Cultural Components in Intercultural Communication

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Essay #2 Alina Novikova Group 502 CULTURAL COMPONENTS IN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION OUTLINE: 1.Concepts of Culture; 2. The Components of Culture; Any society has its own culture. Every member of this society honours all the aspects of the culture. Culture includes many components that deal with every sphere of a human life. It is supposed that culture penetrates everyday life and people’s activities. Thus, symbols, heroes, rituals, values, cultural norms and rules are to be observed to describe the culture of the community. First, the word “culture” is derived from Latin and its meaning is referred to the tiling of the soil. However, today it is often associated with the word “civilization” in the Western languages. Culture represents the basic concept of the community. It also helps to understand the nature of a definite human society behavior. Besides, culture gives the knowledge how to communicate with the foreigners. Actually, it reflects the mentality of the society. Thus, it is the source of information for those who want to learn the peculiarities and basics of a certain human group. Second, the components of culture form the unity. These are symbols, heroes, rituals, values, cultural norms and rules. They are arranged hierarchically. For example, a low bow, the Ukrainian cultural folk norm, shows great hospitality. In the English-speaking countries the young use such gestures as “rock”, “peace”, etc. Heroes, national or local, also define the culture. They may be role models for a society. Rituals are common activities for the group or the folk. Statistics says that 53% of people consider rituals to be essential. However, the most important component is values. The make the core of the culture. Value is anything important for the person. They may be both moral or material. Moral values are highly appreciated. It is supposed that a person

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