her culture too. From that story, I realized that I have to hide my culture and attitude in order to decrease the gap of intercultural communication.

High Anxiety

            The last stumbling block is the worry and nervousness that may be the big wall of communication. Because native speakers are aware, which some attitude will destroy the conversation with international students. On the other hand, international students are aware of communication failing because of lacking language ability.  As Barna mentioned both sides of students worried and tried to prevent their conversation without deep involvement about the different beliefs or attitudes.

             A good example is the illustration of Barna that she interviewed international student and native student that they had different awareness, when they had a conversation with each other. On one side, there was an international student worried about lacking language ability so he had to pretend to understand the conversation. But on the other side, the native student was nervous about how their reaction and attitude may destroy the conversation between them (71-72).

Conclusion

            “His self-esteem is often intolerably undermined when be employs such defenses as withdrawal into his own reference group or into himself, screening out or misperceiving stimuli, rationalizing, overcompensation, even hostility – none of which leads to effective communication” (Brana 72). These are examples of the thick brick wall where each layer is an obstacle to succeed intercultural communication. However, if we attempt to speak another language, we need to start at ourselves first. We need to make a goal and implement it by using many tools. Brana recommend the book “The Silent Language and The Hidden Dimension” written by Edward T. Hall, which offers the significant information of body languages. Including many books that are really helpful for many student in order to understand how to communicate across cultures:

The communicator cannot stop at knowing that the people he is working with

have different customs, goals, and thought patterns form his own. He must be able to

feel his way into intimate contact with them an within them, neither losing his own

values in the confrontation nor protecting himself behind a wall of intellectual

detachment (Harrison 4).

  The one technique that I usually use, when I have trouble communicating, is to believe in myself. If we believe in ourselves and attempt to do it, we can do everything that we want.

Word Cited

Barna, LaRay M. “Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks.” In Guideline:Across-

           cultural Reading/Writing text. Ruth Spack, New York: Combridge UP, 2007.66-73.

Hall, Edward T. The Hidden Dimension. New York: Doubleday, 1966.

Harrison, Roger. “The Design of Cross-Cultural Training: An Alternative to the University

Model.” Explorations in Human Relations Training and Research. Bethesda, MD: Natl Training Laboratories, 1966.

Sa, Zitkala. “The School Days of an Indian Girl” In Guideline:Across-

culturalReading/Writing text. Ruth Spack, New York: Combridge UP, 2007.24-29.

Sherif, Carolyn W., Musafe Sherif, and Roger E. Nebergall. Attitude and Attitude Change.

Philadephia: Saunders, 1965.