Surname: CHIKOYA

First Name: OSCAR

Registration Number:_20221011

Mode of Study: ODL

Study Programme: BACHELOR OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Year: 3 Semester: 2

Phone Number: 0881035359 Email: oscarchikoya@gmail.com

Course Name: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Course Code: JRN211

Assignment Number: 2

Assignment Due Date: 13 october 2022

We need Effective Communication at all times, both in our personal and professional
lives, as otherwise the valuable words, time and energy of both the parties are wasted in
Defective Communication when the desired results are not produced in spite of our
efforts.
A person’s culture, gender, nationality and social class all play a part in how that person
views the world. That causes people to emphasize different things, have different ideas and
communicate differently.
All of this difference may be a bit intimidating at first. After all, if everything is different,
how can people with all of these different backgrounds ever come together to find common
ground?
But that’s the beauty of diversity. When we only see things from our own perspective, from
our own culture, gender, nationality and social class, we miss out on a lot. But when we listen
to others’ experiences within their culture, gender, nationality and social class, we become
aware of our own blind spots, and we start to experience the world more fully.
That’s why it’s important that we go beyond our own culture and learn to intentionally listen
to others’ experiences. We need to realize that other people’s life experiences have an impact
on how they see the world, the things they think are important, and therefore how they
communicate
Cultural norms shape communication more than we might realize. In some countries small
talk is encouraged, and people don’t mind waiting for someone to finish their chat before
being served, while in other countries this is frowned upon and small talk is not done in
public.
Some cultures require the repetition of certain words and phrases in communications - you’ll
find a lot of “please” and “thank you” and “sorry” and “if it’s not too much trouble” in the
UK, but the same interaction in France would not require all that filler politeness. Many Brits
see the French efficiency in communication as rude, and I’m sure French people wonder why
we waste so much time on platitudes when there’s other things we can all be getting on with.
In cultures where it’s not socially acceptable to discuss certain topics, or for members of the
opposite sex to converse without chaperones, communication is very different to a more open
and equal culture where everyone has a voice and the right to input to conversations. This
may be driving some interactions underground, or rather on to the internet, leading to a
further reluctance to mention these topics in person because the cultural norm is being
reinforced.
And also on culture, for example Chinese people use a high tone when talking to each other
and we Malawians always think that they are in a verbal fight, yet they are just having a
normal chat . a Chinese kid can shout at his parents anyhow at any place but in our Malawian
culture that cant happen, because it is regarded as manner less gesture. in Indian culture,
when a man marries, he still stays in his parents house together with his wife but that if
practiced in African households, will be regarded as a taboo.
Very often we are not clear in our mind what we want to write or say to others if we happen
to meet people of different language, for example chinese traders in malawi who cant speak
English or Chichewa. Every time we are to do business with them and the grammar isn’t
perfect, If we are not clear even to ourselves, how can we expect others to understand our
message clearly and respond favorably ? So, before trying to write or speak anything, we
must carefully scan and consolidate the ideas clearly in our mind so that the output could be
fairly clear and easily intelligible to the other person, but we fail to communicate because
learning chinese language has proved to be more difficult than any other African language
due to its complexity
Failure to select and use the most appropriate words most suitable for the occasion , many
times, distort the content of the message with the result the desired results are not produced.
This could leads to a frustrating experience. To avoid this, we must continually update our
Vocabulary so that at any given point of time, we would be able to choose the most
appropriate words of our choice
Most of the times, when we are in situations where we cant speak the same language but we
still need to communicate, we engange into a nonverbal means of communication. (is any
information or emotions communicated by body language due to behaviors). It differs from
culture to culture. Cultural differences play a significant role in non-verbal communication,
for it makes people differ in the interpretation and meaning of specific non-verbal cues. Non-
verbal language barriers are the obstacles or problems or walls which separate people and
prevent them from understanding each other. They are a common challenge to individuals,
groups, international companies, governments, nations, and the whole world. So
misunderstanding cultural context during intercultural communication and misleading human
behaviour generate non-verbal cultural barriers. Misunderstanding, miscommunication, and
misinterpretation of non-verbal messages will arise when the sender (speaker) and receiver
(Listener) do not fully understand the cultures of each other.
Therefore, Non-verbal language barriers can create problems of miscommunication between
people in intercultural communication such as misunderstanding, misinterpretation of
messages, distorted messages, misinformation, confusion, mistrust, uncertainty, frustration,
embarrassments, poor and wrong feedback, deaths, tension, conflict, stereotyping, racial
prejudices, discrimination, wrong assumptions. Violence among people can lead to Factors
that hindering effective communication. The best strategy to promote effective intercultural
communication and get messages across is to bridge the language barriers by hiring qualified
and licensed translators, cultural competency, learning cultures, and have training programs
about intercultural communication. The future of individuals, groups, societies, and nations
depends mainly on their ability to communicate effectively with others in a globalization and
communication era, but this proves to be an expensive mode of communication of which an
average Malawian cant afford.
In other countries women are not regarded as same class with men, they are not allowed to
partake in different social gatherings and they cant even stand on the podium to address men,
they are not regarded as having same rights and privileges as men and most of the times they
are regarded as beings with low IQ, their ideas are always overlooked. Some are not even
allowed to work whilst others can work but cant get a managerial position. So in societies
like this, no matter how knowledgeable or exposed the women are, they can’t be put to proper
use and they are never respected.
On social class, most of the times, rich people are regarded as intelligent people, we tend to
pay much attention to people with money than an average Malawian, no matter how
knowledgeable an individual is, if he is poor, his ideas might always not be priotised.
Sometimes in the locations we are staying, we see that every time a poor person greets a rich
man, he is mistakenly treated as a beggar, automatically he is treated with an attitude in the
way he is responded to ,but if its someone with class, he is responded to with respect.
Everyone wants to feel like is contributing something to an interaction, so turn taking is
central part of how conversation play out .
Accent and dialects can vary by region , class and ancestry and they influence the
impressions that we make of others. Same English being spoken by everyone, but when a
person with British accent speaks, its hard for an average Malawian to understand
REFERENCE
Waltman ,M. the ommunication of hate,2011,pages 33-35
Wetzel, P. language in society,1988, pages 55-64
Crystal D, how language works, 2005, page 155
Chapelle a.c, English language learning, 2003, page 692-711
Kitade .k., learners disclosure, 2000, page 143-166