Erick Ombati

Running head: EDUCATION ABROAD: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES Culture, Globalization and Intercultural Adaptation Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation 1 EDUCATION ABROAD: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 2 Culture, Globalization and Intercultural Adaptation Introduction Traditionally, culture defined the ways of life of a group of people who belong to the same geographical area. However, as the world evolved through innovation in technology, the world has become what is known as a global community. A global community in characterized by woven cultures that include shared language, customs, beliefs and values. Globalization activities can be widely attributed to the development of global community. As communications across cultures continue to advance, intercultural adaptation becomes a concern. This refers to how persons of one culture react or respond to people from other cultures. According to Chen (2013), intercultural adaptation is a continuous process of interaction between two cultural beings who aim to reach a mutual understanding. This paper is built around the concepts of culture, globalization and intercultural adaptation as observed in the Canadian community. Cultural characteristics of Canadas The definitions of culture in various societal contexts revolve around an array of items. According to Liu, Volcic & Gallois (2019), culture in the 21st century can be defined through linguistic differences, workplace behaviors, customs and rituals, expectations, religious beliefs, ethnicity, class, gender and relationship building. All of these descriptions of culture are evident within the Canadian community. Linguistically, Canadians speak English which is good for foreigners since it is the most spoken language globally. However, this does not matter for Canadians as there are preferable topic areas for discussion. As a non-Canadian who speaks English, initiating a productive conversation with Canadian would require one to dwell around general topics like weather, EDUCATION ABROAD: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 3 geography, music, foods etc. (Global Affairs Canada, 2019). In this regard, it appears that language does not really matter in interaction with Canadian but rather the contents of the interaction. Even though Canadians are aware of the country’s politics, such a topic would not generate a lot of interest especially if the interaction is between a foreigner and local. In the workplace, Canadians value punctuality and formality. Generally, arriving 5 to 10 minutes before a scheduled meeting is considered good practice (Global Affairs Canada, 2019). In addressing colleagues, Canadians prefer to be addressed using initials Mr. or Mrs. unless the person being addressed asks to be addressed otherwise. Canadians are mostly informally dressed in the workplace with the younger generation preferring more revealing clothing (Global Affairs Canada, 2019). Otherwise, the older working population does not put much emphasis on workplace attire like in European countries. The above perspectives on Canadian culture hold much relevance for locals. For instance, on the topics for discussion, it is only logical to maintain abstractness with strangers prior to knowing them well. However, such reserved behavior may be considered as appalling by foreigners who come from highly social countries. While Canadians prefer a sense of humor within their conversations, such humor should be limited to certain acceptable topics. This may affect the quality interaction with foreigners. Similarly, people with different customs, for instance, Koreans who prefer to be addressed by their surnames may find themselves out of place in Canada’s workplace environment where people are addressed on a first name basis. Consequently, the informal dressing code of Canadians may be not bode well in the workplace of other developed countries. Intercultural Communication in a Globalized World EDUCATION ABROAD: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 4 One of the dimensions of intercultural communication is social class culture. As different cultures interact, the connotations of social class status change. For instance, refugees do not retain the same social class when they leave their native countries (Liu, Volcic & Gallois, 2019). Even when someone was well off in in his native country, a downgrade automatically occurs when he acquires a refugee status. Social class status is often described by a person’s socioeconomic status (SES). SES can be empirically described using a person’s income, education, occupation, residential area and family background (Liu, Volcic & Gallois, 2019). Locally, Canada plays home to several immigrants especially from Latin American countries. As such, any Canadian who encounters a black person may immediately conclude that he or she is an immigrant. Regardless of whether this is true or not, such pre-conceived perceptions often result inferior treatment of foreigners. In this regard, immigrants do not get the same employment opportunities as Canadians (Ranstad, n.d.). If an immigrant was an engineer in his home country, he or she may be employed as home guard, resulting in a direct downgrade of the immigrant’s socioeconomic status. The above example represents a negative result of intercultural communication due to globalization. However, intercultural communications have also led to the enjoyment of immense benefits from a global perspective. For instance, in my school environment, there are often programs that bring students of different nationalities together for bench marking. These programs enable intercultural adaptation as they require close interactions with students from different backgrounds. As such, those who have an opportunity to engage in such programs have shown improved social skills and knowledge regarding other cultures. The most recent program involved Chinese exchange students. I learnt that the Chinese exercise a lot of work ethic by EDUCATION ABROAD: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 5 dedicating most of their time to work. This was evident in the way some Chinese students engaged in longer study hours. They are also demure with a high value for personal preservation. Intercultural Adaptation The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) spectrum explains how people experience and engage with cultural difference. The scale is covers to extremes termed as ethnocentrism and ethnorelativism (Bennett, 2014). The former refers to protective stance taken by a person against the adaptation of new cultural disposition. At the other extreme is ethnorelativism which denotes a person who readily accepts intercultural processes and conforms to the cultural norms of another culture (Bennett, 2014). Personally I belong to ethnorelativism side of the DMIS spectrum with acceptance being my preferred from engagement with intercultural communication processes. Generally, I accept other cultures as part of my efforts towards becoming a global citizen. However, I am highly unlikely to adapt to or integrate foreign cultural practices in my day to day life. For instance, having interacted with the Chinese, I got to learn about their food tastes and needless to say, some of their cuisines were the best I have ever tasted. I would not however consider adjusting my day to day meal plans to include Chinese food. I consider myself Canadian with a very high preference for local foods. However, on special occasions, I would consider eating Chinese food in restaurants. In another spectrum, I like the Chinese way of communication. Most of them only speak when the need arises. This is as opposed to us Canadians who have the tendency to make conversation around the things that happen within our environment. I also accept the Chinese way of life but would not consider adapting it or integrating it in my day to day life. EDUCATION ABROAD: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES Conclusion Globalization efforts are continuously transforming the world into one homogenous community with more similarities than differences (Matthews & Thakkar, 2012). These similarities are built around hybrid interactions between locals and foreigner aided by novel technology like social media and the internet in general. Globalization accelerates intercultural communication piling pressure on people around the world to adopt the global citizenship status (Matthews & Thakkar, 2012). The DMIS tool shows the relative position people around the world occupy in regards to acceptance or denial of global cultures. However, I believe that everyone reserves the right to practice what they deem fit for themselves without the fear of prejudice from other people. However, barriers to intercultural adaptation are deeply rooted in some cultural dispositions held by people of respective cultures. Nonetheless, as the notion of global freedoms continues to manifest, the world is increasingly becoming a global village capable of hosting any person, anywhere and at any time. 6 EDUCATION ABROAD: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES 7 References Bennett, M.J. (2014). The developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. IDR Institute. Retrieved from https://www.idrinstitute.org/dmis/ Ranstad (n.d.). 8 Things immigrants should know about working in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.randstad.ca/job-seeker/career-resources/working-in-canada/8-thingsimmigrants-should-know-about-working-in-canada/ Chen, G. M. (2013). Theorizing intercultural adaptation from the perspective of boundary game. China Media Research,9 (1):1-10. Global Affairs Canada, (2019).Country Insights. Retrieved from https://www.international.gc.ca/cil-cai/country_insights-apercus_pays/ciic_ca.aspx?lang=eng Liu, S., Volcic, Z. & Gallois, C. (2019). Introducing Intercultural Communication: Global Cultures and Contexts. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, California Matthews, L. C., & Thakkar, B. (2012). The impact of globalization on cross-cultural communication. Globalization-education and management agendas, 325-340