WHERE DO WE STAND ?
WHERE DO WE STAND?
In the essay the writer is trying to show how the body position can hear non-verbal communication. Through the position of the body the people also communicate their cultural difference not only between the countries but also within the same country.
The people from Middle- East are keen to make physical intimacy where the Americans maintain a distance. When a businessman of Middle East steps forward, the American steps backward as far as possible.
The difference of personal space is within sexes- The male & the female of the same location show different physical intimacy. The female would like to come quite closer than the males.
The cultural differences can be seen in classroom environment. The American culture teaches the students to make a direct eye contact to the teacher whereas the Asian students feel it as disrespect to the teacher. On the other hand, an American teacher feels it as an insult if the students break up the eye contact. Similarly, a Japanese businessman feels quite uncomfortable when his American Partner deals with him in informal manner.
The main cause for the conflict is the non-verbal communication is due to the cultural differences. All the people are brought up to different cultural background and consequently their action, thought and likes & dislikes differ from place to place. There is no doubt that the essential human experiences like happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, etc are shared by the people of different culture however this expression might be different from place to place. From example, the eastern people would like to share the joys and sorrows by holding each other whereas the Americans loathe (hate) the physical touch. Likewise, it is also evident that cultural values differ fundamentally from place to place. One Culture places value on something whereas other culture devalues it. The person who is accustomed to one cultural value finds him totally alien in the new cultural practices. As a result, the conflict arises between or among different cultural groups.
Lisa Davis maintains that non-verbal communication brings conflict among the people of different background due to different cultural practices and therefore, intercultural study is a most important in the present situation.
