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Communication Science: Learning Unit 4 (LO2: Intercultural communication…
Communication Science: Learning Unit 4
LO1: Intercultural communication and tourism
LO1.2: Communication challenges in tourism contexts
1. Searching for authenticity
Tourists want to experience 'real' cultural traditions, something different from their normal life. The host community therefore feels they must provide exotic, appealing experiences, but this alters the reality of their everyday life.
The challenges here are:
1.
for the host country to maintain balance between presented traditions and their community values.
2.
for tourists to be aware that this staged authenticity is not authentic culture.
Tourists must also remember that people of the host country are also people like them, not historical objects there for the tourists enjoyment.
2. Following social norms and expectations of host country
Public behaviour
Cultural norms dictate how people interact in public. In some cultures people are expected to interact and greet each other. In other cultures there is little smiling at each other, and sometimes very little interaction at all between strangers.
Shopping
In some countries you may touch merchandise and try on clothing while in others you may not do this.
Some cultures people talk to cashiers freely, sometimes even about their private lives, in places like Japan though, there is little interaction between shop clerks and customers.
Cultures also differ on how acceptable it is to bargain on the prices of goods.
4. Foreign language.
Challenges with not understanding those of the host culture can lead to culture shock and frustration in the tourists.
Host countries also have differing expectations of tourists, some expect them to get along using the host language while others provide tourists with more assistance.
3. Dealing with culture shock
Being in a new cultural context can lead to culture shock and feelings of disorientation. The degree of culture shock depends on how different the host culture is from the tourists home culture.
Tourists experiencing culture shock often take it out on the host country. They get rude as waiters, complain about sights and smells, etc. The host country experiences the challenge of remembering that the tourists actions are guided by frustration and culture shock.
LO1.3: Political and environmental impact of tourism on intercultural perceptions
When a country experiences political turmoil such as war, their tourism industry drops drastically.
An example of this is the state of Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world, is now rarely visited by tourists due to food shortages, political violence, and inflation.
Economic downturns also bring tourism to a standstill as people use their money on essentials rather than travel. Sometimes economic downturn can effect a countries tourism positively, tourists will travel to places where the currency is weaker than their currency.
Environment also has an impact on tourism. When natural disasters hit, people tend to avoid these places during that time due to an image of it being unsafe, and tourist attractions being damaged. Sometimes tourism can help a country recover from disaster.
LO1.1: issues concerning
intercultural communication and
tourism
Attitudes of tourists towards hosts
Characteristics of tourist-host encounters
Attitudes of hosts towards tourists
Resistance
Resistance also occurs when locals feel invaded.
It can take the form of grumbling, gossiping, or creating negative stereotypes about tourists such as stereotypes about arrogant Germans.
It can also take the form of organised protest or violence when locals feel pushed to their limit.
Boundary Maintenance
Some cultures such as the Amish in the USA that do not desire alot of tourist interaction regulate their tourist interactions. An example of this is that Amish interact with tourists minimally and turn their back when photos are taken.
Retreatism
This is seen in communities that are not enthusiastic about tourists. It is the avoidance of contact with tourists.
May occur where economy depends on tourists and community feels invaded.
Often with tourist areas, prices my be increased drastically for tourists, making things inaccessible to locals, Tourists also make for crowded streets and shops. Water and sanitation also come under pressure.
An example of this is in Sardinia locals are advised to use the term Sagra for their villages festivities rather than fiesta as tourists do not recognize this term.
Revitalization and adoption
Some communities are revitalized by tourism and thus invest in attracting tourists.This can be the building of cultural villiges or museums.
Cultural learning and tourism
LO2: Intercultural communication and business
LO2.1: Affect of domestic and global growth on intercultural communication
Domestic growth
Affirmative action resulted in a more diverse work force, despite this it has not made as drastic a change as everyone hoped.
Drawing of investment may attract foreign investors and businesses to the country, cause the growth in employment and a decrease in necessity to import.
Global growth
LO2.2: Role of power in
intercultural business relationships
LO3: Intercultural communication and education
LO4: Intercultural communication and healthcare
LO4.1: The importance of communication in healthcare
Communication in healthcare is especially important where role-players are culturally diverse.
Teaching language skills and cultural sensitivity to health care workers improves patient satisfaction and decreases misunderstandings and frustration.
1.
Health care workers deal with patients from different cultural backgrounds and patients encounter HCWs from different cultural backgrounds. For some cultures there may be stigmas against discussing certain issues such as aids and abortion.
2.
A lot of medical diagnosis relies on patient communication. This is predominantly due to the belief western medicine in the biomedical model of healthcare. Medical jargon must be kept to a minimum when talking to patients as it is confusing and difficult to understand. This can lead to misunderstandings, particularly with second language speakers.
3.
Language barriers- many hospitals rely on bilingual co-workers and family of the patient to translate. When HCW's can communicate, even slightly, in the patients language they are received better and patient satisfaction increases.
4.
Communication between HCW and patients family is also important. Conflict may arise when there isn't much accommodation for family members and peoples cultures. Some cultures may value large families who may visit the patient, this clashes with hospital visitor policies. Sometimes it is required that a hospital should be accommodating to these cultural differences.
6.
In healthcare, a community-oriented approach is more effective than that focused on just the individual.This effectiveness comes from community health workers become catalysts for change.
LO4.2: Intercultural barriers to effective healthcare
Historical treatment of cultural groups
Historically, widespread ideologies about different cultures have fostered differential treatment for some groups by medical professionals.
This differential treatment has caused some cultural groups to become suspicious of healthcare.
Researches sometimes will conduct unethical research in developing countries such as studies of HIV medication doses in Africa and Asia. This causes a divide between countries of the North and South.
Prejudicial ideologies
Prejudicial ideologies (sets of ideas based on stereotypes) about various cultural groups affect both HCWs and patients.
These attitudes can influence the quality of healthcare that the patient recieves.
Other prejudices such as homophobia, racism, and sexism, in the HCWs can also effect quality of healthcare recieved by the patient.
Because of mistrust, many people prefer to obtain most of their medical information from their own communities. Such as gay men turning to the gay community for advice on AIDS. Sometimes communities can soread misinformation.