The lessons learned from the above sectionsteaches us to take up certain principles for being effective and successful infuture intercultural interactions. The basic principles of intercultural communicationare as follows.
4.1. Language, culture, linguaculture
The process of gobalizationis characterized by growing frequency of intercultural encounters, which givesrise of communication failures. Analysis of failures sheds light on thefollowing facts: 1) national languages are full of so far unspecified culturebound features, 2) verbal communication is accompanied by culture-specificnonverbal signals, often misundestood by the unprepared counterparts. Bythese reasons the dialogue between the representatives of different culturesmight change into a „mine field" of communicative failures. That is why duringthe period of gobalization the concept and discipline of interculturalcommunication becomes prevalent. The growing number of communicationfailures gives also importance to research of nonverbal channels. As a result,there must be a change from teaching /learning foreign laguages into teaching / learning foreign linguacultures.From the viewpoint of ICC a linguaculture is seen as asuperior semiotic system including and governing verbal and nonverbal signsystems. In the light of the above discussed cultural dimensions, these elements constitute the semiotic frameworksof different linguacultures.
4.2. Intercultural Mediation
All kinds ofinteraction between the representatives of different linguacultures are treatedas intercultural mediation. The prototypical forms ofintercultural mediation are translating and interpreting. Translators and interpretersmediate between different linguacultures and their representatives. Whenforeign (e. g. Hungarian and American)speakers communicate in a shared language (e. g. English) it is also aform of intercultural mediation, since the interlocutors are the mediatorsbetween their own linguacultures. The same applies to tourist guidesconducting tours for foreigners. Since speaking in lingua francas meansmediating between linguacultures, speakers have to provide explicite andrelevant utterances for adequate perception.
4.3. Channels of communication
The verbal channel is mostly conscious (but sometimesuncoscious) way of communication. Verbal communication refers to the the formof communication in which message is transmitted by word of mouth and a pieceof writing. The objective of every communication is to have people understandwhat we are trying to convey. When we talk to others, we assume that othersunderstand what we are saying because we know what we are saying. But this isnot always the case. Usually people bring their own attitude, perception,emotions and thoughts about the topic and hence creates barrier in deliveringthe right meaning. So in order to deliver the right message, you must putyourself on the other side of the table and think from your receiver's point ofview (see: Business-Communication).
The non-verbalchannel is mostly uncoscious (but sometimes coscious) way of communication,called by E- Hall „The Silent Language". Nonverbalcommunication is the sending or receiving of wordless messages. Communicationother than oral and written, such as gesture, body language, posture, tone ofvoice or facial expressions, is called nonverbal communication. Nonverbalcommunication is all about the body language of speaker. Nonverbal communicationhelps receiver in interpreting the message. Often, nonverbal signals reflectsthe situation more accurately than verbal messages. Sometimes nonverbalresponse contradicts verbal communication and hence affect the effectiveness ofmessage. Nonverbal communication have the following three elements: the speaker's appearance: clothing,hairstyle, neatness, use of cosmetics; surrounding:room size, lighting, decorations, furnishings; facial expressions, gestures,postures, voice tone, volume, speech rate (ibid).
Peopleexpress meaning not just in what they say but in the way they say it. Thenonverbal features employed by a speakerprovide nuanced meaning, communicate attitudes and convey emotion. Nonverbalfeatures alert the listener as to how to interpret the message. Many ofthese features are culturally coded and inherent in verbalcommunication, often at a subconscious level. For example, anormal volume of speaking in the United States is perceived as aggressive inmany other societies. Often, though, people consciously utilize paralanguage.For example, when someone is saying something sarcastically, he or she mayadjust the intonations used (see: Business-Finance).
4.4. Subconscious elements in communicative behaviour
Chileansgreet each other with hugs and kisses as a step to shorten the distance betweenthem and foreigners. However, this style of greeting is very uncommon in Indiaor China. So that Chilean found it easier to greet fellows from US-America orGermany in their common way. Indiansmight have not a to Germany comparable person to person conversation and thatIndians may not exchange as much pleasantries as Germans do. In China personsof every age but with the same gender are walking embraced and hand in hand atthe streets together, what would be uncommon in some of the other MF countries(see: Cultural Influences).
When people speak to people in othercultures, sometimes language is one of the barriers to communicating.However, even when people are speaking the same language, cultural differencesmay affect the way they communicate. These differences may be seen inpeople's verbal and nonverbal communication styles. Culture can affect thefacial expressions that people use as well as the way they interpret the facialexpressions of others. In the United States, for example, smiling canindicate that people are friendly and approachable. In Japanese culture,however, people are expected not to smile because smiling at strangers is seenas inappropriate -- particularly for women.
The way peoplespeak may be determined by whether they are a high context culture or a lowcontext culture. In high context cultures, people explain everythingthat they're talking about and assume that others don't have it any informationon a certain topic. In low context cultures, on the other hand, it isassumed that people understand what's being said to them and as a result, theydo not explain everything that they're talking about.
Eye contactcan show an interest in another person and attentiveness to a message. In somecultures, making a lot of eye contact conveys honesty, while avoiding eyecontact is seen as shifty and dishonest. Other cultures, however, have the oppositeview of eye contact. These cultures believe that making a lot of eyecontact is insulting and a sign of aggression; people in these cultures willshow that they're paying attention to another person by glancing at them onlyoccasionally.
Speaking canbe formal or informal depending on cultural norms. Informal culturesassume that everyone is equal, so people in these cultures speak the same wayto everyone. In more formal cultures, it is assumed that there is a hierarchyamong people and they are expected to a follow certain protocols depending towhom they are talking.
The way peopletouch one another may depend upon whether they are a contact culture or anoncontact culture. In contact cultures, people are expected to toucheach other when they're speaking and stand close to each other.In noncontact cultures, this type of touching is seen as inappropriate,pushy and aggressive. In these cultures, people rarely touch one another andtend to stand farther apart (see: Communication Styles).
