Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks By Samovar,...

Intercultural Communication Introduction According to the articles Intercultural communication stumbling blocks by Barna and Intercultural communication by Samovar, Porter, McDaniel Roy, describe the various challenges that are faced between communications of two individuals who come from different cultures. Notably, challenges that are faced by different people who come from different cultures exist due to the problem of the difference between the cultural norms. For instance, what is acceptable in the United States as a form of communication is entirely different from what is acceptable in Japan as a form of communication. Additionally, challenges that exist in intercultural communication may be due to the prejudices that individuals†¦show more content†¦The Vietnamese student thought that Americans are superficial for the way talk as well as smiling too much. On the other hand, An American Girl viewed that the international students most of them were quite unfriendly. According to this article, there are stumbl ing blocks that exist in intercultural communication. First is the language whereby there may exist different interpretation concerning a particular vocabulary or sentence (Barna, 1994). For instance, according to this article, when a Japanese hear that ‘won’t you have some tea? He may respond ‘no meaning that he is interested in taking tea which may mean to an American person that he is not interested in taking the tea. Thus, this may act as a stumbling block. The second stumbling block is nonverbal signs and symbols. In case there exist different meaning of the non-verbal signs and symbols, communication is hindered. Summary of Prejudice in Intercultural Communication This article describes the way individuals react negatively to other people without any factual material or direct contact. In other words, it describes the way some people have a negative attitude towards other people from a particular culture due to the prejudice. According to this article, individuals usually practice prejudice towards other people due to four reasons. First is due to their utilitarian or adjustment function. In this case, they intend to hold the