Communication can take place only to the extent that the communicators use the same system of signals. You will only be able to communicate with another person to the extent that your language systems overlap. In reality, however, no two persons use identical signal systems, so a process of adjustment is relevant to all forms of communication. Parents and children, for example, not only have different vocabularies but also have different meanings for the terms they share. Different cultures, even when they use a common language, often have different nonverbal communication systems. To the extent that these systems differ, meaningful and effective communication will be difficult.
Part of the art of communication is identifying the other person’s signals, learning how they’re used, and understanding what they mean. If you want to understand what another person means (by smiling, by saying “I love you,” by making self-deprecating comments), you have to learn that person’s system of signals.
This principle of adjustment is especially important in intercultural communication, largely because people from different cultures use different signals—and sometimes also use the same signals to signify quite different things. Focused eye contact means honesty and openness in much of the United States. But in Japan and in many Hispanic cultures, it may signify arrogance or disrespect if, say, engaged in by a youngster with someone significantly older.
An interesting theory revolving largely around adjustment is communication accommodation theory. This theory holds that speakers adjust to, or accommodate to, the speaking style of their listeners in order to gain, for example, social approval and greater communication efficiency (Giles, 2008). For example, when two people have a similar speech rate, they seem to be attracted more to each other than to those with dissimilar rates (Buller, LePoire, Aune, & Eloy, 1992). In interethnic interactions, people who saw themselves as similar in communication styles were attracted to each other more than to those they perceived as having different communication styles (Lee & Gudykunst, 2001).
Part of the art of communication is identifying the other person’s signals, learning how they’re used, and understanding what they mean. If you want to understand what another person means (by smiling, by saying “I love you,” by making self-deprecating comments), you have to learn that person’s system of signals.
This principle of adjustment is especially important in intercultural communication, largely because people from different cultures use different signals—and sometimes also use the same signals to signify quite different things. Focused eye contact means honesty and openness in much of the United States. But in Japan and in many Hispanic cultures, it may signify arrogance or disrespect if, say, engaged in by a youngster with someone significantly older.
An interesting theory revolving largely around adjustment is communication accommodation theory. This theory holds that speakers adjust to, or accommodate to, the speaking style of their listeners in order to gain, for example, social approval and greater communication efficiency (Giles, 2008). For example, when two people have a similar speech rate, they seem to be attracted more to each other than to those with dissimilar rates (Buller, LePoire, Aune, & Eloy, 1992). In interethnic interactions, people who saw themselves as similar in communication styles were attracted to each other more than to those they perceived as having different communication styles (Lee & Gudykunst, 2001).
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий