Intercultural Communication

History of Studies

Intercultural communication studies in the United States began after World War II when the U.S. government established the Foreign Service Institutes (FSI) to prepare business personnel and foreign diplomats working overseas. The FSI offered courses on language variations and nonverbal communication such as the use of voice, gesture, time, and space across cultures. The focus was on skill development and cultural sensitivity training. Culture was narrowly defined in [Page 731]terms of nationality, and being aware of the cultural differences between nations was considered essential to effective communication. This stage was characterized by an interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture and communication. Edward T. Hall, an anthropologist, is regarded as a pioneer of intercultural communication studies in the United States. Today's diversity training programs at workplaces exemplify this training-based model to intercultural education.

From the 1960s to 1980s, the United States experienced an influx of immigrants and sojourners from overseas. To help immigrants adjust to the new culture, some scholars developed models of cultural patterns and provided ways to develop knowledge, attitudes, and skills for effective and appropriate communication in intercultural communication settings. In this period, training, cultural-general knowledge, mindfulness, and individual competency were emphasized. The burden of adjustment was placed on immigrants or sojourners, and the best outcome was believed to be assimilation into the U.S. mainstream culture.

Beginning in the 1990s, some scholars began to challenge the competence-centered approach to intercultural communication studies. These scholars asserted that the previous models overlooked the role of history and power in shaping interracial, interethnic, and international relations. Scholars critically evaluated how the impact of language and media from the dominant group functioned to stereotype, marginalize, oppress, and dehumanize submerged groups; examined the identity development of multicultural individuals and their diasporic experiences; provided communication strategies to empower marginalized groups; and criticized what they saw as cultural imperialism couched in the name of globalization. Today, intercultural communication has expanded its studies from international cultures to include race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, aging, and persons with disability.

Approaches to Communication

Three approaches in intercultural communication studies have been applied and engaged by scholars: the social science approach, the interpretive approach, and the critical approach. The social science approach is generated from the fields of psychology and sociology. It looks at culture as a measurable entity from which communication behavior of a people can be described and predicted. Scholars using this approach gather data by surveys and questionnaires, in what is known as quantitative methodology. The approach assumes that culture is a determining variable that influences communication behavior.

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