In this chapter, Trenholm describes communication in many different aspects. She points out that we can make communication however broad or narrow we chose. In other words, your definition of communication can simply be to speak with others. Someone else might have an elaborate description on what communication is. The point is that communication can be viewed and analyzed in so many ways. One example is the Social Constructionist Perspective. This model is a process whereby people in groups, using the tools provided by their culture, create collective representations of reality. This perspective points out that most of what we know and believe about the world comes to us through communication rather than direct experience. We build worlds according to this perspective. As we grow in life, learning has a whole lot to do with different ways of communications. Although school is a necessity for learning academia, it is also a place you learn reality and personality as a kid. During recess time or play time, you explore on your own terms what it is you want. In order to do so you have to teach yourself to apply the unknown world to you. This is a really good way to learn culture as well. A classic example is staring. Some cultures find it extremely rude to stare into the eyes of the person you are communicating with and some find it very polite. Although you can learn this through direct communication, the best way to really learn is from reality itself.
The example you gave of how direct eye contact is rude in some cultures sparked my interest. It makes me wonder, do you think we can ever be interculturally competent communicators? Yes, we can learn things like eye contact is rude in a certain culture and avoid the action but are there things we can never fully understand or comply with? I feel like because the differences in some cultures are so enormous, being able to understand or even react competently to particular situations might be impossible. Of course, there is a difference between acting competently as an outsider and acting as an expert or like someone that was raised in the same social context.
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