2.3.1 The Nature and Forms of Intercultural Communication

     As discussed in Chapter 1, the term intercultural communication refers to communication between persons who have different cultural beliefs, values, or ways of behaving. The model in Figure 2.1 illustrates this concept. The larger circles represent the culture of the individual communicators. The inner circles symbolize the communicators (the sources–receivers). In this model each communicator is a member of a different culture. In some instances the cultural differences are relatively slight—say, between persons from Toronto and New York. In other instances the cultural differences are great—say, between a farmer in Borneo and a surgeon in Germany.

     All messages originate from within a specific and unique cultural context, and that context influences the messages’ content and form. You communicate as you do largely as a result of your culture. Culture (along with the processes of enculturation and acculturation) influences every aspect of your communication experience.
     The following types of communication may all be considered “intercultural” and, more important, subject to the varied barriers and gateways to effective communication identified in this chapter:

• Communication between people of different national cultures—for example, between Chinese and Portuguese individuals or between French and Norwegian individuals.
   
• Communication between people of different races (sometimes called interracial communication)—for example, between African Americans and Asian Americans.
   
• Communication between people of different ethnic groups (sometimes called interethnic communication)—for example, between Italian Americans and German Americans.
   
• Communication between people of different religions—for example, between Roman Catholics and Episcopalians or between Muslims and Jews.
   
• Communication between nations (sometimes called international communication)—for example, between the United States and Argentina or between China and Rwanda.
   
• Communication between genders—between men and women.
   
• Communication between smaller cultures existing within the larger culture—for example, between homosexuals and heterosexuals, doctors and patients, research scientists and the general public, or between those with and those without disabilities, a topic covered in Table 2.3