RUNNING HEAD: Mindful Communication = Effective Cross-Cultural Understanding 1

Mindful Communication = Effective Cross-

Cultural Understanding

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña Solano Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Twitter: @jonacuso Post 156

How do we know we have communicated effectively? Sounds like a question that

can be easily answered, but the fact is that this is not exactly true especially when one is

dealing with people from a different culture. Gudykunst & Kim (2002) warns us of the

dangers of talking to someone from a different culture or cultural background on

“automatic pilot;” this can simply be catastrophic for both the speaker, -the one on

automatic pilot-, and the listener, -the member of a different culture-.

“Effective communication involves minimizing misunderstanding” (Gudykunst &

Kim 2002); thus, how do we avoid misunderstanding?” To be a good communicator with

a member of another culture, it is imperative that we become mindful. That is, we must

be aware of our differences and be open-minded in terms of the other’s view of the world

and his interpretations of what we may simply call day-to-day situations in life. Part of

being mindful is to comprehend that our interpretation of cultural symbols is and will be

Putting Language Teaching Pieces Together 2

different when dealing with members of a different and, why not, contrasting culture if

compared to ours. As Brooks (n.d.) pointed out, “culture is thus a product of human

learning that takes place within a particular group;” yet if one is not a member of that

group, it is crucial to have some good understanding of that group alien to us to be a

more competent communicator with the members of that culture.

Berger (1979, also quoted by Gudykunst & Kim 2002), acknowledges the

importance of the “knowledge to how to gather information” to be better equipped when

dealing with people from a different cultural group. We need to become “unobtrusive

observers,” a passive strategy that can give us the chance to compared people’s

responses to certain situations to predict future behavior. Berger continues to point out

another strategy that Gudykunst & Kim (2002) labeled as “active strategies.” As part of

these strategies one gets to talk to members of or visitors to that culture to gather

information about their behavior. But, be careful! Data gathered in this way may be biased

somehow and a combination of strategies is mindful in this case. And one last strategy

to get information about people’s behavior in another culture is by asking them directly:

“The interactive strategies of verbal interrogation (question asking) and self-disclosure,

in contrast, are used when we interact with the other person” (Berger 1979, also quoted

by Gudykunst & Kim 2002), a member of the other culture.

By means of this gathering of information of the other culture and its members,

one can develop some awareness of “group differences,” “personal similarities,” and

“alternative interpretations” (Gudykunst & Kim 2002). It is impossible to generalize

behavior among humans; for that reason, one can witness how people react differently

according to their interpretations and learned behaviors. For effective communication one

needs to focus on group differences rather than their similarities. Furthermore, “personal

similarities” is also part of being mindful since it is wise to find similarities at the individual

level. Though individuals belong to a larger cultural group, it is crucial to acknowledge

their individuality. For Gudykunst & Kim (2002), “effective communication requires that

we minimize misunderstanding or maximize the similarity in the ways messages are

interpreted.” By doing so, our mindfulness will be telling us that though there are

Putting Language Teaching Pieces Together 3

expected behaviors, messages can be interpreted differently and that can trigger lots of

misunderstanding if one is not prepared to deal with divergent behavior that does not

seem to fit what one has anticipated.

To sum up, the “understanding of another way of life begins to achieve

significance” (Seelye 1993) when we, visitors to a different culture or to a divergent

cultural group, become mindful and try to effectively communicate with these individuals.

Our mindfulness goes beyond communication on “automatic pilot.” Communication with

members of another culture or cultural group requires conscious behavior and willingness

to understand the others.

Brooks, F. (n.d). Language and Culture. Florida State University. Gudykunst, W. & Kim, Y. (2002). Communicating with Strangers, an Approach to Intercultural Communication. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies Seelye, H. (1993). Teaching Culture: Strategies for Intercultural Communication. National Textbook Company